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THE 




REFORM I S T S’ 


REGISTER, 


AND 

WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


VOLUME I. 


From February 1, 1817, 
To July 19, 1817. 


BY WILLIAM HONE. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED BY AND FOR WILLIAM HONE, 

AT THE REFORMISTS’ REGISTER OFFICE, 67 , OLD BLILEY, 

\ 

THREE DOORS FROM LUDGATE HILL, 

1817 , 

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-' .. . . \c ::j: u-an i er x.a :: ■ : r 







PREFACE, 

\ • • 

^ , . ; ': • r 

This, the first Volume of the Reformists’ Register, 
commenced with the commencement, and closes with the 
close of the last Session of Parliament; during which, the 
Hoilse of Commons rejected immense numbers of Peti¬ 
tions for Parliamentary Reform-—wholly refused to take 
*. ■*» *^**-« - * 

steps to Reform itself in any way—-and even refused to 
inquire into the acknowledged corrupt state of the repre¬ 
sentation :---Both Houses at the same time attempting to 
restrain freedom of speech, by passing gagging Bills, and 
sanctioning the proceedings of ignorant, weak, and con¬ 
temptible Ministers, by measures in the same spirit, and 
by suspending the Habeas Corpus Act-— twice! 

These subjects, and various others connected with 
them, are elucidated, or adverted to, in the present 

• ' ■ V- 

volume; of which two thirds were written during the 

suspension , and one third whilst I was in confinement, by 

■ 

virtue of Judges' Warrants, on charges explained in the 
Work. 

Under these untoward circumstances the Reformists 1 
Register has hitherto proceeded. Being sensible of 
the kindness to which I am indebted for its extensive cir¬ 
culation, I shall endeavour to render it in future still 
mqre acceptable. 


11 th July, ISI7V 


W. II. 


CONTENTS OF VOL. I 


No. I.— (Teh. l.p. 1.)—Parliamentary Reform—Attach on the Regent—The House's 
Treatment of Reform—Parliamentary Opinions on Reformists and Reform. 

No. II.— (Feb. 8, p. 33.)—Universal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments against Mr. 
Brougham and the Whigs—Committee of Secrecy—Loyal Livery—Loyal Inflamma¬ 
tory Placard. 

No. III.— (Feb. 15, p. 65.)—Sir Francis Burdett’s Plan of Reform. 

No. IV.— (Feb. 17, Number Extraordinary, p. 97.)—Mr. Brougham’s Attack on *he 
Reformists, and his Declaration in favour of Annual Parliaments and Suffrage as ex¬ 
tensive as Taxation. 

No. V.— (Feb. 22, p. 129.)—Apostacv and Corruption. 

No. VI .—(March 1, p. 161.) —Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. 

No. VII.—C March 8, p. 193.)—Reform—The Parodies—and Dr. Slop’s Ghost! 

No. VIII. — ( March 15, p. 225.)—A Letter to Alex.Maconocbie, Esq. M. P., His Majesty’s 
Lord Advocate of Scotland. 

No. IX .—{March 22, p. 227.)—A second Letter to Alex. Maconochie, Esq. M. P. &c. 

No. X .—(March 29, p. 289.)—Yorkshire and Cornwall Meetings—Mr. Capel Lofft on 
Reform. 

No. XL— {April 5, p. 321.)—A Letter to the Readers of Mr. Cobbett’s Weekly Political 
Pamphlet. 

No. XII.— {April 12, p. 353.)—A second Letter to Mr. Cobbett’s Readers—Famishing, 
a Poem. 

No. XIII .—{April 19 , p. 385.)—The Hypocrites’ Reasons for Contentment examined. 

No. XIV.— {April 26, p. 417 )—Political Priestcraft, an Epistle to the Rev. Dao.Wilson, 
M. A., Minister of St. John’s Chapel, Bedford Row, London. 

No. XV .—(May 3, p.449.)—Political Priestcraft, cohtinued in another Letter to the 
Rev. Dan. Wilson. 

No. XVI.— (May 10, p. 481.)—To the People of England, on my Arrest—Tithes, by the 
Rev. James Murray. 

No. XVII .—(May 17, p. 513.)—On the Parodies and my own Case—Introduction to Mr. 
Bentham’s Reform Catechism—A Lecture to Bishops, by the Rev. J. Murray, of 
Newcastle—Governors and the Governed, a Dialogue. 

No. XVIII .—{May 24, p. 545.)—My Motion in Court, and the State of the Hon. House 
—Complete List of Parliamentary Patronage and Influence. 

No. XIX.— {May 31, p. 577.)—Lord Cochrane and the Executions at Holly-Hill, or the 
rare Adventure of the Great Ass, &c.—Sir F. Burdett’s Speech on Reform. 

No. XX .—{June 7, p. 609.)—The Parodies—The Pitt Club—Niel Douglas’s Acquittal 
—Berenger’s Caricature of Mr. Butt—The late Speaker and his Peerage—Mr. Wil- 
berforce’s Recommendation of Mr.Wynn—Causes of our present Condition, by R.M. 
—SirG. O. Paul on Poverty and Child-Murder—Sir F. Burdett’s Speech on Reform, 
concluded—Rushton and Southey, a Poem, and an Anecdote-. 

No. XXL —(June 14, p. 641.)—Mr. Wooler’sTriumph—Mr. Horne Tooke on Ex-officio 
Informations—A Letter to the Friends of Freedom and Philanthropy, by Justus. 

No. XXll.— {June 21, p. 673.)—Proceedings against me on Wednesday—Mr. Woqler’s 
New Trial—The Wretch Castle’s Cross Examination. 

No. XXIII .—{June 28, p. 705.)—Spies and Informers—Liberty, by the Poet Cowper. 

No. XXIV.— {July 5, p. 737-)—My Liberation from Prison—Sir R. Phillips’s Golden 
Rules for Jurymen. ,' . .J': 1 • .11 

No. XXV .—'(July 12, p. 769 )—Special Juries and the Spies—A Humble Petition- 

Poetry ; Oliver—His Epitaph and Certificate of Character. 

No. XXVI.— (July 19, 801.)—On Torture in Ireland, and Lord Castlereagh. 


Pi •ice Two-pence. 


a a« fca K^Tja e rta a. y-tiaf rur - < 

HONE s REFORMISTS’ REGISTER 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 1.] SATURDAY, FEB. I, 1817, [VOL. 1 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The Publication entitled Hone’s 
Weekly Commentary, the first 
number of which appeared January 18, 
and the second January 25, is merged 
in the REFORMISTS’ REGISTER; 
which, from its difference of plan and 
price, is altogether a new work. The 
two Numbers of the Weekly Com¬ 
mentary, consisting entirely of origi¬ 
nal articles , may still be had—price 
Six-pence each. 


THE REFORMISTS’ REGISTER 
will, every half-year , have a Title 
Page, with a COMPLETE INDEX 
of reference to its contents, and bind 
up into a volume, as large in size as a 
volume of the best edition of Hume’s 
History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the REGIS¬ 
TER will contain more than double 
the quantity contained in a volume of 
those works, and be at one half 
the price, so that a reader will have, 
at the end of every year, TWO 
VOLUMES of an ‘authentic HIS¬ 
TORY of REFORM, abounding with 
excellent political information, in 
which he himself, and his children, 
and his country are deeply interested; 
and the contents of these TWO 
VOLUMES, which he obtains by an 
easy purchase of Two-pence a week , 
and which do not cost him NINE 
Shillings, will be equal to the 
contents of Four volumes of Hume’s 
History of England, which w ill cost 
One Pound Twelve Shillings , 


PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 


Again lias the energy of THE PEO¬ 
PLE been roused; and once more will 
the great question of PARLIAMENT¬ 
ARY- REFORM be discussed. Numerous 
have been the MEETINGS—singularly 
wise are the Resolutions and Petitions 
passed at those Meetings—wonderful in¬ 
deed, has been the unanimity of the peo¬ 
ple. Numerous, and not less w ise, or less 
unanimous will those be which are about 
to follow. At no Meeting has there been 
a want of speakers. An extent of talent 
and political knowledge has been display¬ 
ed from one end of the island to the other 
which no man could have anticipated. 

Vain has been the hope that abuse , and 
calumny, and persecution, and new fan- 
gled laws of treason, and Gagging Bills, 
had extinguished reason—had extinguish¬ 
ed the spirit of Britons, and prepared them 
for the yoke of slavery. The blaze ofin- 
tellect—the glorious light of knowledge—- 
so equally shining and generally diffused 
as the MEETINGS FOR REFORM 
show it to be, should encourage every peed 
man, as it will confound every bad one. 
To war against mind is to ensure defeat. 
A man cannot be made to unlearn that 
which he knows ; nor can any laws, nor 
any power prevent him from communica¬ 
ting his knowledge; and, sooner or later. 
Statesmen will be taught, what they alone 
seem ignorautof—that u IvNO\v LEDGE 
IS POWER.” 

But in what classes, among whom is it 
.that we withes* this knowledge—this im¬ 
provement of the understanding? is it 

A 












3 ] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[4 


among the NOBLES of the land—our he¬ 
reditary guardians? Do they manifest su¬ 
perior wisdom—do they call PUBLIC 
MEETINGS—do they, or any of them, 
attend Public Meetings, to instruct, the 
people and point out the road to good Go¬ 
vernment—to independence—to happi¬ 
ness? No; not they. They call no 
Meetings—they attend no Meetings—on 
the contrary, they do all they can to pre¬ 
vent Meetings. They would have all quiet 
—quiet as death. They prove, as a wise 
man once said of them, that “ in know- 
« ledge they are a hundred years behind 
« the state of society in which they live.” 
By an unvaried and unqualified support 
of all the violent measures of Ministers 
both at home and abroad, they have re¬ 
duced the mass of the nation to a state of 
poverty—of dependence-—of starvation; 
until— alarmed for theynselvcs —they have 
established soup kettles to dole out broth 
in scanty portions to the industrious people, 
who, but for their conduct, would have 
been living as became men—independent- 
minded men—on their own earnings. 

It is to the MIDDLE class now , as at 
other times, in this country, the salvation 
of all that ought to be dear to Englishmen 
must be confided: it is amongst this class 
that the great improvement has been going 
on ; it is from this class, now informed as 
no class in any country, at any time, ever 
were informed, that whatever of good 
may be obtained will proceed. 

To record the Proceedings of these 
MEETINGS; to preserve the memorials 
of the public spirit and public virtue of 
the present day, THIS PUBLICATION 
has been undertaken. It commences with 
the opening of the present Session of Par¬ 
liament, and will contain the Resolu¬ 
tions, Petitions, and Votes at Public 
Meetings throughout the country, and the 
Parliamentary Proceedings so far as 
they relate to the subject of PARLIA¬ 
MENTARY REFORM. The Opinions of 
the Members of both Houses respecting 
Reform, on whatever occasion expressed, 
will likewise be faithfully registered. 


It is intended also to print, in the same 
size and manner, the Resolutions, Peti¬ 
tions, &c. &c. of Public Meetings, held 
prior to the 28th of January. The mode 
of printing these will be so arranged as to 
admit of the several accounts being placed 
in the order of their dates; for which pur¬ 
pose Newspapers, and other publications 
connected with the subject, are requested 
from Persons who have taken part in the 
Meetings. 

Reports of Meetings hereafter held in 
the country, or Newspapers containing 
them, and Communications of authentic 
information and useful Hints and Sugges¬ 
tions, will also be thankfully received. 

January 30, 18 1 7. 


ATTACK 

ON 

THE REGENT. 


This affair.which took place onTuesday, 
January 28th, 1817* is of deep importance 
to the PEOPLE, being connected with 
REFORM in a manner which will ap¬ 
pear hereafter. It is, therefore, necessary 
to record the particulars of the PRINCE 
REGENT'S Journey from St. James’s 
Palace to open the present Session of HIS 
PARLIAMENT until his return to Carl¬ 
ton House, after having delivered from 
the Throne in the House of Lords the 
following 

. SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES. 

“ My Lords and Gentlemen y —It is with 
deep regret that I am obliged to announce 
to you, that no alteration has occurred in 
the state of His Majesty’s lamented indis¬ 
position. 

“ I continue to receive from Foreign 
Powers the strongest assurances of their 
friendly disposition towards this country ; 
and of their earnest desire to maintain the 
general tranquillity. 

“ The hostilities to which I was com¬ 
pelled to resort, in vindication of the ho¬ 
nour of the country, against the Govern¬ 
ment of Algiers, have been attended with 
the most complete success. 

“ The splendid achievement of His 
Majesty’s fleet, in conjunction with a 
squadron of the King of the Netherlands? 





5 ] 


February 1 , 1817 . 


under the gallant and able conduct of 
Admiral Viscount. Exmouth, led to the 
immediate and unconditional liberation of 
all Christian captives then within the ter¬ 
ritory of Algiers, and to the renunciation 
by its Government of the practice of 
Christian slavery. 

“ I am persuaded that you will be duly 
sensible of the importance of an arrange¬ 
ment, so interesting to humanity, and 
reflecting, from the manner in which it 
has been accomplished, such signal honour 
on the British nation. 

“ In India, the refusal of the Govern¬ 
ment of Nepaul to ratify a Treaty of Peace, 
which had been signed by its Plenipoten¬ 
tiaries, occasioned a renewal of military 
operations. 

“ The judicious arrangements of the 
Governor-General, seconded by the bra¬ 
very and perseverance of Plis Majesty’s 
Forces, and of those of the East-India 
Company, brought the campaign to a 
speedy and successful issue; and peace 
lias been finally established upon the just 
and honourable terms of the original 
Treaty. 

“ Gentlemen o f the House of Commons , 
—I have directed the ESTIMATES for 
the current, year to be laid before you. 

“ They have been formed upon a full 
consideration of all the present circum¬ 
stances of the country, with an anxious 
desire to make every reduction in our 
establishments which the safety of the 
empire and sound policy allow. 

“ I recommend the state of the Public 
Income and Expenditure to your early 
and serious attention. 

** I regret to be under the necessity of 
informing you that there has been a defi¬ 
ciency iu the produce of the Revenue in 
the last year; but I trust that it is to be 
ascribed to temporary causes; and I have 
the consolation to believe that you will 
find it practicable to provide for the pub¬ 
lic service of the year, without making 
any addition to the burthens of the peo- 
ple t and without, adopting any measure 
injurious to that system by which the 
public credit of the country has been 
hitherto sustained. 

“ My Lords and Gentlemen ,—I have the 
satisfaction of informing you that t he ar¬ 
rangements which were made in the last 

o 

Session of Parliament, with a vieiv to a 
New Silver Coinage, have been completed 
with unprecedented expedition. 

“ I have given directions for the im¬ 
mediate use of the New Coin, and I trust 
that this measure will be productive of 


I s 

considerable advantages to the trade and 
internal transactions of the country. 

“ The distresses consequent upon the 
termination of a war of such unusual ex¬ 
tent and duration, have been felt, with 
greater or less severity, throughout all the 
nations of Europe; and have been con¬ 
siderably aggravated by the unfavourable 
state of the season. 

“ Deeply as I lament the pressure of 
these evils upon this country, I am sensible . 
that they are of a nature not to admit of an 
immediate remedy ; but w hilst 1 observe 
with peculiar satisfaction the fortitude 
with which so many privations have been 
borne, and the active benevolence which 
has been employed to mitigate them, l am. 
persuaded that the great sources of our 
national prosperity are essentially unim¬ 
paired, and I entertain a confident ex¬ 
pectation that the native energy of the 
country will at no distant period surmount 
all the difficulties iu which we are in¬ 
volved. 

“ In considering our internal situation, . 
you will, I doubt not, feel a just indigna¬ 
tion at the attempts which have been made 
to take advantage of the distresses of the 
country, for the purpose of exciting a spi¬ 
rit of sedition and violence . 

“ I am too w r ell convinced of the loyalty 
and good sense of the great body of his 
Majesty's subjects to believe them capable 
of being perverted by the arts which are 
employed to seduce them; but I am de¬ 
termined to omit no precautions for pre¬ 
serving the public peace t and for counter¬ 
acting the designs of the disaffected: and 
1 rely with the utmost confidence on your 
cordial support and co-operation, in UP¬ 
HOLDING a system of law and GO¬ 
VERNMENT from which we have de¬ 
rived inestimable advantages, which has 
enabled us to conclude, w'ith unexampled 
glorify a contest whereon depended the 
best interests of mankind, and which has 
been hitherto felt by ourselves, as it is 
acknowledged by other nationSy to be the 
most perfect that has ever fallen to the let 
of any people.” 

After some new Writs were moved and 
ordered in the House of Commons, and 
before the Speech was taken into consi¬ 
deration, 

Sir Francis Burdf.tt rose and said, 
“ l rise thus early to give notice, that on 
this day month I shall bring forward a 
motion for a REFORM IN THIS HOUSJJ 
of Parliament.” 

Whilst the Debate on the Address was 
proceeding, it was interrupted by a 

a Q 




7 ] 


Honl’s Reformists’ Register* 


[8 


sage from the Lords, requiring an imme¬ 
diate conference in the painted Chamber, 
Which being had, it appeared that the 
person of the Prince Regent had been 
insulted in his passage from Parliament, 
and that the Lords had agreed to an 
Address, assuring him that they felt the 

deepest concern and indignation that, 
there should be found any individual in 
his Majesty’s dominions capable of an at¬ 
tack so daring and flagitious, and wishing 
him to order measures to be taken, with¬ 
out delay, to discover and bring to justice 
the aiders and abettors of the atrocious 
proceeding.” 

The Duke of Montrose, the Master of 
the Horse r and Lord James Murray, 
c Lord of the Bedchamber , having been 
examined by the Lords, touching the pro¬ 
ceeding, the latter attended at the door* 
of the Commons, and on the motion 
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
(Mr. Vansittart) was called in and 
examined at the bar; tRe questions being 
addressed to the Speaker, and by him to 
the witness. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer 
asked what situation his Lordship holds 
in the household of his Royal Highness 
the. Prince Regent?—Lord James Mur¬ 
ray. That, of Lord of the Bedchamber. 

The Cii. of the Ex. Was his Lordship 
in attendance on his coming to open the 
Parliament this day? — Lord J. Murray. 
Y 

The Ca. of the Ex. Was his Lord- 
ship in the carriage with H. R. H. when 
he returned from the Parliament?—Lord 
J. M. Yes. 

The Cii. of the Ex. What happened 
in his Lordship's own sight on that occa¬ 
sion?—Lord J. M. On lI.R.H’s. return 
from the House, between Carlton House 
Gardens and St. James’s Gardens, the 
glass of the carriage on the left side of 
H. R. H was broken. 

The Ch. of the Ex. In what manner did 
the fracture appear to his Lordship to 
have been produced?—Lord J. M. It 
seemed to have been produced by TWO 
BULLETS of a small size, about a quarter 
of an Inch apart. 

The Ch of the Ex. WasJiis Lordship 
confident that the fractures must have 
been produced by BULLETS or SOME 
OTHER substances thrown with great 
violence?—Lord J. M. I have not the 
slightest doubt that they were produced 
by BULLETS. 

The Cii. of the Ex. Would his Lord- 
-Shtp make any other observation respect¬ 


ing this proceeding ?—-Lord J. M. About 
a minute after the glass was broken in the 
manner I have described, a large stone 
was thrown against the glass of the car¬ 
riage, w hich broke it, and three or four 
other small stones were thrown which 
struck the glass and the other parts of the 
carriage. 

The Ch. of the Ex. Was the glass 
which was broken by the large stone the 
same which had been perforated by the 
BULLETS ?—Lord J. M. It was the 

same glass. 

The Ch. of the Ex. Had his Lordship 
TIME to observe the manner in which 
the glass was perforated, in the interval 
between the first fracture and the glass 
being finally broken ?—Lord J. M. In 
that interval I observed the part which 
was first broken minutely. 

The Ch. of the Ex. Did the Noble 
Lord observe whether such a number of 
persons surrounded the carriage, that a 
pistol might be discharged, and the per¬ 
son by whom it was fired not immediately 
recognized?—Lord J. M. The crowd 
not being excessive near the candage, I 
conceive that if a pistol had been fired 
with gunpowder, the person must have 
been observed. 

The Ch. of the Ex. Does his Lordship 
conclude that the first fracture was pro¬ 
duced by a BULLET discharged from 
SOME OTHER instrument than a pistol 
SUCH AS AN AIR GUN ?— Lord J. U 
I suppose, as I heard vio report , that THE- 
BULLETS must have been discharged 
■without gunpowder. 

The Speaker then asked whether aav 
other Member wished to put questions to 

the witness ? 

Sir B. Hobhouse asked w’hether any 
BULLETS had been found in the car¬ 
riage ? [Hear, hear!] —Lord J. M. I have 
not heard that any BU LLETS have been 
found in the carrriage; I should observe,, 
that I CONCEIVE, from the manner of 
the fracture, that the BULLETS most 
have come from some height, perhaps from 
one of the TREES, of which there are- 
many in that part of the Park, in which 
there were several persons. 

A Member asked. Did his Lordship 
hear any noise, which induced him to 
suppose that the bullets had passed through 
the carriage ?—Lord J. M. I heard no 
noise but that produced by the fracture 
of the glass. 

Mr. C. W. Wynne asked, Whether 
the opposite glass was up or down ?—Lord 
J. M. It wrs UP. 









3 ] 


February 1 , 1817 . 


Mr. Brougham. I>id his Lordship ob¬ 
serve similar holes in the opposite glass ?— 
Lord J. M. It was NOT BROKEN AT 
ALL. The reason I supposed the BUL¬ 
LETS to have come from a height was, 
that splinters of the glass were thrown vi¬ 
olently to the lower part of the opposite 
side of the carriage. 

Mr. Brougham. I would ask whether 
BULLETS or any similar substances 
were in the bottom of the cari'ixge ?— 
Lord J. M. I had no opportunity of as¬ 
certaining this, as I left the carriage im¬ 
mediately after the Prince Regent. 

A Member wished to ask. Whether 
H.R.H. had given any directions to search 
the carriage -—Lord J. M. I cannot 
speak to this on my ow n knowledge. 

Mr. Brougham. I wish to ask who 
was in the carriage besides his Royal 
Highness and his Lordship, and who sat 
on the side nearest the glass which was 
broken ?—Lord J. M. The Master of the 
Horse (the Duke of Montrose) was in 
the carriage, and sat on the side where the 
glass was broken. 

Mr. Brougham.—D id his Lordship ob¬ 
serve at the bottom of the carriage any 
thing but the splinters of glass ?—Lord J. 
Murray. 1 only observed the splinters 
of glass at the bottom of the opposite door 
of the carriage. 

Mr. Brougham. I wish to know whe- 
ther the large stone which afterwards 
broke the glass entered the carriage ?— 
Lord J. Murray. No ; the plate glass is 
very thick , and the stone did not enter. 

Lord Cochrane. Was the window 
which was broken next his Royal High¬ 
ness ?—Lord J. Murray. H. R. II. sat in 
the middle of the carriage. 

Lord Milton. I wish to know whe¬ 
ther the stone which was subsequently 
thrown smashed the window, or merely 
starred the glass? —Lord J. Murray. It 
not only smashed the window, but pounded 
the glass. 

M~r. Wynne ( we believe). Was not the 
glass of an unusual thickness ?—Lord J. 
Murray. It was remarkably thick. 

Sir R. Heron. Who were the persons 
on the outside of the carriage nearest the 
window when thus struck, whether sol¬ 
diers or others Lord J. Murraa. 
There was one footman on the side of tlie 
door, and one of the Life-Guards imme¬ 
diately behind him, but no soldier oppo¬ 
site the window. 

A Member asked whether his Lordship 
supposed that the BULLETS perforated 
any other part of the carriage at all ? 


[10 

Lord J. Murray. Whether they perfo¬ 
rated any other part of the carriage, I do 
not know , but I SUPPOSE they did. 

His Lordship was then ordered to with¬ 
draw. 

The Chan, of the Ex. then moved, that 
the House do adopt the Address of the 
House of Lords, which having been again 
read, it was agreed to —nemine cvntradi- 
cente . 

The feelings of the House being over¬ 
powered by the Examination of Lord J 
Murray, it adjourned at half-past eight 
o’clock. 

It appears that the Prince Regent 
left Carlton-house at half-past one o’clock, 
and repaired to St. James’s Palace, from 
which place it is the etiquette for the 
royal procession to start. After some for¬ 
malities usual on these occasions, the Re¬ 
gent took his seat in the state carriage, 
accompanied by the Duke of Montrose 
and Lord James Murray; the other at¬ 
tendants followed in other carriages. The 
grenadier guards were on duty, and saluted 
the Regent with the accustomed ho¬ 
nours, except that the band did not play, 
nor did the trumpets of the life-guards 
sound, on account of the indisposition of 
the Duchess of Cumberland, who was 
delivered the day before of a dead child. 
From the same motive there was no firing 
of cannon on the entrance of the Regent 
into the House of Lords, nor on his depar¬ 
ture from it. In the decorative part of the 
procession, there was nothing new, except 
the helmets of the life-guards, which are 
on the plan of those of the French cuiras- 
sieurs, and seemed to the unwarlike eyes 
of the Reporter to the Times preposte¬ 
rously large. He says, that the proces¬ 
sion to the House was not seriously dis¬ 
turbed ; nor was there such expression 
of disapprobation as to excite alarm.— 
“ It is probable, however,” he remarks, 
“ that his Royal Highness observed this 
“ unfavourable disposition of part of the 
“ mob ; for it appeared to us, that his man- 
“ ner of delivering the speech was that, of 
“ one whose spirits were someivhat depres- 
“ sed; at all events, the voice of his Royal 
“ Highness was not so strong and distinct. 
“ as we have been used to hear it.” 

On the Regent’s return, the most of¬ 
fensive epithets were applied to him as he 
passed along in the State Carriage, guard¬ 
ed on both sides by a strong escort of 
Guards and Constables. The crowding, 
clamour, and insults increased, but cries 
of “ God save the King,” and huzzas were 
mixed with the vociferation* personally 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[12 


i'] 

offensive to the Regent After the caval¬ 
cade had entered the Park, at the Horse 
Guards—and it had proceeded about half 
way down the Mall, the window was shat¬ 
tered as described by Lord J. Murray.— 
From the small puncture of the points 
from which the cracks in the pane radi¬ 
ated, it was at first thought to have hap¬ 
pened by the accidental contact of an 
officer’s sword, riding along side, and who 
might have been pressed by the crowd 
against the carriage, or that fragments of 
gravel had been thrown up against the 
glass by the horses’ hoofs, or that it had 
been done intentionally—but these ideas, 
says the Morning Chronicle, were 
discountenanced: an ALARM was there¬ 
fore excited that it MIGHT have proceeded, 
from an AIR GUN !!! 

Lord James Murray’s evidence goes to 
show that, between Carlton-1louse Gar- ! 
dens and the Stable-yard gate, one glass of 
the State Coach was struck three times 
and broken, and his Lordship had “ not 
the least doubt it was fractured by BUL¬ 
LETS.” Some allowance must of course 
be made tor the Noble Lord’s being so 
confident , when it is recollected that in 
answer to the first question put to him in 
the House, he said, “ I am a LORD of the 
BEDCHAMBER!” In remarking on 
this Noble Lord’s conduct, the Editor of 
the Times, with great good sense says, 

“ after some consideration, we are in- 
* ( dined to differ from his Lordship. In 
“ the first place no gun or pistol was seen, 

“ no smoke appeared, no report was 
“ heard, NO BULLET has been FOUND. 

* l It is true, that an air-gun would have 
“ emitted no smoke, and that the report 
“ from it would be but trifling— still 
“ there would be A BULLET ; and yet no 
“ such substance is found, though one glass 
“ window was broke, and the other was 
“ unbroken. If there had been a bullet 
“ fired, it must have been in the coaeh, 

41 for though a stone might rebound from 
44 the glass, a bullet would not.” 

The Courier —in perfect consistency 
with its character, as the great Gong of a 
desperate faction, who would dungeon 
the best men in the country, and stab 
the Constitution to its very vitals—this 
machine has been set in motion to ring 
the tocsin of alarm as quickly and as 
loudly as possible, and in the execution of 
this insurrectionary duty, it asserts that 
the REGENT himself was aware that he 
had been FIRED at. The Regent how¬ 
ever has not ventured to say any such 
thing yet , but if he does , it will very much 


illustrate the assertion, if the people are 
indulged with the publication of a Draw¬ 
ing which His Royal Highness is said to 
have made with his own hand, of the per¬ 
forated glass before it was smashed in: 
provided, however, that it be a fac-simile 
of the pane, and not a sketch from me¬ 
mory assisted by the recollection of the 
Noble Lord of the Bedchamber, who, 
there is “ n&t the least doubt," was very 
much FRIGHTENED, and who, accord¬ 
ing to the British Press, “ thrust his 
HAT into the broken window"—to pre¬ 
vent the entrance of ANY MORE BUL¬ 
LETS ! !!—“ and held it there until the 
Carriage drove into the Stable Yard.” 
Well done, Lord James Murray! No¬ 
body, who reads his Lordship’s evidence, 
and considers the material composing the 
BULLETS, will Ihmk of looking for 
! them beyond his Lordship’s head. 


The House’s 

TREATMENT OF REFORM. 


HOUSE OF COMMONS. 

January 20, 1817. 

Lord Cochrane said, he had several 
petitions to present, praying for a reform 
of Parliament, which it appeared to him 
desirable and necessary to have laid on the 
table previous to the important discussions 
which were expected to take place on 
their contents. In these petitions, or the 
meetings of the bodies who signed them, 
he knew of nothing calculated to excite 
riots or disorders. The public opinion was 
general on the subject of these petitions, 
and he therefore thought the House oughl 
to consider the subject, and to know the 
public opinion. One petition which he 
had to present was, as he was informed, 
from no fewer than 20,700 inhabitants of 
Bristol, held on the 26th of December : 
some parts of this petition he should take 
the liberty of reading. The petition stated 
the general distresses of the country ; that 
the gaols were filled with insolvents, the 
poor-houses with paupers, and the streets 
with beggars ; that the enormous amounts 
of taxation and debt were the real causes 
of the nation’s misery, and, combined with 
the objects of placemen, pensioners, and 
sinecurists, the enormous civil list, the 
military establishment of 150,000 men in 
profound peace, were a gross insult to the 
understanding. It next stated the evils of 
the system of paper money, the continu- 









13] 


February 1, 1817. 


ance and extension ©f which had so 
greatly occasioned property to change 
hands, and affected the fanner and trades¬ 
man almost to ruin, and the lower classes 
to starvation. Its prayer was for equal 
suffrage, and annual Parliaments, as the 
only remedies. The public grievances 
could not be remedied by members who 
w r ere the tools of an oligarchy of borough- 
mongers, but a reform in the Commons’or 
people s House, and by voting by ballot to 
prevent undue influence. Lord Cochrane 
said, that it appeared to him the times 
would be very portentous, if the House 
refused to consider the prayer of this and 
other petitions immediately. He knew in 
his own heart, that in his conduct he was 
guided only by love of his country, as he 
ever had and should be. He wished to 
see what there was of improper or dange¬ 
rous tendency in the petition. {Murmur). 
He trusted for silence in the House while 
he was reading it. 

The Speaker observed, that the Noble 
Lord should first state the substance ofthe 
petition. Then, if the House pleased, the 
clerk read it: but it was not in order for the 
Noble Lord to read it prematurely. {Hear.) 

Lord Cochrane said, he had often 
regretted, when petitions did not agree 
with the views of some gentlemen, that 
the reading of them was interrupted with 
much coughing and clamour, so that 
none could hear them. As this petition 
was signed by so many persons, and as 
the speech and address evidently alluded 
to coercion, he wished to shew' what it 
w'as that the people desired previously to 
future deliberations. He regretted, too, 
that they were read sometimes by the 
clerk, t© whom he meant no disrespect, 
in a tone of voice not sufficiently audible : 
he therefore hoped now a patient hearing. 
He only said this as an admonition to the 
House. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer 
spoke to order. 

The Speaker spoke to order. 

LordCocHRANE did not wish to interrupt 
or depart from the orders of the House ; 
he therefore only moved, that the petition 
be read in an audible voice. This was par¬ 
ticularly necessary after what the speech 
contained. But lie must challenge any 
person to state, that he had seen, at any 
of the meetings for Reform, any indicati¬ 
ons of a disposition to subvert the consti¬ 
tution, or any such disorderly conduct as 
would require the interference of the mili¬ 
tary. { Hear.) What had been the fact at 
Bristol ? Why, that a police officer made 


[14 

attempts which might have produced a 
riot. So again at the Spafields meeting, 
a set of people came from the Old Bailey, 
who had been seeing a man hanged there 
that morning. The others who were said 
to be disorderly, were starving Sailors , 
who had fought the battles of their coun¬ 
try under Lord Nelson, Lord St. Vincent 
and others, who were now disbanded, 
and not like the army. (Order , order.) 

The Speaker observed, that the Noble 
Lord was again wrong. He should exercise 
his right in the regular forms Of the House. 

Mr. Webber thought, from the tone, 
words, and manner of the Noble Lord, 
something might be suspected of indeco¬ 
rum in the petition. The Noble Lord had 
used the strong expression of an “ admo¬ 
nition" to the House. There Was some¬ 
thing peculiar in this word, as well as in 
the Noble Lord’s tone and manner, which 
was not decorous. He hoped the Noble 
Lord would say this Petition was respect¬ 
ful. 

The Petition was then read by the 
clerk. 

Mr. Protheroe (Member for Bristol) 
said, not one of his constituents had applied 
to him to support the Petition; which, it 
was his thorough conviction, did not speak 
the sentiments of his constituents, or of the 
inhabitants of Bristol. {Hear, hear! ) 

Mr. Hart Davis (Member for Bristol) 
said, he believed that net one hundredth 
part of the population of Bristol attended 
the meeting concerning this Petition. He 
could therefore proclaim for the great body 
of the people of Bristol their objection 
to it, and protest for them against it. 
The story of the peace-officer endeavour¬ 
ing to make a riot he had not heard 
before. 

The Ch. of the Ex. had listened to the 
Petition, and though he was far from ap¬ 
proving it, he saw no necessity to depart 
so far from usual practice as to refuse to let 
it lie on the table. {Hear!) Ordered to 
lie on the table. 

Lord Cochrane rose to press its consi¬ 
deration on the House. {Order.) 

The Ch. of the Ex. spoke to order, as 
no question was before the House, which 
the Speaker confirmed. 

Lord Cochrane then presented a Peti¬ 
tion on the same subject from the town of 
Wick, at Saddleworth in Yorkshire. 

After the clerk read it, 

.The Ch. of the Ex.s aid, the other had 
certainly gone very far in its language; but 
did not directly attack the whole opinions 
and conduct of the House, The present 




HoNt’ii Reformists’ Register. 


[•« 


15] 

one was actually a libel upon the whole 
opinions, conduct, and orders of the House. 

Lord Cochrane observed, that, sitting 
where he did, he had been unable to hear 
distinctly a word that was read, from the 
noise that was heard! 

Sir William Harrow (Attorney Ge¬ 
neral) said, that he himself had heard it 
distinctly; and he would state without 
difficulty, if the Noble Lord thought fit to 
invite a new reading of it, that it was from 
the beginning to the end of it, a contrived, 
deliberate , and determined libel on the 
House. 

Lord Cochrane assenting to this, the 
clerk read it again. It was worded in 
very strong terms. It stated, among other 
matters, that the House did not in any 
constitutional or rational sense represent 
t.he nation; and, by its inadequacy of re- 
presentation and corruptions, subverted 
the principles of the constitution. It com¬ 
plained of enormous taxation, and observ¬ 
ed, that the cause of the war in 1793 was 
well understood, though possibly its con¬ 
trivers did not originally intend its evils to 
extend to such a magnitude and duration. 
Now the eyes of the people were opening, 
and our wicked rulers saw it. They were 
shocked at the proceedings of contending 
factions, who were alike forgetful of the 
nation’s interests, in their party views, and 
their repeated, protracted, and disgusting 
debates. Petitioners saw nothing in their 
discussions, except that the lash of uncon¬ 
stitutional taxation was to be kept applied 
to the poor. Taxation and representation 
ought to go hand in hand. There was no 
way to prevent the establishment of de¬ 
spotism but by having a free Parliament^ 
Through the conduct of boroughmongers. 
the people could not pay taxes. They 
prayed for a Jaw to give the aggrieved 
people their rights of equal representation 
and annual Parliaments, which they should 
exert every constitutional means to obtain. 
(Hear.) 

Mr. Brougham said, that he expect¬ 
ed it to be very different from what he 
had just heard. The Learned Gentle¬ 
man had characterised it as being, from 
beginning to end, in all its parts, a deli¬ 
berate slander upon the House. It be¬ 
gan and ended with a desire and argu¬ 
ment for a Parliamentary Reform. This 
desirable object might have been ob¬ 
tained, if the Petitioners had enjoyed the 
benefit of the advice and assistance of 
that consummate advocate, the Learned 
Attorney-General, particularly if he were 
a sincere friend to the cause.— (Hear!) 


Some years ago, indeed, they might have 
received such support.— (Hear!) He 
beaded to declare his dissent from some 
of the doctrines contained in the Petition. 
He was an enemy to the plan of univer¬ 
sal suffrage, as he would be to anyone 
which led to the destruction of Ihe con¬ 
stitution of Parliament, and not to its 
amendment, which never could be se¬ 
cured but by the security of property. 
The Petitioners maintained that the 
Members of that House did not fairly 
represent the people in Parliament. If 
their opinions were wrong, let them be 
confuted by reasoning. The allusions 
to the parties and debates in that House, 
were certainly neither judicious nor 
temperate ; but, in times like these, they 
ought not to be too chary in criticising 
the Petitions of the people. 

Mr. Canning asked, when these Peti¬ 
tions said, not only that the people were 
not represented in that House, but farther, 
that, the House had subverted the Con¬ 
stitution, what was the natural effect 
of such language but the encouragement 
even of rebellion ? He could not consent 
to accept from Petitioners direct asser¬ 
tions that the House and Country were 
under no legal Constitution. His Learn¬ 
ed Friend’s objections were, therefore, 
founded on the true, undoubted, and un¬ 
coil tested principles of our Constitution. 
(Hear!) 

Mr. C. Wynn did not desire to be too 
nice; but, the remarks on the debates, if 
permitted, might give rise to people con¬ 
stantly criticising and revising their whole 
proceedings. No doubt the Petition was 
intended to insult them. 

Mr. R r a n o h a d a t fen ded m uch to Pe¬ 
titions and discussions of this nature, and 
on hearing this read, he hesitated at first, 
because it denied that the House repre¬ 
sented the people. He did not know what 
might have been the language of Parlia¬ 
ment on this subject, ana perhaps he could 
not speak parliamentarily, but he could 
historically, and he was quite certain that 
the Parliament had not at all periods, been 
the representatives of the people; he 
therefore felt anxious to see if this Petition 
could be received ; and surely for a mere 
want of courtesy, for a little intechnicality 
in language, it ought not to be altogether 
rejected, Surely, in common language, 
it was allowable to say, the : onstitution 
was at an end, without incurring the im¬ 
putation of a wish for disorder or rebel¬ 
lion. He saw no reason why the Petition 
should be rejected, for containing expres- 



17] 


FilBKUAttY 1, 1817. 


[18 


sions, which, at most, were unguarded ; 
aud lie should indeed lament, if the House' 
should be stimulated by this language, to 
adopt a course, which must disgust all 
who were temperate in their views, and 
the real friends of the Constitution. 

Lord Cochrane regretted that any 
thing appeared improper in the language 
of the Petition, knowing, as he did, that 
all men. were not equal to balance the 
nice subtleties of language. This was not 
the time for him to express any opinion 
on the sufferings of the nation and their 
extent: the Petitions were only now 
brought up, that the House might know 
the sentiments of the people, before they 
discussed that part of the Prince Regent's 
speech which alluded to the prevailing spirit 
of disaffection. He had carefully perused 
the various Petitions now presented, and 
it had not occurred to him, that any of 
them contained a sentiment derogatory 
to the dignity of that House, or to the 
dignity which the House ought always 
to support. That in various discus¬ 
sions on Parliamentary Reform, some im¬ 
proper expressions had escaped in the 
heat of argument, there might be no 
doubt; but iiesaw nothing in the present 
Petition that could be deemed of such a 
nature; and he should now merely move, 
that the Petition be received; considering 
as he did, that it was the duty of the 
House to receive the sentiments of the 
people, and not reject them on tire ground 
of a mere technical informality. 

The Hon. W r . Ramb, after the language 
that had fallen from his Lordship on so 
many public meetings, thought it impos¬ 
sible not to feel convinced of the sincerity ., 
ofiiis expressions on the present occasion. 
As for the Petit ion, it at least had this 
merit, that it requested the House to frame 
and pass a Bill, while many of the Meet¬ 
ings that had been held wished to send a. 
Bill ready framed, that might at once de¬ 
mand the sanction of the House; much in 
the same manner as Sergeant Maynard, 
in the time of the Republic, recommended 
that a King should be created by Act of 
'Parliament, to give his assent to a Bill for 
abrogating the office of a King altogether. 
There was nothing in the present Petition 
that dictated terms to Parliament; and, 
on the whole, he thought it should be suf¬ 
fered to lie on the Table, 

Mr. Bragge Bathurst considered it 
altogether a libel to assert, that the House 
did not represent the, people ; they had for 
ages been lawfully constituted in the same 
mode i.s at present. Jf, indeed, this Pe¬ 


tition were received, the House must re 
eeive all others, however insulting; and 
this had clearly for its object, to insult the 
Parliament to, which it applied for relief. 
The Hon. Gentleman concluded most 
strongly against, receiving the Petition. 

Mr. F. Doug cas supported the motion 
for the reception of the Petition. If it 
were to be rejected on the ground of its 
alleging that the House did not represent 
The people, the House must on that 
ground reject every Petition that had for 
its object the Reform of Parliament. He 
thought that the rejection of the Petitiou 
might tend to increase the disaffection that 
had been complained of, and that if the 
House wished to check that spirit, thev 
must be indulgent to all sentiments that 
might be offered for their reception. 

Sir S. Romilly maintained, that the 
Petition ought to be received. On his 
conscience, he thought it was not design¬ 
ed as an insult to the House ; and that it 
contained no more than an expression of 
the real sentiments of those who had sub¬ 
scribed it. It had been alleged, that to 
say the House did not fairly represent the? 
j people, was indicative of an intention to 
I subvert the Constitution; but if this were 
i so, how could persons,say, that any matter 
; was unconstitutional, without being aecu- 
> seel of. using language subversive of the 
i Constitution. 

Mr. G. Grant contended that such a pe¬ 
tition should be unequivocally, rejected, 
on the ground of intentional disrespect. 

Sir W. Geary observed that lie could 
not give a silent vote on this occasion. 
If a petition, such as the present, were to 
, be refused, he could not see how any pe¬ 
tition on the -subject of reform could 
ever be admitted. The question under 
consideration of the petitioners was whe¬ 
ther they were well represented or not, 
and he could not see in what other man¬ 
ner that question could be expressed. 
The House owed it to every great, man 
who had written or spoken on the-liber¬ 
ties, of the country, to enter on this great 
question : he did not. see how the wishes, 
of the country on the subject were to be. 
ascertained if not by petition ; but even 
if the peopje were silent, the House was. 
bound to proceed itself. Much more was 
the House bound to receive the petition 
after the language of the lion. Gentleman, 
opposite ; language which was contrary 
to every feeling of regard for the consti¬ 
tution ? What! did the Hon. Gentleman 
wish to exclude from the House every ex¬ 
pression of the people ou the subject oi 






Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


19j 

amendment ? Did he think that rebellion 
would follow every discussion of the sub¬ 
ject ? The fact was not so. The people 
desired lawfully to express their senti¬ 
ments, and if ever there was a petition to 
which the doors of the House should be 
open, it was the present. 

The House having divided on the ques¬ 
tion, whether the petition should lie on 
the table, the numbers were—Ayes, 48.— 
Noes, 135. 

On the gallery being opened, the clerk 
was occupied in reading another petition, 
similar to the former. The question be¬ 
ing put, that the petition do lie on the 
table, 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer 
said, he need not. take up the time of the 
House. Worded in nearly the same man¬ 
ner as the former, the House might judge, 
from the similarity of the language in 
both petitions, whether they were an ex¬ 
pression of the sentiments of the people, 
or the artful dictation of factious dema¬ 
gogues. {Hear, hear, hear.) 

Lord Cochrane said, he was in every 
respect ignorant of the views of the Peti¬ 
tioners, or how the Petitions were drawn 
up. They were put into his hands, and 
he considered it his bounden duty to pre¬ 
sent them. As to their tendency he 
would venture to say, with regard to him¬ 
self, that, notwithstanding all the misre¬ 
presentations which had gone abroad, 
there was no man in the country more sin¬ 
cerely attached to good order and to the 
Government than he was. But that 
abuses have crept into the Constitution, 
which ought to be instantly corrected, 
was a truth which no man, at all ac¬ 
quainted with the history of the country, 
could deny. It was therefore by no means 
proper for them to cavil nicely about Ihe 
mere form or construction of words, but 
to receive the Petitions of the People, as 
thus only could the sense of the Country 
be known. By rejecting these Petitions he 
was afraid the People would be too success¬ 
fully irritated , and consequently too much 
scope be given for the exercise of those 
coercive measures alluded to in the Speech 
delivered yesterday from the Throne. He 
was conscious that in presenting these Pe¬ 
titions he was doing nothing more than 
his duty. He remembered very well the 
time he was first returned as a Member to 
the House, which was for the Borough of 
Honiton, and on which occasion the town 
bellman was sent through the town to 
order the voters to come to Mr. Town¬ 
send’s, the head man in that place and a 


[20 

banker, to receive 101. 10s. [Hear, and a 
laugh.] This was the truth, and he w ould 
ask, how could he in that situation be 
called a representative of the people in 
the legitimate constitutional sense of that 
word. He knew very well, that had 
universal suffrage been then the law, he 
must, have had to pay 20,000 persons; 
and though he was now conscious that he 
had done wrong, he assured the House 
that that was the very way by which he 
had been returned [Hear, hear!'] If any 
Member disputed it, he could only say he 
was willing to shew the hills and vouchers 
which he had for the money [a, general 
laugh]. He had no doubt but there were 
very many in that House who had been re¬ 
turned by similar means [ hear , hear!]. 
His motive, he was now fully convinced, 
was wrong, decidedly wrong, but as he 
came home pretty well flushed with Spa¬ 
nish money, he had found this Borough 
open and he took it, and he was sure he 
would have been returned had he been 
Lord Camelford's black servant, or his 
great dog [a laugh]. He was persuaded 
the House would believe him actuated by 
the purest motives in presenting such Pe¬ 
titions as he did. It was not now the 
proper period to enter into any discussion 
respecting the object of these Petitions, 
but he felt himself bound to say, that 
were a Petition put into his hands, he 
should have no hesitation in presenting it 
to the House, even though it differed ma¬ 
terially from his own opinions. He trust¬ 
ed the time was not far distant when the 
House would see that he never presumed 
to state, in that House, a single circum¬ 
stance which he was not. fully prepared to 
prove. He had already expressed his 
hope, that even from regard to public 
tranquillity the House would condescend 
to receive the Petitions of the People, and 
he now begged leave to say, he fondly 
trusted they would make every allowance 
for that irritation of feeling which had 
unhappily obtained possession of the pub¬ 
lic mind from the public wrongs. 

Mr. Canning thought, that after the 
House had rejected one petition couched 
in the same language as that now read, the 
Noble Lord was not acting most benefi¬ 
cially for the petitioners without allowing 
them an opportunity of amending the lan¬ 
guage of their application. 

Lord Cochrane consented to withdraw 
the petition. 

Lord Cochrane said, that he held in 
his hand a petition from the township of 
Lees, in the parish of Ashton-under- Line* 





21] February 1, 1817. [22 


containing complaints of excessive tax¬ 
ation, &c., and praying for reform, which 
he moved should be read. 

The petition was accordingly brought 
up and read. It stated, that the petitioners 
did not approach the House with feelings 
of revenge, although the mad Quixotism 
of the proceedings of Government for the 
last £5 years had brought the nation to 
the brink of ruin. It stated, as the de¬ 
cided opinion of the petitioners, that the 
kingdom would continue impoverished 
while such immense sums were squan¬ 
dered in useless pensions, &c.; and that 
this lamentable condition of public affairs 
would never have been brought about, 
had the whole of the people beeai in the 
Honourable House (a laugh), or duly re¬ 
presented. It therefore prayed, that'~the 
nation might be put in possession of its 
constitutional rights by means of universal 
suffrage and annual Parliaments. This 
petition was received, and ordered to be 

i 

laid upon the table. 

Lord Cochrane then presented a peti¬ 
tion from the town of Oldham, in the 
county palatine of Lancaster, stating a 
long list of grievances, and attributing 
the distresses of the country to the pres¬ 
sure of an enormous load of taxation, im¬ 
posed for the purpose of carrying on long 
and ruinous wars, for objects detestable 
“ to every religious and well-thinking be¬ 
ing to an extravagant war expenditure; 
to an overgrown civil list; to unmerited 
pensions and sinecure places; to grants 
conferred on French and Dutch emigrants, 
to corn bills, that raised the price of pro¬ 
visions; all which evils were owing to 
the state of the representation. It there¬ 
fore prayed for Parliamentary Reform, by 
the adoption of universal suffrage and an¬ 
nual elections. Ordered to lie on the table. 

The Noble Lord next presented a pe¬ 
tition from the town of Ashtou-under- 
Line. The petition was brought up, and 
the clerk having begun to read it. 

The Ch. of the Ex. asked if it was 
not couched in the very identical language 
of the one that had been rejected by the 
House, and of the other that had been 
withdrawn? 

Lord Cochrane answered, that if the 
Right Hon. Gent, or any other Hon. Mem¬ 
ber would say it was the same, he would 
withdraw it. 

It was accordingly read, and found to 
be the same, and was rejected without a 
division. 

Lord Cochrane presented another pe¬ 
tition from Oldham, in Lancashire. 


Upon the motion that it be brought up. 

Lord Stanley, though one of the re¬ 
presentatives of the county from which 
many of these petitions came, and al¬ 
though the petitioners had not chosen to 
honour him with their applications, yet he 
suggested, from the interest he took in 
their affairs, that it would be better to 
withdraw their petition for amendment, 
if couched in the terms to which the 
House had objected, than to risk its rejec¬ 
tion by pressing it at the present moment. 

Lord Cochrane said the petitions were 
given him to present as a Member of the 
House, but he knew nothing about the 
petitioners. 

Lord Stanley again pressed the ques¬ 
tion if the petition was the same; to which 
Lord Cochrane replied, that it was in part 
the same, but it complained, in addition 
to the grievances stated in the former one, 
of the money given to French emigrants. 

Mr. C. W. Wynne asked if the lan¬ 
guage of this, in the judgment of the Noble 
Lord, was as disrespectful to t he House as 
the one it bad rejected? If it did, surely 
the Noble Lord was not conducting him¬ 
self with due regard to the feelings of the 
House if he persisted in pressing its read- 
ing. 

Mr. Huskisson observed, that the 
prayer of the petition was written on one 
piece of parchment, and the signatures on 
another; and that the latter was merely 
appended to the former. Might not the 
signatures be previously obtained for some 
other object, and affixed to a document 
of which they had no knowledge ? 

The Speaker said the rule was, that 
every paper presented to the House as a 
petition,should have a signature subscribed 
of the parties whose prayer it purported 
to convey. If the uames of the petitioners 
and the application were written on se¬ 
parate papers, and merely attached to 
each other, there was no certainty that 
any authority was ever given for uniting 
them. 

Mr. Canning said, the petition from 
Ashton-under-Line was likewise destitute 
of signatures. 

On the question that the petition be 
brought up, it was negatived without a 
division. 

Sir F. Rijrdett asked, if any man could 
lay his hand upon his heart, and say, that 
he disbelieved that the signatures ap¬ 
pended to the Petition were those of per¬ 
sons who did not concur in it, who had 
not subscribed it, or who did not agree in 
its prayer. Different persons residing in 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


different and distant parts of the country 
might subscribe at different times on a se¬ 
parate paper, detached from the prayer of 
the petition, for the sake of convenience; 
but such a mode of procedure furnished 
no ground for doubting the authenticity 
of the document, when the two papers 
were joined. In all petitions with nu¬ 
merous signatures, there must be some of 
the names on paper, originally discon¬ 
nected with that which contains the body 
■of the application, but this circumstance 
was never made an objection to the re¬ 
ception of such documents. If a Peti¬ 
tion, purporting to be subscribed by seve¬ 
ral hundreds, but which only contained 
six signatures at the bottom of the prayer, 
could be received as the petition of tho^e 
hundreds, why not a Petition that con¬ 
tained only one or none at the bottom, 
but carried them all to a separate paper? 
His opinion was, that the Petitions were 
genuine, and as such should not be re¬ 
jected from the mere want of technical 
form. 

The Attorney General observed 
that the House should be open to grie¬ 
vances and representations of the people, 
but, it should know if thesaternent of these 
grievances and the prayer for relief really 
came from themselves, or were brought 
forward by persons who abused their con¬ 
fidence, in order to inflame public dis¬ 
content. [Hear]. The Noble Lord had 
iso reason to complain of the rejection of 
the petition.. He could give no informa¬ 
tion about the parties: he could not tel! 
who they were—whether they had sub¬ 
scribed, or whether the whole might not 
he a fabrication, of which lie was made 
the dupe. 

Sir F. Burdett thought that the Peo¬ 
ple could not. complain of the prevailing 
system of corruption, in less palatable 
terms than they used on this occasion. 
It >vas necessary for the House to point 
out the precise words in which every Pe¬ 
titioner ought to approach them. He 
knew there were, or might be nearly, 
about a thousand Petitions which would 
soon be presented to them, and most of 
w hich, he was persuaded, would by no 
means be palatable to them. It was ra¬ 
ther curious, that in all Petitions, except, 
mg those of a nature similar to the one 
now before them, this defect of the papers 
containing the names and Petition being 
distinct, was overlooked. It appeared 
now there was no name to this. lie knew 
well the manner in which the Petition 
would have been treated, had it been 


[24 

signed by even one, as it would then have 
been considered merely the Petition of 
one individual. 

Mr. W. Eliot could not consent to re¬ 
ceive a petition the whole tenor of which 
was grossly' insulting to the House. 

Mr. Calvert thought, that as one Pe¬ 
tition was received, precisely similar to 
this in the inode of subscribing their 
names, this one should not be rejected. 

A Member (Mr. Gipps, we understood) 
wished to know if it was the same as 
those rejected. 

Lord Cochrane. I have not had time 
to read it.— (Loud cries of Chair ! Chair!) 

The Speaker. I must inform the No¬ 
ble Lord, that it is always expected 
when a Member presents a Petition, he 
should be able to give some information to 
the House respecting it. The Noble Lord 
may read it now, and gain the information 
he has not yet obtained.— (Hear , hear t 
hear! ) 

Mr. ,W. Wynne. I decidedly object 
to the Petition being received, unless it 
differs from the former. I say, it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary that the fact be establish¬ 
ed, that every Member is responsible for 
the Petitions he presents to the House, 
that every term in these Petitions be re¬ 
spectful to the House. 

Mr. Robinson. The Noble Lord has 
been asked if the Petition be the same as 
those rejected ? 

Mr. H. Martin. Is the Noble Lord 
prepared to say that the Petition has sig¬ 
natures on it ? 

Lord Cochrane. No. 

Spe aker. Then I must, in the discharge 
of my duty to the House, say, that this 
Petition cannot be received. 

Lord Cochrane. Then I understand,’ 
Sir, this is your decision. 

Speaker. The Noble Lord must know 
that this has been the established custom 
of this House for ages.— (Hear., hear !) 

Lord Cochrane presented another pe¬ 
tition from a town near Saddlevvorth, in 
Yorkshire. 

Mr. Canning asked if it was not couch¬ 
ed in the identical words of the one that 
had been rejected ; 

Lord Cochrane answered, it did not 
appear to him to be exactly the same; 
and upon the Speaker’s saying that it 
seemed to be in ierminis the identical 
petition, his lordship replied, that he had 
been so much importuned upon the sub¬ 
ject that he had forgotten the exact words 
of the rejected one, and could not say till 
lie heard it whether this was the same. In 



25] 


February 1 ? IS!7. 



-consequence of this declaration, it was read 
to the end, and his Lordship moved that 
it do lie on the table. 

Mr. Canning appealed to the Noble 
Lord to consider whether he was n©t, by 
persisting in his most objectionable course, 
doing an irreparable injury to the cause 
of the petitioners. God forbid that the 
question of Reform, in whatever view the 
petitioners adopted it, should not be dis¬ 
cussed with all that importance which so 
vital a question imperiously required. 
What security was there in the present 
course, that those Petitions were not the 
work of one hand, as they evidently were 
the emanations of one mind ? 

Lord Cochrane denied that he pressed 
the receiving the Petition from mere per¬ 
tinacity Knowing that they were all the 
same in substance, and forgetting the par¬ 
ticular words objected to, he did not 
think the rejection of one was a sufficient 
reason for refusing to hear another. He 
therefore as a member of the House, exer¬ 
cised his undoubted privilege in laying 
them before it, and in moving that they 
should be received, without intending any 
disrespect or being guilty of any obstinacy. 

Mr. Alderman Smith said the Petitions 
were the manufacture of one hand. 

The Petition was rejected. 

The amendment moved upon the Ad¬ 
dress to the Prince Regent for his 
Speech, was negatived, on a division of 
2£>4 against 112. 

Lord Cochrane then proposed a se- 
eoud amendment to the Address, which, 
after touching upon the general distress of 
the country, and beseeching His Royal 
Highness to rely with confidence upon 
the loyalty and good sense of the great 
body of the People, proceeded :—“ And 
“ this House, with great humility, begs 
“ to assure Your Royal Highness, that 
“ NOT ONE SINGLE INSTANCE 
“ can he discovered, in which MEETINGS 
“ assembled for the purpose of PET I- 
« TiONING FOR PARLIAMENTARY 
“ REFORM, have been accompanied with 
u any attempt to DISTURB the public 
“ tranquillity 

This was succeeded, says the Times, 
P>Y A LOUD LAUGH OF DERI¬ 
SION throughout the whole house. 

The amendment, next adverted to the 
SINECURE PLACES and the CIVIL 
UST, and concluded by earnestly and 
particularly recommending PARLIA¬ 
MENTARY REFORM. His Lordship’s 
Motion was NOT SECONDED, and 
therefore fell to the ground. 


PARLIAMENTARY OPINIONS 

ON 

REFORMISTS AND REFORM, 


HOUSE OF COMMONS . 

JANUARY 28, 1817. 

Lord Valletort (Mover of the Address.) 
—He should now add a few words on the 
late domestic disturbances. We had seen a 
most mischievous spirit di(Fused among the 
poorer classes of the community ; they had 
been told thatParliamentwas acting uncon¬ 
stitutionally ; that it was necessary to effect 
a change in the government , and that the 
remedy for all their grievances would be 
an Annual Parliament. Annual Parlia¬ 
ment was become a watch-word for the 
commencement of disturbance; but the 
same watch-word had formerly been used 
when Ireland was agitated by faction, and 
it was now intended for nothing more 
than a signal for disturbance. L'e trusted 
these disgraceful tumults would agitate 
the country no more; but if it should be 
otherwise, he hoped that, this House would 
have the will and the power to defeat and 
subvert every attempt to destroy the On- 
stitution. Our present distresses arose 
from a cessation of demand; and how wad 
this to be remedied?—by affording secu¬ 
rity to capitalists, and finding out new 
sources of employment. But if our se¬ 
curity were endangered by this spirit of 
anarchy , the capital of the country would 
be drawn off to find a refuge in safer 
quarters. The House had before them a 
delicate and arduous duty: the eyes of the 
whole country were upon them—one part 
of the nation looked to them for relief in 
its distresses, the other for the support of 
property and the Constitution.— (Hear*, 
hear ! ) 

Mr. Dawson (Seconder of the Ad- 
drcss.J —The exertion of a wise Govern¬ 
ment, with the patience of a considerate 
' people, would be found soon to rescue 
from ail our difficulties. But it should be 
recollected that the Government and the 
people had great and imperious duties to 
perform; and it became the people to con¬ 
sider that in encouraging—that in excit¬ 
ing the Government to prosecute the late 
arduous contest—that in participating the 
glories which marked the progress and 
the result of that contest, they were 
bound patiently to bear the burthens, and 
honestly to discharge the debts which. 







Ho ne’s Reformists’ Register. 


[28 


2?J 

through that contest, were inevitably con¬ 
tracted— (Hear, hear !). —From the con¬ 
sideration of this duty then he trusted the 
people of England would never allow 
themselves to be withdrawn by the delu¬ 
sive appeals of those, who under the pre¬ 
tence of petitioning for a redress of griev¬ 
ances, were found haranguing large as¬ 
semblies upon topics which were quite 
above the comprehension of the Vulgar. 
(Hear, hear, hear ! on the Opposition side 
of the House.) —But the design of such 
demagogues could not be misunderstood. 

' Under the pretence of declaiming about 
public distress, those demagogues were in 
fact seeking only their own private interest. 
Such demagogues were indeed as bad as 
the fanatics who went forth with the bi- 
ble in one hand and the sword in the 
other, preaching peace and benevolence, 
while they meditated w ar and bloodshed. 
But he trusted, with the Speech from the 
Throne, that the good sense and loyalty 
of the country would effectually defeat 
those wild and desperate projects. 

Mr. Ponsonby. —He had heard about 
violence abroad, and the efforts of design¬ 
ing men ; he had never countenanced any 
such persons, and had no disposition to do 
so now. ( Hear). But if the Mouse 
wished public confidence, they should 
show that they would not trust merely to 
what Ministers told them, but w ere re¬ 
solved to take the public affairs into their 
own hands : showing the people thatthey 
were not to trust to a set of ministers, but 
to a body of honest and vigilant represen¬ 
tatives. Any other mode w'ould endanger 
the loss of public confidence. 

Hon. Mr. Lambe.— He allowed, in 
their fullest extent, the rights of the peo¬ 
ple to petition for any lawful object, that 
they thought connected with their inte¬ 
rests, privileges, or well-being; he reve¬ 
renced popular meetings, which were re¬ 
gularly and quietly conducted (hear, 
hear) ; he reverenced the rights and the 
privileges which they exercised, and was 
disposed to attend to their representations 
as much as any man ; but when such as¬ 
semblies proceeded to violence, when 
they led to breaches of the peace, he 
(Mr. L.) was for vigorous and immediate 
repression. (Hear, hear.) This conduct 
he w ould recommend, not only from mo¬ 
tives of public security, but from motives 
of tenderness and mercy to the deluded 
persons themselves. [Hear, hear.] He 
deprecated all breaches of the peace, dis¬ 
turbance, and riot, not only for their im¬ 
mediate effects, but for their ultimate con¬ 


sequences. Tumult for liberty and right 
was not only dangerous and destructive, 
but was also a liar, and never kept its 
promises. (Loud cries of hear, hear.) It 
led, in the end, through scenes of anarchy 
and blood, to a political tyranny, or mili¬ 
tary despotism ; the more fatal in its na¬ 
ture, and the more hopeless in its conse¬ 
quences, from the circumstance, that the 
people were taught to take refuge under 
their protection from the more appalling 
evils of insecurity and confusion. (Hear, 
hear, hear.) 

Mr. C. Grant.— With regard to the 
disturbances that had occurred, he trusted 
there was but one opinion in that House 
upon the subject. There was a spirit at 
work throughout, the country, of a most 
malicious and daring character, which at¬ 
tempted to pervert our distresses into an 
instrument of disloyalty and sedition. 
The effect of its machinations, if indulged, 
would be the subversion of the Constitu¬ 
tion. He was far from confounding with 
those incendiaries, the individuals who, 
from motives which he believed to he sin¬ 
cere and honourable, however much he 
might differ from them, sought a Consti¬ 
tutional Reform. But the history of all 
ages proved, that the most wise and vir¬ 
tuous, in the attainment of their object, 
had sometimes employed as auxiliaries, 
instruments who ultimately became their 
masters and their tyrants, and therefore 
the danger was to be guarded against. 


HOUSE OF LORDS. 

Jan. 29, 1817- 

Earl Grey. (Alluding to the Attack 
on the Regent.)—1 rejoice to add, that on 
the best consideration 1 have been able to 
give to the statements made on that sub¬ 
ject, I am persuaded, that however hei¬ 
nous the offence in itself, and however 
justly exciting our indignation, there do 
not appear any strong grounds for sus¬ 
pecting that any criminal design was en¬ 
tertained against his Royal Highness’s life. 
1 am anxious to state this because I see no 
advantage that tins country could derive, 
either at home or in the eyes of Europe, 
from its being supposed that there could 
be found an individual capable of contem¬ 
plating so detestable an act. It is not an 
occurrence that calls for any thing bat the 
usual operation of the law as it stands 
(hear, hear, hear! ) My Lords, that it U 
in human nature, wdien distressed, to ex- 





29 ] 


February 

press its discontent, who will deny? A 
free people will sometimes express their 
feelings in a manner not the most guarded. 
Nobody has been more obnoxious to popu¬ 
lar assemblies than myself. On no man 
have more severe remarks been made.— 
But, my Lords, l am far from thinking 
uncharitably of these individuals. Though 
I extremely disapprove of their views, 
which if they could be carried into effect 
(and I am persuaded they cannot) would 
prove most pernicious, 1 believe many of 
them to have sincerely good intentions. 

I should be very sorry to confound them 
all under one character.—1 should be very 
sorry to believe that there existed iu any 
great number of them a disposition to 
overthrow the Constitution. 1 should 
therefore most deeply regret, if what has 
occurred, should be made the pretext for 
introducing new laws, inconsistent with 
the true spirit of the British Constitution 
(hear, hear , hear!) If any individuals 
should appear to be animated with evil 
designs, that ought, not to be advanced as 
a reason for depriving the people of Eng¬ 
land, who have borne the heavy burdens 
imposed on them with patience so exem¬ 
plary, of their constitutional rights and 
privileges—their best possessions and their 
best hopes. If such be the conduct that 
your Lordships should unfortunately pur¬ 
sue, will not the people of England with 
justice exclaim—we sought for bread, and 
are requited with a stone (hear, hear!)? 
Will yon shew them that the Parliament 
are more anxious to limit their rights than 
to relieve their wants —to fetter the voice 
of complaint rather than attend to tiie 
prayer of their aggravated distresses? 

Earl Harrowby. —In common with 
the Noble Earl (Grey,) he felt for the out¬ 
rage that yesterday engaged the attention 
of their Lordships. lie felt the deepest 
abhorrence and detestation, at the same 
time that hs could not entertain the doubt, 
that appeared to hang upon the Noble 
Earl's mind, as to the intention of the out¬ 
rageous attempt. lie could not see greater 
elucidation in the evidence on the former 
attempt on the life of the King, than was 
now proved in the attempt on the Prince 
Regent. So far as the actual evidence 
before the House—were there not confir¬ 
matory reasons for the same opinions in 
the state of the public mind, and the re¬ 
prehensible and seditious endeavours to 
delude and prejudice it ? Was it astonish¬ 
ing after the dissemination of so many 
PUBLICATIONS tending to excite odi¬ 
um and hatred against the illustrious per- 


1 , 1817 . [30 

sonage at the head of the Government, 
hat an impression of rancour was excited 
amongst misguided persons smarting under 
distress, and too prone to listen to base 
calumniators ? Rather was it not natural 
to expect that doctrines of such a tendency 
had fallen on the soil congenial to the pro¬ 
duction of their natural fruit [hear, hear /] 
that the base attempt on the Prince Re¬ 
gent was the expected result ? The asto¬ 
nishment would be, that outrage had not 
resulted, or that the aggressors were not 
more numerous—when every person con¬ 
nected with the Government of the coun¬ 
try had been represented as living by 
public extortion, as fattening on the public 
spoil. 

Marquis Wellesley. -He must 

clearly express his notion of all the idle 
theories of Reform that had met his eye or 
ear. However different in their forms, 
all those which he had lately seen or 

V 

heard of, seemed to be in total and com¬ 
plete subversion of the Constitution of 
the Kingdom. They talked of universal 
suffrage and annual election as inherent 
rights, when at no time and in no manner 
could they be proved to be consistent 
with the present frame of our Consti¬ 
tution^—Thank God, they were as im¬ 
practicable as they were unsound. Uni¬ 
versal suffrage !—The idea was utterly 
ridiculous applied to a people like that of 
the United Kingdom. To make the House 
of Commons the simple organ of demo¬ 
cracy was at variance with the very first 
principle of our three-fold system. Nay, 
our system was more than three-fold. 
There was a mysterious amalgamation that 
matted all the branches into one another , 
giving them kindred and connection even 
in their distinctness. The balanced na¬ 
ture of the Government therefore led to 
the balanced nature of the representation, 
and all attempts to change it, so as to take 
away the intermixture and relation that 
now existed, would be no other than a Re¬ 
volution —a Revolution as ruinous to the 
people themselves as to the Government 
which they sought to destrov. 

Lord Sidmouth. —RETRENCHMENT 
HAD BEEN CARRIED AS FAR AS 
POSSIBLE, consistent with the interests 
of the country; it would be for the House 
to consider whether it should be carried 
farther. THE REDUCTION IN THE 
ARMY WAS LOWER THAN SOUND 
POLICY WOULD PERHAPS AL¬ 
LOW, and it had in fact aggravated the 
distress, by increasing the number of per 
sons out of employment- 





31] 


Hone’s Hepormists 1 Register. 


[32 


HOUSE OF COMMONS. 


January 29 , 1817. 

Mr. CurWen. —Upon the important 
question of Parliamentary Reform, he 
had always entertained but one opinion; 
and the words of Mr. Pitt, at the conclu¬ 
sion of the American war, seemed almost 
prophetic—“ That we could not have 
“ indemnity for the past, nor security for 
c< the future, without it." While the peo¬ 
ple were smarting under present distresses 
their language might not always be tem¬ 
perate, but their conduct would always be 
loyal, and they had too much love for the 
Crown, and for the benefits they enjoyed 
under it, to wish for a moment to adopt 
any of tire wild schemes of a few infatu¬ 
ated individuals. Their love did not de¬ 
pend upon the individual whose brow it 
circled; but if the Prince Regent had 
been anxious to make himself popular, lie 
ought to have set the example of retrench¬ 
ment, and to have abridged himself of a 
few of his luxuries, that his people might 
not be deprived of the absolute necessa¬ 
ries of life. (Heart hear , hear.) 

Mr. Brougham— said he was an ene¬ 
my, as much as any man, to certain delu¬ 
sions practised out of doors, respecting 
rights that never had an existence. He 
despised such efforts from the bottom of 
his heart. To say that the whole of our 
grievances were owing to the waut of an 
equal representation of the people, was a 
great exaggeration. But the intolerable 
weight of taxes stood foremost in his opi¬ 
nion, in causing a continuance of the suf¬ 
ferings under which we laboured. He 
concluded with repeating his desire for a 
Committee on the State of the Nation, 
which would prove that, our only alterna¬ 
tive was retrenchment or national bank¬ 
ruptcy. 

Mr. Canning.— It has been asked, 
were those who assembled to petition the 
Legislature to be treated as insurgents > 
Certainly not. But; did those who pro¬ 
fessed that purpose always adhere strictly 
to the execution of it ? He had heard of 
a meeting in Spafields called for the pur¬ 
pose of petitioning; but he had also heard 
of a waggon laden with ammunition [in 
the foot of an old Stocking ! Ed.] that was 
there also, and to him this appeared no 
necessary appendage to a petition for 


Parliamentary Reform. Whenever this 
question should be agitated, he was pre¬ 
pared to meet it —not with any objection 
founded upon inconvenience, not with 
any suggestion of partial or temporary 
modifications, but should be prepared to 
oppose the remedy bg a direct denial of 
the grievance. {Hear, hear.) He denied 
that that House was not, to all useful pur¬ 
poses, an adequate representation of the 
people. Against all theories he was deter¬ 
mined to take his stand ( Hear , hear .)— 
He warned those who listened to these 
doctrines, that t hose who set the stone 
rolling were not always able to controul 
its impetus. The Hon. and Learned 
Gent, had called them wild and visionary 
reformers, but they were in fact the mas¬ 
ters of the Hon. and Learned Gent, and of 
all those who called themselves mo¬ 
derate reformers. If the House would 
submit, like innocent lambs, they would 
soon find that they would be sheared 
to the very quick. He read an ex¬ 
tract from a publication, entitled, we be¬ 
lieve, “ The Speneean Plan.’' Among 
other principles it was stated, “ that the 
only security for freedom was the restora¬ 
tion of the land to the people; and with¬ 
out that even revolution would be unne¬ 
cessary.’’ Again it was declared, “ that 
the people were the only proprietors of 
the soil.” How far did the plans of the 
moderate reformers fall short of these 
principles ? and how were they sure that 
when they set the whirlwind in motion, 
they would be able to direct its course ? 

Mr. Tierney regretted Lord Castle- 
reag it’s absence, as he was once a promi¬ 
nent advocate for reform, agreeing with 
Mr. Pitt and others, and if he had not 
changed, might have opposed Mr. Can¬ 
ning’s anathemas against Reformers. He 
Mr. Tierney) avowed himself a friend to 
reform , but not to annual parliaments vend 
universal suffrage; but thought it re¬ 
quired mature and serious deliberation. 
Unless he heard something more substan¬ 
tial than Mr. Canning’s speech, he be- 
ieved he should die a friend to it. 


*«* No. II. ivill be published to the Trade 
next Saturday Morning at SIX o Clock, 
at which curly hour the future Numbers will 
be delivered every subsequent Saturday. 


London .—Printed by Hay and Turner, No.lt, Newcastle Street, Strand; Published by 
WILLIAM HONE, at <57, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludoate Hill; where 
COMMUNICATIONS (post paid,) should be addressed; and sold at Fleet Street - 
Price Two Pence each, Its 6d* per Houdretf, or 57. lOil per Thousand. 








Price Two-pence. 



AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 2.J SATURDAY, FES. <S, 18.17 [VOL. I. 


UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE 
AND ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS 

a.aiist' 

Mr. BROUGHAM AND THE WIIIGS. 

\ * • .... * r 


COMMITTEE OF SECRECY. 

LOYAL LIVERY. 

LOYAL INFLAMMATORY PLACARD. 

The House o f Cotnnpns is composed of 
two principal Factious: —those in power, 
and those who wish to be in power; am! 
besides these factions, of Sir Francis 
Burdett and Lord Cochrane, between 
whom unfortunately there seems to be too 
little co-operation, and of a few other per- 
sbns7>'f equivocal opinions. The HOUSE 
may be divided into, 1st. those who 
have the actual sweets of office, viz. 
money wrung from the people ; power 
over the nation, which enables them to 
indulge their ambitious propensities ; and 
what are called honours, to flatter self- 
love, pride, arid ignorance. 2nd, Their 
dependants gasping for jobs, and con¬ 
tracts, and emoluments,—for themselves 
and their hungry, proud, beggarly re¬ 
lations. 

The OUTS are a motley, heterogeneous, 
incongruous mass, which never amalga¬ 
mates but to abuse the people: on every 
other point there are disagreements enough 
among them: but when their prey is in 
view, no mouth is shut, no hand is closed, 
all are eager to seize even the offal, in 
any shape, and in any state—nothing is 
too mean\s emolument, nothing too base 

■ f \ s ' ' * 

as calumny. 

From the INS nothing is expected .but 
that they should use all the means they 
possess, and exercise all the tricks of their 


, —> ; :- n : -rj-— •- 

predecessors to keep what they possess, 
and to add to it. From the OUTS as 
little of good ought to be expected, and 
indeed, very little is expected. Thev 
may be said to compose the tail of the 
mighty leader CHARLES JAMES FOX, 
who, in the true spirit of a MODERN 
WHIG, when out of office always used 
words favourable to the liberties of the 
people, and who, when in office, always 
did acts destructive of the liberties of the 
people—who was always their FRIEND 
when he could do them no service, and 
always their ENEMY when he could do 
them injury. 

The OUTS, who were, once so proud of 
being called WHIGS as to stun us with 
the sound, are now fairly ashamed of the 
title —they are no longer WHIGS —they 
disclaim the use of the term. But, whv 
this change, why refuse the watch word—» 
the carte A word—the famous cabalistic 
wonder-working word?—why, but be¬ 
cause it was used as a cover for rascality, 
which having at length been lifted by the 
reformers, and the roguery exposed—the 
humbug could be no longer continued—- 
The WHIGS played their game so long 
and so successfully, they cajoled and de¬ 
luded the people so often, that they be¬ 
came infatuated, and were tie last to, 
perceive what every body saw most 
clearly. They continued their tricks and 
their name, until it sfuuk in the nose of • 
the whole people. 

Unearthed—driven from ro’'<y',-~they 
showed themselves the open Enemies of, 
REFORM which they had previously 
affected to advocate, and rallied round 
I he minister" the moment he seemed ', 
likely/to want a shield against the just 

K 























Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


<* r '1 

oO ] 

<■* 

demands of the insured and injured 
people. 

* The two last sessions were employed 
by them m factious, vexatious, and petty 
opposition to the minister; the people 
were not even talked of:—the word in¬ 
deed was scarcely used, and a foreigner 
might, if lie had no, other information 
than the debates, conclude, that here, as 
in some olher countries, there was no 
“ Public" — nothing but a horde of 
w retched, miserable slaves, too few and 
too contemptible to claim the notice of 
tile mighty persons who wrangled and 
abused one another. During the debates 
on the Corn bill, the kindest words the 
OUTS condescended to use towards the 
ENLIGHTENED PEOPLE of this 
country were words of reproach; —and 
tome, who affected to be the most popu¬ 
lar , called them “ Pools and Incendiaries 
—misguided Rabble, seeking their ends 
by popular clamour;”—they cautioned the 
ministers to pap no regard to their peti¬ 
tions—assuring them, if they did, that 

T * 

they, the INS, would be ousted —and 
that they, the OUTS, would be unable 

t 

fo keep their places if they got in.”— Po¬ 
pular influence was to be resisted— popu¬ 
lar influence IN THE PEOPLE'S,jOWN 
1IOTJSE was not to be permitted'—popu¬ 
lar influence, and public expression were 
to be extinguished—the “ cancerous part,” 
as one of our orators has elegantly desig¬ 
nated the Reformists —“ the cancerous 
part” (of, the people) “ must be CUT 
Oil'.” 

W hile the mass of the PEOPLE re¬ 
mained in silence on the great question of 
Parliamentary Reform, the only question 
of any real importance to them, the 
OUTS were silent ns the grave. Net a 
whisper was heard among them. Instead 
of going among the people, and taking 
flic lead, as men who REALLY sought 
the peace and comfort hud happiness of 
the country would have done, they stood 
aloof. The people called MEETINGS 
of themselves—none of the OUTS at¬ 
tended them. The meetings were pub- 

l 


[36 

lie —the proposals were clear and definite 
—the OUTS took no part. The people 
went on steadily, orderly, and legally— 
they abused no one; their object was the 
restoration of their rights, the restoring of 
liberty and happiness to their country. 
Stung to the quick at perceiving the peo~ 
pie doing their oxen business, in a manly, 
intelligent, open, undisguised way, the 
OUTS could no longer contain their 
malice. First, they accused them of being 
refractory, ** Why,” it was said, “ do 
the Reformists keep aloof? Why do they 
not join their friends in the honourable 
House? Whv do thev not agree with 
their natural leaders ?" and blame, in all 
manner of ways, was heaped upon them, 
for not doing .what it was impossible for 
them to do. The Reformists replied, “ we 
have waited long enough, and have had 
experience enough of your kindness to¬ 
wards us ; w r e knew- you would do nothing 
—would concur in nothing, unless it were 
to oust the ministry to get their PLACES. 
We called PUBLIC MEETINGS^ -why 
did not you attend them ? We proposed 
ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS—why did 

not you come among us, and, by argu¬ 
ment, convince us that. Annual Parlia¬ 
ments would be injurious ? We proposed 
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE—why did 
not you attend, and shew us our error ? 
We proposed suffrage as extensive as di¬ 
rect taxation—why did not you come 
and laud that proposition ? Why, having 
done none of these things, dare yon to 
abuse us ? Who, Mr. BROUGHAM, are 
the “ demagogues" whom you held up to 
execration ? What are the “ wild , vague , 
impracticable , pernicious propositions of 
which you speak ? And what right have 
YOU to use these terms? You, who have 
all along taken care to be so vague, that, to 
this hour, no man can tell, in what that “ de¬ 
gree of reform,” of which you speak, con- 
consists—While we have clearly , specifical¬ 
ly, and NOT VAGUELY, laid our propo¬ 
sitions open to discussion, it seems only to 
meet with abuse for argument, and decla¬ 
mation for sense. “ Impracticable !”— whr; 

t c 







37] 


February 8, 1817. 


impracticable? Because power says they 
shall not be put in practice. “ Pernicious,” 
because they would put an end to “ COR¬ 
RUPTION”—that “ Oil of the state ma¬ 
chine,” praised by Mr. Arthur Young, 
as one of the most excellent things in our 
glorious Constitution ; the obtaining a few 
drops of which seems to be the sole end 
and object of all sham Reformists. lie 
who talks of wild, vague, and impracti¬ 
cable propositions, should read the ** Bill 
for Reform of Parliament,” introduced in 
the year 1785, by the late Duke of Rich¬ 
mond, and his * l Letter to Colonel 
Sharman, clearly demonstrating the right 
of the People to Universal Suffrage and 
Annual Parliaments and when he has, 
in. as temperate language as these papers 
contain, REFUTED THEM, he will de¬ 
serve attention and respect, and will be 
followed, but. not 'till then . Abuse and 
Calumny and Misrepresentation and 
pains and penalties, although contrived 
or used by the most subtle Lawyers, 
will not now r either deter or convince the 
people ; neither will they lessen the Na¬ 
tional debt, nor pay the taxes. 

No sooner had Lord COCHRANE pre¬ 
sented a PETITION FOR REFORM, 
than the OUTS rushed forwards, open ; 

mouthed, to assist the minister to put him j 
, * “ 
down, and to deter the people from petiti- t 

cning .—Nothing was right, nothing could ] 
please them ; they knew that about A j 
THOUSAND PETITIONS, signed by : 
nearly a MILLION cf men, were to [ 
he presented. They knew that a form t. 
of a Petition had been sent round, for | 
those who concurred, to sign. They knew ! 
that if ONE of them was rejected, the : 
others could not be presented ; and thus a » 
vast portion -of the people would not be J 
heard.—To argue that the petition should 
be rejected, w'ould have been too bare¬ 
faced ; that was therefore left to the INS * 
—while a more artful part was taken by 
the OUTS/ 

Mr. CANNING—a gentleman of equi¬ 
vocal generation—having talked of re¬ 
bellion and treason, and i 


[38 

Mr. DAWSON having said—the reform¬ 
ers went forth like fanatics, the bibie 
in one hand and a sword in the other, 
Mr. LAMB called them incendiaries and 
liars. 

Air. BROUGHAM said they w ould “ over¬ 
throw the Constitution." That their 
propositions were “ wild, vague, and 
impracticable /” but he did not conde¬ 
scend to inform the House what in his 
opinion was precise and practi¬ 
cable. 

Air. BRAND called the petitions the 
“ w-ild and impracticable schemes of 
demagogues.” 

Air. TIERNEY disclaimed the refor¬ 
mers. 

All, ALL harped upon the same string— 
the HOUSE was in unison, and the 
Petition was rejected. 

Lord COCHRANE—the hard-hearted 
Lord Cochrane, unmoved by the pi¬ 
teous requests of both the INS and the 
OU'PS, refused to withdraw the peti¬ 
tion, and forced r.he OUTS to show their 
insignificance by compelling them to 
vote against the feeling they had mainly 
assisted to excite. 

The OUTS having performed their 
parts thus far, and a day of rest intervei- 
ing, on account of the act, which in the * 
year 1G-1Q removed a Tyrant, the tool of 
the party was set to work to smooth the 
way for the next exhibition; and Mr. 
JAAIES PERRY put. the following pre¬ 
lude into his MORNING CHRONICLE: 

“ Our readers will see, that in both 
Houses of Parliament, the most decided 
opinions were pronounced against the 
scheme of UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE, 
which constitutes the prayer of ALL THE 
PE TITIONS framed by the chief movers 
of Parliamentary Reform, and which have 
been transmitted from every part of the 
kingdom for presentation in the House of 
Commons. The number of these Petiti¬ 
ons is nearly ONE THOUSAND, and 
they are said to be SIGNED BY NEAR¬ 
LY HALF A MILLION OF AIEN ! 
We must lament the DELUSION that 

b 2 





39 } 


Hone's Reformists’ Register. 


[40 


Trs spread so wide, since thereby a false 
direction has been given to the popular 
sentiment ; and they have been drawn to 
the contemplation of a the’efv that would 
\~>e tlie total ruin, not only of the Constitu¬ 
tion, but «?f THE COUNTRY (!! 1) By 

* ■ • i • . > • , ", 

universal suffrage* the .representation 
wo’d be vested almost exclusively in lire 
inhabitants of the great toyvns,'by which 
Hie landed interest would he annihilated. 

EYFECTfiON BY Tlb T JstMOr.DRtlS 
WOULD H AVE NYARLYTME SAME 
EFFECT. Bv dividing the United King¬ 
dom into districts givrng'one representa¬ 
tive to eyery 4000 householders (which is 
ilie proposed average) the metropolis and 
its vicinity would have fifty representa¬ 
tives. Every other great, town vvOuTd 
have a member in proportion'; and thus 
trade, manufacture, and money would en¬ 
gross the representation.” 

Th>s time-serving creature too joined in 


the haw! against, the reformers—UNT- 


fERSAL SUFFRAGE mud be scouted. 

. ‘ * > .... 

Only think what an enormity it would be 

1 * "V \ i t 

to allow those “who have' nothing to do 
with the laws but to obey them”—the 
g scum and dregs of sock fy, the swinish 
multitude,” to have a ' vote. !—oF 'what 
service arc they to the state ? —they pay no 
taxes ,’they fight npne of our battles, the,)/ 
are not cajoled 1o beerfme soldiers, they 
are never seized and robbed of themselves 
by a press gang, they row no corn, they 
reap r.o harvest, "they dig ho mines, they 
smelt no ore) they produ ;e nothing in 
manufactories/ they' navigate no ships, 
they catch no fish, they do ho useful (’dug, 
nothing copies from their . fabohr—No, 
no, Mr. PEttRT, the RICH do all these' 
tilings with their own hands; and, praised' 
be their benevolence,, they clothe the 


naked and feed tin hungry 


m 


their 


bouiitv, Ihe common' people “ live and 
* . . 1 . • • \ \ 
“ move and'have their’being.”"’ ' ' ' ' 

If, indeed, the LABOURERS produced 1 
Rie whole of what then, as well as the rich 
consume, if from their exertions came the 
houses, the., furniture, the equipages, and 
the revenues of the rich, then, indeed, MV. 


Perry, it would be difficult to find rea¬ 
sons for excluding them from voting. 

This point having been settled —comfort¬ 
ably and quietly disposed of —Mr. Perry, 
assuming as much gravity, and affecting 
the mahner of ins master EARL GREY,’ 
proceeds f o disqualify, bv Ins tese dixit, 
—the HOUSEKEEPERS:—It would be 
very absurd that hbrlseheepers ’should vote; 
Government requires nothing from them 
—why should, they vote? 1'he mere plod¬ 
ding Tradesman, or Farmer, of what usd 
is he in' society ?—is he evef'eaMed upon 
to serve on juries, to fiTl the offut of con¬ 
stable, to be a churchwarden or'overseer, 

* 

to lend his carts and horses and men to 
convey troops or baggage, or to be useful 
in any may? tie is too ignorant to do any of 
these things, and of course too ignorant to 
chuse His representative. Besides, does he 
ever pay either tithes or taxes, or highway 
rates, or charges for draining the land ? 
Does he, contribute to keep up sea walls* 
or’sluices?—does he ever pay Poor rates, or 
Excise Duties, or Customs, or House 'Fax, 
or Yv ihdow Tax, or Stamp Tax, or Morse 
Tax, or Assessed Tax, or Commutation 
Tax, or Income Tax, or Dog Tax ? Mr. 
PERRY knotvs he pays none of these—let 
him be- disfranchised then where he vow 
votes, and let us hear no more of admit¬ 
ting others of his class to vote ; lie has nei¬ 
ther intellect nor property to be repre¬ 
sented. 

The. right of VOTING,if it could be 
regulated by this Sycophant and by HIS 
PARTY, if they had the power, would 
soon be limited to the Placemen , the Pen- 1 
sinners, the Sinecnrists , and the GREAT 
Landowners. —THEY would lie the people, 
and the rest of the nation would be slaves 
—Feudal times would be restored, and 
ignorance, superstition* and barbarity, 
would, re-appear wit a aR their tyranny, 
mummery, ahd cruelty.’ Fortunately, tlije 
ret ugii to tin*.condition, i# impossible; and, 
unhappy as is tlm present state of the nati¬ 
on, ages of comfort and happiness are 
before them ; nor can the miserable, short¬ 
sighted mode of governing by expedients', 








41J 


February 8 ? 1ST?, 


in 


whether,exercised by the INS or the 
OUTS, prevent this, approach. 

No answer is given, and none can be 
given to the masons urged in favour of 
ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS. No man 

» • * T v, » \. .. « 

can shew that any thing desirable in Tri¬ 
ennial Parliaments is not included in 
..Annual Parliaments j while a great many 
good things have been shewn to be inclu¬ 
ded in annual Parliaments which do not. 
exist in triennial. But Mr. y’EIlRY and 
HIS PARTY say this too must not be 
allowed. One single observation in favour 

t . . • r ya 

of restoring annual Parliaments, is worth 
more than all the sophistry which has 
been, or will be, or can be used in favour 
of triennial Parliaments. It would put 
an end to corruption; it would put an end 
to demoralizing the people; the whole na¬ 
tion from the King to the beggar would 

i ' v * ■ ’ ' 1 * 

be better men ; intellect w'oukl receive a 
new stimulus ; integrity, and honest deal¬ 
ing, and uprightness in every possible way 
would then be countenanced, where non 
they are despised. ANNUAL PARL1- 

* ' i V * f * y+s v «.*** S * 

AMENTS would 'do more good in . a 
MORAL view than all the TEACHING 
and PREACHING and WHIPPING, and 
TRANSPORTING and HANGING can 
remove , while the practice of elections, 
the natural consequences of'long parlia¬ 
ments, continues. . 

• On Friday, the 1st of February, Sir 
Francis Burdett,ou presenting petitions 
from Halifax in Yorkshire, fought a stout 
bat tle against an attempt, to narrow the 
right of petitioning. The petitioners pray¬ 
ed for Annual Parliaments and Universal 
Suffrage as their RIGHTS, and for which 
their forefathers had bled. 

These expressions called up Mr. 
BR() UGH AM, who,in the language of the 
Chronicle, said, “he felt it the duty of 
every friend to t he people, every man in¬ 
terested in the protection of popular rights, 
every man sincerely disposed to alleviate 
the severe pressure that now afflicted the 
country, to lose, no time or opportu¬ 
nity in counteracting ike wild, the mis- 
chkvQUS, the absurd, nap. blundering delu¬ 


sions so unhappily misleading/ a great and 
respectable, part of the cu/nmrnitg from, 
the true path of relief and safety, [hear, 
from A.LL sides}. No man copid enter¬ 
tain a higher respect for a,great proper 
lion of the persons who had signed lho.se 
Petitions, liis confidence in the honesty 
of their views made him the more acute¬ 
ly; fee) the deviation from any prac,- 
ticabie course of redress tohiA tkev 
were So blindly pursuing.. Tie felt how 
seveVcJy they were distressed--—bpw ag 
gravattd their sufferings, and how natu¬ 
ral were their complaints. He \V;is aware 
that they fit w 16 Parliauient, under the 
hone and expectation of obtaining real and 
substantial relief. Hood God, can they an¬ 
ticipate stick a result frap universal suf¬ 
frage y TTie thing was impracticable; hip:, 
were it possible would il be. a remedy :? 
It would be the opening to unparallelt'i 
mischief. 6 et so strong existed the del.C 
siop, that the very Petitions before inn 
House prayed, for . UNl VERSAjjlUT- 
FRA Gil, as the indubitable, imprest rip: 
tihle RIG Id Tfor whichpheirancestors had 
shed their blood. 'When was 'this right 
ever exercised , 

Mr, BilOUGHAM h a Lawyer, ami 
forgetting, in his zeal, that he was nut 
preaching for a fee, he treated the peti¬ 
tion of the people of Halifax precisely us 
lie would have done a Hip of the. tongue 
of a brother barrister, who, like hirnseig 
had been paid to confound common sense, 

The,petitioners, seem to have applied & 
general term, true enough in itself in a 
particular sense, in which they were a 
little incorrect. True enough it is that 
their forefathers fought for their rights, 
and UNIVERSAL - SUFFRAGE js jl 
RIGHT, an undoubted right, and mist 
continue to be a right so long ar a human, 
being exists. - n But,” says the Lapyer 
“ your forefathers did not fight sp&eijS- 
“ cally and particularly for universal sl.f- 
“ frage, and flip before. it is hot a right; 
but the orator was here the mere techs.L 

t , j. ■ •». . 

cal lawyer, quite out of his place, * H{ 
Lgd understanding could eomurebejid 





431 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[4-1 


nothing of right but what ho could find 
in tlie statute-book: there is no law, 
says he, “ giving" or “ granting" you tins 


with Charles the First? If any indi¬ 
vidual can produce one proof out of any 
history of the country in support of such a 


right, and therefore no such right exists, claim, then, he would only observe, tuat 


LAW, according to this Expounder ofour 
liberties, Law alone makes the RIGIl l, 
and reason has nothing to do with it. “ If 
you had no laws you would have no rights , 
and I defy any man to shew me the con¬ 
trary.” It is extremely difficult to shew 
any thing having reason for its basis, that 
can be comprehended by a dull legal 
understanding, but Mr. BROUGHAM 
ought to have known that the LAW is 
not the rule of RIGHT, preventing and 
excluding whatever it does not forbid. 
He ought to have known, that every man 
has a right to do whatever the law does not 
forbid him doing, and that RIGHTS may, 
and do exist, although they are not <?.r- 
ercised. But it is not a Law .—\\ e know 
it is not a Law. it never was a law .—We 
know that too. It has been so contrived, 
that we shall not EXERCISE our 
RIGHT, and it is of this we complain. 
We say, LET A LAW BE MADE to 
allow us the exercise of our RIGHT, 
which you have by other laws deprived 
ns of. If no law had been made to 
prevent us exercising our right, none 


it had wholly escaped his historic re 
search, and he would feel gratified in being 
allowed access to the authority. [Hear, 
hear!] In the ancient period so fondly 
appealed to, the great body of the people, 
instead of franchises and votes, were in a 
state of villainage, holden as beasts of 
burden, under the controul and disposal 
of a small proportion of their Chiefs. If 
the people of England, in place of being 
treated in the bitterness of their sufferings- 
with contumely and reproof, were enlight¬ 


ened on the prevailing errors—had live 


true merits of their constitutional claims, 
been explained, and were they rescued 
from the controul of leaders, who, either 
from ignorance or worse motives, were mis¬ 
leading them, the Constitution would de¬ 
rive true improvement, and the public 
mind would be directed to the salutary 
and substantial remedy for their distress. 
[Hear, hear!]” 

And this is to be conclusive against its 
being exercised, is it ?—the people were 
then “slaves and vassals;” true—they 
were; and the Barons, who for their own 


would now be necessary to restore it to j purposes compelled the wretched King 
us ; we should have been in full posses- j John to sign Magna Charta , intended to 
siem of it, so that your rule of right, so far j keep them slaves and vassals, to transfer 
from being the true rule of right, has in j them, to buy and sell them : they never 


fact been a subtraction of RIGHT. But, 
still, it never was the Law —and is that a 
reason why it should be stigmatized, and 


contemplated the growth of intellect, the 
parent of independence, w hich enabled the 
people to take advantage of the weakness 


why those who endeavour to procure a j and the animosities of the Lords of those 
law to be made should be abused and ; days to recover their liberties. The Ian- 


condemned. The WHIGS have made, 
and assisted to make, many laws highly 
injurious to the people, but they cannot 
hear, with patience, of a proposition fur 
discussing a project for a law w hich is to 
be serviceable to them. 

“ When,” asks Mr. BROUGHAM, 
11 was this right exercised, or where w 7 as 
the theatre of this struggle ? Do they 
fancy it existed in the reign of King 
Joiiu, or was established in the contest 


guage of Magna Charta is—“ No FREE 
“ MAN shall be taken, nor imprisoned 
“ nor disseised, nor outlawed, nor exiled 
“ nor destroyed in any manner; nor wil 
“ we pass upon him, nor condemn him 
“ but by the lawful judgment of his peers 
“ or by the law of the land.” It excluder 
none but slaves; we are now all FREE 
MEN, it excludes none of us, and vve de 
mand, that, the provisions of the Charter 


the full exercise of the rights if secured t< 














45] 


February 8, 1817. 


the FREEMEN of that day, be restored 
to us, the FREEMEN of this day. 

There has always been a struggle in 
this country of KNOWLEDGE against 
power; and knowledge in the long run 
has always gained the victory, and know¬ 
ledge will still continue victorious. 

Bigotry and Tyranny have but too often 
destroyed the best and wisest of their day; 
but Bigotry and Tyranny are happily 
stupid in respect to some important points: 
—neither can strike until it be too late 
—and theu the striking, although it de¬ 
stroys the individual, confirms and 
strengthens truth, and assists to the pro 
pagation of it. 

Will Mr. BROUGHAM condescend to 
look again into history, and observe how' 
very wretched the people were made after 
the Conquest by the base-minded Nor¬ 
man and his savage successors. He will 
find the country depopulated; the King, 
the Priests, the Barons revelling in bar¬ 
baric luxury and debauchery ; the people 
bought and sold and mutilated and mur¬ 
dered at their good pleasure. Ignorance j 
and brutality—and nothing but iguorance 
and brutality—existed from one end of the 
island to the other, when learning was so 
uncommon, that being able to read excu¬ 
sed a man for murder. If he will do this, 
and if he will carefully point out to us the 
progress of mind, the march of science and 
.knowledge and liberty, and shew the im¬ 
mediate and remote, the general and par¬ 
ticular causes, if he will observe the steps, 
and point them out clearly to us, he will 
do us a great service and shall receive our 
thanks.. The History of England, in the 
view here taken of it, yet remains to be 
w ritten. In his progress he will have to 
remark that those KINGS who have been 
considered the worst , those who have ac¬ 
tuary approached the nearest to monsters, 
the most voluptuous, unsparing, bloody 
tyrants, have been by far the greatest pro¬ 
moters of liberty ; and that the quiet, sober, 
My hypocrites,—those who affected to love 
the people—those of the domestic farming 
kind—were its greatest enemies. The sa- 


[4(5 

vagefury of some, Ihe war mania of others, 
the vindictive malice of yet a larger num¬ 
ber against their relatives—the desire in 
all of them to compel the great Lords to 
submission, involved them in all manner of 
difficulties—and the greater those difficul¬ 
ties, the more w 7 ere they obliged to have 
recourse to the people.— u 1 want,” saul the 
King, “ a subsidy."—** We want,” said the 
people—“ a redress of grievances ."—“ 1 
** cannot attend to this long string of com- 
** plaints just now,” said the King—“ We 
** will give yon no money until you do" 
replied the people; and thus our brave 
forefathers extorted from their oppressors, 
first one portion and then another portion 
of those LIBERTIES of which they had 
been robbed. Sometimes the King made 
war upon the Nobles—sometimes the 
Nobles made war upon him—sometimes 
when one man pretended his right to go¬ 
vern, to cajole, and to plunder the nation, 
another man opposed him on the ground 
that his was a better right.—** Frly mother,” 
says one, “ was less unfaithful to her hus- 

I band than vours was, and I have therefore 

I * „ ^ ’ 

a better claim to be King and the na¬ 
tion was involved in a civil \var because a 
woman of title had been a prostitute. 

This at the time produced great, misery, 
but the dependence the haughty pro- 
tenders were compelled to have on the 
people for support, increased the impor¬ 
tance of the people, and although they 
were made wretched at the moment, it 
enabled them to go on in the good Cause 
of liberty:—their sacrifices were great— 
they lost their property—they lost their 
lives—but they still continued their pro¬ 
gress. Painful indeed were their steps, 
and slowly taken, but they were sure; and 
if for a time* they appeared to retrograde , 
they always availed themselves of the first 
opportunity to prove it was in appearance 
only. 

Mr. BROUGHAM should mark these 
things well, nor should he slightly pass 
over the accusations, the imputations, the 
abuse, and calumnies heaped upon them, 
by the powerful, by the enemies of liberty. 






Hone’s iREv&Kftis'TS 1 RtfjisTrn. 



'by those who hafed orleored them, and I 
by those whose pride or ignorance pre¬ 
vented 1 Hem seeing the necessity of the 
change in the laws ; and, in their admi- 
iiistr tioii, to adapt them to the. improved 
stale of the people all innovation was 
denied; Iheii, as now, every proposal for 
redress of wrongs or the restoration of 
RIGHT was resisted as long as possible — 
all their proposals were “ wild, vague, 
impracticable,pernicious,destructive of the 
i'g nstitnti on' -—a 1 id if those who so op¬ 
posed them then, could have prevented 
the changes winch were made, we should 
not noio be discussing the right of univer¬ 
sal suffrage, or the expediency of its 
adoption. Look to Spain, look to Por¬ 
tugal, to6k to Turkey, look to Barbary, 
to Tripciy, to Algiers, to Tunis, to Mo¬ 
rocco, in these countries no <v wild, vague, 
impracticable, pernicious innovations" 
tiave been made in the way of REFORM* j 
Slid in all these countries the people are | 
'debased and "kept down as low as the 
greatest despot can desire. There is no 
public clamour" in these countries—no 
public meetings, no clear-headed writers, 
tfd arts, ho science, NO LIBERTY’—all 
is superstition—superstition in its most 
extended and worst forms, benumbing all 
the excellent faculties of man; while 
tyranny, with its uplifted hand, holds 
ropes and chains and racks and gibbets 
over the victims on whose necks it has fixed 
ils accursed foot. Look to Russia, where | 
the cudgel is the laic ; where, as a cele¬ 
brated writer has told us, the Emperor 
beats tlie Noble, Who beats the next be- 
heath him, Who beats liis dependent; j 
where the cudgel never ceases throughout j 
the la. hd'. And why all this ? Why, ini 
the 10th century do these practices still 
'continue! Simply, because THE PEG. 
RLE* are not done themselves justice. They 
have left the ordering of the state to the 
wisdom of their rulers, who take care 
to keep them in ignorance, the better 
to abuse them; they have made them 
ipprdxlunite >.& Which 10 they could 
i.o, to tile Hate of brute beasts, and 



they treat them worse than beasts. \Vhrft 
lias preserved this country from the fate 
of so many others, but the “ wild, vague, 

impracticable, pernicious propositions" 
of bur ancestors, who had not only the 
courage to propose, but the courage to 
fight for them, and fb tight until they 
were 1 obtained ? MR. BROUGHAM has 
lately been in Italy, and his account of life 
state Of mind of its inhabitants, in regard 
to liberty, would be a useful comment cfn 
t he practices, and propositions, of the freer 
people of England. 

Why has MR-. BROUGHAM put him¬ 
self forward ? w hy has he consented to be¬ 
come the mouth piece of a GONTEMP- 
TIBLE FACTION who “palter with him 
in a double sense” to lure him to Ids 
ruin?— Has MR. BROUGHAM suffered 
disappointment in his expectations of being 
returned for Westminster, to sour his 
temper ? Is he so weak as to suffer pas¬ 
sion to subdue reason—to put himself in a 
condition to be USED by artful men as a 
TOOL, to be laid aside when his measure 
of folly is filled ? Let him beware in lints. 
He has talent ; he lias pertinacity, border¬ 
ing on tlic right kind of courage; he may 
be a highly useful and highly important 
person; but he has no time to lose:—a 
littly mote trifling, a lit tie longer delay, 
and MR. BROUGHAM will find himself 
derided by his quondam friends, and de¬ 
spised by the people. 

The real friends of MY. Brougham 
must not suppose there is any satisfaction 
in commenting upon his misconduct— 
much more pleasant indeed would it be 
to write his eulogy. But when Mr. 
Brougham sets his mark on every mail 
who writes, or speaks, or takes an active 
part in any way, for what those persons 
conceive will bentfR the people; when, 
instead of endeavouring to conviuce^them 
of their etror by sound argument, he in¬ 
discriminately condemns them all; when 
HE urges on the Minister to era A P!.()T . 
when he, by abusive epithets, ami the 
vulgar practice of imputing bad motives, 
assists to ^rcchlc* o. spirit of p'erk'chitoh $ 







FV’uflU AllY 8v .n? 1 ?. 



when his vefieihent exclamations against 
some of the best men in the country, have a 
^tendency to w ithdraw from them the best 
sympathies of our nature, and to hold 
Xhem up as object s of abhorrence, lie must 
not expect to escape being exposed and 
^ensured. Mr. Buoucham has courted 
-popular favour ; many excellent persons 
took a decided part for him ; a still larger 
number w ere feady to support him when¬ 
ever he should?*?/ his conduct satisfy them 
he was no trifier. Mr. Brougham knew 
this, and was gratified by it. Mr. Broug¬ 
ham mioht have been anv thing the most 
popular Englishman ought to wish to be, 
and with as much ease too, as it will cost 
him pains to act a subordinate part with 
tilt* ci-devant WHIGS. 

Both the INS and the OUTS having 
proceeded thus far, the next step was to 
be taken by the ministers, and accordingly 
the following message was delivered to j 
both Houses of Parliament:— 

“ GEORGE, P. IE—His Royal 1 highness j 
the Prince Regent, acting in the name i 
and on the behalf of his Majesty, has j 
‘given orders that there be laid before the j 
House of Commons, Papers containing in- j 
formation respecting certain practices, , 
Hieetings, and combinations, in the me- j 
propolis and in different, parts of the king- j 
dom, evidently calculated to endanger { 
the public tranquillity, to alienate the 
affections of his Majesty’s subjects from 
his Majesty’s person and government, and 
to bring into hatred at id contempt the 
Whole system of our laws and constitu¬ 
tion. 

“ IBs Roval Highness recommends to 
the House of Commons to take these 
Papers into their immediate and serious 
consideration. , ■ > ■ 

GEORGE, P. R. 

Upon this the Courier remarks that 
*f it may not be unseasonable to refer to i 
two periods of our history, the dear 17*91 
Und 1795 —the first bf these years being j 
the one in which the conduct of seditious I 
societies Has made the subject bf Parjia- j 

rmitury inv^tijation ; the secoud keiii^ 


the year in which the King’s life was at- 
tempted as he went to open the Session of 
Parliament. On the 12 th May, 1794, a 
Message from tiie King was delivered to 
both Houses, in which his Majesty inform¬ 
ed them that ‘having received informa- 

c\ ■ » • B 1 

.lion that the seditious practices which 
have been for some time carried on by 
certain societies in London, in correspon¬ 
dence with societies in different parts of 
the country, have lately been pursued 
.with increased activity and boldness, and 
have been avowedly directed to the ob¬ 
ject of assembling a pretended General 
Convention of the People, in contempt 
and defiance of the authority of Parlia¬ 
ment, and on principles subversive of the 
existing Laws and Constitution, and <11- 
rceRv tending to the introduction of that 

J w 

system .of anarchy and confusion which 

< 4 

has fatally prevailed in France, lias given 
directions for seizing the books and pa¬ 
pers of the said societies in London, which 
have been seized accordingly ; and these 
books and papers appearing to contain 
matter of the greatest importance to the 
public interest, his Majesty has given 
orders for laying them before the House 
of Commons 5 and his Majesty recom¬ 
mends it to the House to consider tire 


same. 


“ These books and papers were referred 
to a Secret Committee . which made its 

■ ' ' • ; I 

report on the 16 th May. The object of 
theseditious then was to assemble a Gene¬ 
ral Convention. Parliamentary Reform 
was their avowed object, but ‘ they 
plainly shewed,' said Mr. Put, ‘ that they 
looked for no reform , but from the Con¬ 
vention they had in view; advisiny, how¬ 
ever, a continuance of petitions for reform 
as a cover io their designs .’ Mr. Pitt* 

V. ' 

in consequence of the report of the Secret 

t * t * 1 # 

Committee, moved for a suspension of the 
Habeas Corpus Act. A bill was accord¬ 
ingly brought in for that, purpose, and 
passed both Houses. 

1 l w { 

“ The Message brought down yesterday 
to Parliament is more concise than the 


one delivered iu 1794 


. . ;,r 

thou oh the si/sier: 

a* -if 









Hone’s Resormists’ Register. 


£ 

*/ 


n 



of appointing Delegates to a Convention has 
been Gctcd upon , and though the princi¬ 
ples avowed in tracts and pamphlets cir¬ 
culated with such industry, and in speech- 

/ 

cs at public meetings, tend as in 1794 to 
tire subversion of the Constitution. 

“ in 179->, on the 29 th Oct. an attempt 
was made upon the life of his Majesty, 
cm his way to the House of Peers, to open 
the Sessions of Parliament. W it nesses, as 
in the present instance, were examined 
before the House of Lords, and the evi¬ 
dence was communicated to the I-louse of 
Commons. On the 4th Nov. a Proclama¬ 
tion was issued, atul our readers will be 
struck with the coincidence between t hat 
period and the present:—‘ Whereas,’ said 
the Proclamation of Nov. 1794, * it hath 
been represented to us, that immediately 
before the opening of the present Session 
of Parliament, a great number of persons 
were collected in fields in the neighbour¬ 
hood of the Metropolis, by advertisements 
and handbills, opd that divers inflamma¬ 
tory discourses were delivered to the per¬ 
sons so collected, and divers proceedings 
were had, feuding to create groundless jea¬ 
lousy and discontent, and to endanger the 
public peace, and the quiet and safety of 
cur faithful subjects: And whereas it hath 
also been represented to us, that divers 
seditious and treasonable papers have 
teen lately distributed , tending to excite 
evil disposed persons to acts endangering ' 
our Royal Person: And whereas such I 
proceedings have been followed, on the j 
day on which the present Session ofj 
Parliament commenced, by ccts of tumult i 
and violence, and by daring and highly i 
criminal outrages, in direct violation of the ! 
public peace, to the immediate danger of | 
cur Royal Person, and to the interruption j 
of our passage to and from our Parlia- j 
meet,’ &c. 

** Every word of this Proclamation might 
be applied to the present period. • In con¬ 
sequence of the Proclamation, and of the 
Minutes of Evidence, taken before the 
House of Peers, ford Grenville proposed f 
a Pill for the Safety and Preservation of j 


his Majesty's Person and Goverumen 
against treasonable and seditious practice; 
and attempts. A Bill was also introducer 
for the Prevention of Seditious Meetings 
Both the Bill^ were passed by large ma¬ 
jorities. 

“ Such were the proceedings adopted in 
the two periods alluded to. It is proba¬ 
ble, though ice do not speak from autho¬ 
rity, that the measures to be proposed at 
present will be similar to those adopted 
after the. atrocious attack upon the King 
in 1795 .” 

The vile tool w ho probably wrote this 
article, was, at the time to which he al¬ 
ludes, a radical reformer himself—and he 
knows that theSeditious Societies, of which 
he speaks, consisted of many thousands of 
persons—that their object was Parlia¬ 
mentary Reform, and nothing but Par¬ 
liamentary Reform. He however quotes 
Mr. Pitt, as saying — “ then plainly shewed 
that they looked for no Reform , but from 
the Convention they had in view; advising, 
however , a continuance of Petitions for Re¬ 
form as a cover to their designs .” But how 
vvas this made manifest?—not by anv thin~ 
proved in any place. What was it then 
which so plainly shewed their intentions ? 
Was it a secret kept from all the members 
of these societies ? Were the vast numbei .5 
who composed them all ignorant of their 
own designs : or, knowing them, did no one 
divulge the secret f—Was it possible for 
the designs so openly charged upon them 
to exist, and yet be incapable of proof? 
No man in his senses can believe it pos¬ 
sible. So far indeed were these societies 
from being proved seditious, that none of 
their publications were prosecuted j not a 
single cx officio could be tiled against any 
of their proceedings: and this shew* how 
dangerous it is to take the word of a coR* 
reft minister for the proof of a fact 
against the people, in favour of the arbi¬ 
trary measures lie may desire to use. 

The assertions of Pitt and Dun das 
were affected to be believed by their tools, 
and the REPRESENTATIVES of the 
yeo» le obliged them by agreeing to sus* 








53 ] 


Fr.BilUARY 

pnid the IIasie\ s Corpus Act. The mi¬ 
nister was how empowered to put into 
prison whom he pleased, and a.number of 
individuals were accordingly shut, up; 
some in Newgate, some in the solitary pri¬ 
son at Clerhcmvell, and some were sent 
to prison in the country. No particular 
warrant seems to have been issued against 
any of them; and one person, a respect¬ 
able tradesman, was actually imprisoned, 
w ithout being either examined or com¬ 
mitted. The people thus incarcerated 
were kept in close confinement. Those 
in the Coi.d Bath Fields Prison were 
not allowed to see their friends but at dis¬ 
tant periods, and then but for a short space 
of time, and at a distance, and always in 
tire presence of a turnkey placed as a spy 
upon them:—even their wives were denied 
access to them; and thus were innocent 
men imprisoned, and their families ruined, 
at the mere will and pleasure of Ministers. 
Innocent they certainly were, for no bill 
of indictment was preferred against any 
one of them—no legal prosecution was 
commenced—to no trial were any of them 
brought—but after more than three years' 
confinement, they were set at liberty with¬ 
out even entering into a recognizance for 
their good behaviour. 

In vain did they demand to be tried — 
in vain did they assert their innocence, and 
call upon the public for support. The 
public ear had been poisoned , and the Mi¬ 
nister rode triumphant over the liberties j 
of Englishmen.. 

Towards the end of their imprisonment • 
an offer was made to liberate them, upon 
condition of their entering into a recog¬ 
nizance to keep the peace. To t his they 
replied, “ we will enter into no recogni¬ 
zance; if we have broken the law, why 
do you not bring us to trial ?—to sign a 
recognizance will be construed to imply a 
consciousness of guilt;—we are not guilty, ; 
and intend proving our innocence by ac¬ 
tions against those who have violated the 
law in our persons. One of two things 
you shall do—you shall either meet us 
before a jury to defend yaw own conduct, 


8 , 1817 . [51 

or you shall pass a bill of indemnify to 
screen you from the consequences of your 
illegal acts.” Finding that three years' im¬ 
prisonment had not subdued the spirit of 
Englishmen, and fearing to meet those 
they had so basely injured, face to face, in 
a court of justice, a Bill of Indemnity was 
brought into the House of Commons, ami 
the brave but unfortunate men were turned 
loose upon the world , without any means 
of redress for the injury they had suffered, 
and without, any recompenoC for the ruin 
of their circumstances. 

LET MR. BROUGHAM THINK OF 
THIS. 

The CounvF.it says, “ there was to have 
been a Convention of Delegates, 
principles subversive of the Constitution — 
books and papers were seized." True; 
books and papers were seized, and when 
seized, what did t hey prove ? —why, truly, 
nothing more, than that the people want¬ 
ed a REFORM OF PARLIAMENT— 
for, as was before observed, not one of 
these papers was ever prosecuted for libel. 
But there was to have been a CONVEN¬ 
TION— and NOW “the system of appoint¬ 
ing DELEGATES to a Convention has 
been acted upon." \\ hat a BASE 
WRETCH is he, who thus openly puts a 
bare-faced falsehood into print. There 
has, as he and all the world knows, l*eea 
no commotion ; there has indeed been a 
meet.iiig of persons calling themselves Dele- 
: gates, for the purpose of framing u bill fer 
| REFORM —and whereas the illegality of 
this? Folly there was in calling them¬ 
selves Delegates, but no illegality in their 
assembling together. Who does not know 
that it is an every-day practice? Who 
does not know that meetings are held tn 
form bills to be presented to the consider¬ 
ation of Parliament ? In the case, for in¬ 
stance, of the bill to repeal part of the. 
Statute 5th Elizabeth, which disqualified 
persons from following certain trades, un¬ 
less they had served on apprenticeship of 
seven years, not only were there meet¬ 
ings, but a permanent committee was 
publicly appointed, which committee 





Hone’s Reformists' RrcisTF.R. f-5$ 

the JACOBINS, all kinds of cyds will 


»] 

corresponded with all the mannfai turnip 
towns in England \ and when the Act had 
.passed, l:he> publicly, voted, and as pub¬ 
licly gave a piece of plate to Mr. Serjeant 
Onslow, for having taken 1 lie bill into the 
House of Commons, and for the support 
lie save to it as a Member of that House. 

What was perfectly harmless, nay, me¬ 
ritorious in a matter of trade, must be 
much more so in regard to the object for 
which the meeting, villainously called a 
CONVENTION, was held. 

"Where is the analogy between the pre¬ 
sent circumstances and those of 1795, ex¬ 
cept, indeed, in the throwing of stones at 
the royal carriage, which Lord Crust le- 
reagh informed the House, did not produce 
.the sealed bag, or the secret cpmmittee ? 
He would be a bold rngn w lio should say, 
that no person was HIRED to throw the 
stone, for the purpose of giving effect to 
certain measures. It is very strange that 
stones could be thrown in. the presence of a 
host of constables and others, whose busi¬ 
ness it was to observe all that passed, and 
to prevent improper conduct, and yet that 
no one actually throwing could he singled 
out. To say the least of it, this looks like 
extreme negligence. Were I Member of 
the House of Commons, I should be in¬ 
clined to call the magistrate who was on the 
spot, when the window was broken, to the 
bar of the House, to account for this 
strange circumstance . 

In 1794-5 we were at war, and invasion 
was threatened—now we are at peace. 

In 1791-5, there were Corresponding 
and Constitutional Societies, and a system 
of DELEGATION, in full practice all 
over the kingdom—now' there are no so¬ 
cieties, no combinations of any kind. 

In 1794-5, attempts were made to con¬ 
vince the people, that Reform was neces¬ 
sary—now THE MINISTERS have them¬ 
selves demonstrated its necessity. 

Nothing can be less alike than the tyvo 
periods, and as there was then no reason 
for the conduct adopted by Pitt, so there 
can be none for imitating it now. 

I. hen, it was said, if you do net put down 


come upon the country. The Jacobins 
were put down—the Minister had his 
fuli syving—lie had rope enough: \ef 
more misery has been brought upon The 
country than even the most credulous 
feared from the Jacobins Of 1795, and the 
end of it can be foreseen by no human 
being. i . t» .. 

The Morning Chronicle of W edn.es- 
pny, in a tone half snivelling, half bullying, 
complains 1 bus of the conduct of the Re¬ 
formers:— “ The Demagogues are shrewd 
men, yvh© do not err from ignorance or 
folly 1 and they know well that thejr 
speeches and writings have disgusted all 
true friends of our excellent Constitution j, 
yy liilst they have had the effect of exciting 
an. alarm throughout the .country, which 
MAY. PRESERVE MINISTERS IN 
THEIR PLACE (.!!!) and perpetuate 
the immoderate and wanton system of 
public expenditure, which has deprived 
peace of its attributes and commerce of its 
elasticity. In every former period of our 
history, the Reformers, violent or mode¬ 
rate, attacked the notorious and avowed 
supporters, of political abusjes; but the 
new adventurers pursue a different game, 
and have aimed their blows at the con¬ 
stant and incorruptible friends of liberty 5 . 
No common prey .would satisfy them. 
Whatever was most exalted in mind, ge¬ 
nerous in temper, and unsuspected on th$ 
side vf PRINCIPLE(1) Was hunted 
dow n and mangled.” 

•j • ' . , 

An indiscreet friend is often more to be 
feared than an open enemy. "What ser¬ 
vice MU. PERRY expected to rendei 
HIS PARTY by Jetting out the murder 
it would seem difficult to conceive; but 
it is out—they want to turn out tin 
present administration —and they are foil, 
cd it seems—foiled by the “ demagogues 
foiled by those, who Ihe said Mr. 
PERRY is every day telling us are already 
“ pat down by the good sense of tin 
REAL reformers" —that is, by TIIL 
\\ II1GS, that were.—This is, to be sure 

i v . 1 \ ' < 

a most curious discover /.'—The OUT* 




February 8, 1817. 




>ould until a breath, put down the re¬ 
formers , and the reformers could, and 
hare put down the OT'TS! —Precious 
logic this, Mr. PERRY.— 1 he reformers 
HAVE then prevented the OUTS from 
obtaining the loaves and fishes — So much 
the better—-Fo far they have done a 
REAL SERVICE to the country—The 
men in oflice are gorged to the very 
throat-—Their dependants are pretty well 
provided for—They can take little more;— 
•why then exchange them for a set of 
hungry wo'.vys, who, like “ the Horse¬ 
leech s three Daughters,’ would continu¬ 
ally cr>, “ givel give! ! GIV El!!’ —i)o 
\ve not indeed know them and their acts ? 
have we not had experience enough of 
them ?—What did they do when in office 
Cn favour of the people —NOTHING— 
tVhat did they do against them r-r-Every 
thing , it may be said, which' their short 
continuance m office could have enabled the 
most vile and profligate to accomplish .— 
They made I ord GitEN-vinns the Auditor; 
that is, the Examiner of his own accounts; 
they made a Judge a member of the Privy 
Council. Judges are to be independent 
of the Crown and its influence: of course 
independent of the Ministers and their 
influence. But a privy counsellor can be 
removed and disgraced at the will of the 
Ring; and experience of human nature 
forbids us to hope that he who accepts a 
situation incompatible with the rigid per¬ 
formance of a public duty, will relinquish 
the honours, and give up the power he 
has exercised, merely on account ot in¬ 
compatibility In cases of TREASON, 
in cases as the late Earl Stanhope called 
those of 179 J- 5 , in cases of a “ suspicion 
of being suspected ot high treason — the 
Privy council deliberates first, .and then 
seizes whom li pleases—it examines those 
it seizes— it imprisons w hom it has seized 

_it sends those it has seized to be tried 

for high treason if it pleases—and in 
those cases it acts on ex-parte evidence— 
it therefore prejudges the persons it sends 
for trial— and what can be so dangerous 
to our Liberties, as the making the very 


Judge before whom they may he brought, 
for trial one of those whose office neces¬ 
sarily produces prejudication ? 

Mr. POX w-as esteemed “ the best con¬ 
stitutional lawyer in England'*—Mr. Fox 
was not, then ignorant , neither were his 
colleagues ignorant, of the nature of the 
act they committed. 

Mr. FOX raised the income tax to 10 
per cent, and he told the people plainly, 
that he was chiving them from the parlous; 
to the garret—and for what? for the sake, 
of .HANOVER! He, who had called Ha¬ 
nover a “ millstone round the necks of 
the people of England ”i— hr, who had 
deprecated the keeping of Hanover at all— 
he, who had exclaimed against- Hanover, 
as Ihe cause of wasting more money than 
a thousand times the value of its land, and 
all it contained-—Ac, who told us truly that 
it caused the death in war of more En¬ 
glishmen, than its whole population many 
times told! When OUT of place, Mr. 
FOX never ceased to condemn the minis¬ 
ter, and all former ministers, for their en¬ 
deavours to please the House of Bruns¬ 
wick in regard to Hanover ; but no sooner 
was he IN place, than he told the people 
that Hanover was as dear to the people of 
England as Hampshire —that he would 
have their substance, and degrat ' them m 
their condition for the sake of Hanover! 

All kind of Extravagance was practised 
durius: his administration—the Hous* 
which had obeyed the nod of his prede? 
cessors, now obeyed his, as it has since 
done his successors, and as it will that of 
any minister so long as it continues to be 
constituted as it now is —and until it bo 
made a REAL, and not a SHAM, IIIN 
PRESENTATION of the people. 

While OUT of place, THE WHIGS} 
advocated REFORM OF PARLIA¬ 
MENT ; but when IN place they depre¬ 
cated the very mention of reform—the 
time was not then corne—it would embar¬ 
rass other measures—all kinds of excuses 
wore made, both by them and by their 
friends; and the “ DELUDED PEOPLE” 
were cheated and plundered, with as little 






m 


IIo.xeN Kei-'OR'mists’ Register. 


[«■ 


ceremony as they had before been by 
Pitt and Dun das. 

THE PEOPLE want no change of men \ 
tffiey are not NOW to be cajoled l»y tliis, 
or bv that PARTY. They want a 
CHANGE OF MEASURES-—and this 
they will An ve. Let them but be peace¬ 
able yet ACTIVE — patient, yet RE¬ 
SOLUTE—let them hold to their pur¬ 
pose—let them HOLD TO THE LAWS 
—and the powers of sin and death shall 
not prevail agamsi them. 

Leaving the further consideration of 
Mr. BROUGHAM’S conduct in connec¬ 
tion with HIS PARTY, as well as some 
other subjects, on which 1 intended to re¬ 
mark, but. for which there is not room, to 
st- future opportunity, 1 merely beg the 
reader’s attention to the follow ing extract, 
from an "account of the Riots in Lon- 
4oa,”tm December 2, 1810, published by 
me about the middle of that month. 
Observing upon the excellent conduct of 
the Loki> Mayor, in insisting with the 
Secretary of State upon a Public Exami¬ 
nation of the persons charged with riot in 
tin? City* I went on to say, “ it is per¬ 
haps owing to ms Lordship ‘that the Pic- 
house Expedition has not been by this 
time transformed into a most “ BLOOD Y 
PLOT.” Private examination mightily 
assists- m the procuring and dove-tailing 
®f circumstances, in themselves wholly 
unconnected; and the concoction of a 
“• THE A SONABJMJ ( ONSPIRA CY ” 
would have been very pretty employment 
against the meeting of Parliament. ’ Even 
at this moment a ‘ A able Lord' is probably 
engaged in studying the attitude with 
which he shall rise from the Treasury- 
bench, throw a green bag full of papers 
©rathe table,and with right Katterfelto- 
ioakmg horror affirm, that it contains cer¬ 
tain, proof of a most raging contempt 
against his Majesty’s Ministers through¬ 
out the whole country, and ask the honour¬ 
able House to oblige him by the little 
favour of SUSPENDING THE HA¬ 
BEAS CORPUS ACT!” 

It now' turns out that what I oq wrote 

and printed two months ago is verified_ 

the Noble Lord (C A STEER EAGII) has 
thrown his " GREEN BAG” upon the 
table of the House, and I am told by a 
gentleman, who saw him, that his gait and 
gesture, on his-coming out of the House, 
were admirably suited to the close of the 
business he hud been doing. HE Lord¬ 


ship walked w ith such an air, ns he ns 
sumes, perhaps, on reading the conclusioi 
of a dispatch from Prince Talleyrand 
which assures him of the said Talley 
rand’s “ high consideration He lieli 
his head loftily, as if lie were saying, **■ 
am Sir < )raclk !” i ie stepped forth witl: 
a sort of official solemnity, and stopping 
in the lobby to have a large militafy 
cloak thrown over him, he kept tin 
iron! open, to shew the scarlet 1 in 
ing which gave relief to his figure. Ai 
he marched with ail due stateliness tc 
his carriage, not a spectator moved — 
though he had been loudly cheered ir 
the Honourable House, no signs of ap¬ 
plause were manifested towards him out 
of it. It was indeed a fearful day for our 
country, and had I been there, I should 
have been as much appalled at the sight 
of Lord Castlerfagh that night, as at 
the appearance of the figure on the White 
Horse— 1 don’t mean Alderman Hunter, 
but—Death in the Revelations. 

Having obtained a vote for a COM- 


UTTKE OF SECRECY to be 


ap 


pointed by ballot to examine the Paper 
iu the Green Bag and report thereon, o 
Wednesday, (Feb. 5,) the day c 
ballot, Mr. Brougham said that " i 
order to remind the House how muc 
time might be saved, and precisel 
the same result obtained by the Nobl 
Lord opposite, (Lord Casteetieagu 
reading the list of names which hewishe 
to leave in the Committee, he would m 
dertake to predict the 2 1 names 1h; 
would be actually returned without th 
trouble of any scrutiny” [a LAUGH, an 
cries of read! read.!!] Now this Hug 
may seem very odd to jrersons not a< 
fjtinioted with the manner in which th 
Ballot is MANAGED in the Honourabl 
House. How it is managed I will nr 
here describe; at present it is enough fc 
the reader to know that Mr. Brougiiv 
actually did read a List of 21 Name; 
being the very persons whom the He 
non ruble House some hours aftertrarc 
ELECTED ry hallot to be the Con 
mittee of Secrecy. 


Here follows a correct List of 
Names in the order they arose from 
ballot ting box, and to each name is 
Inched such information as I have hi 
able to obtain respecting the Honours 
Members composing it—- 










Cl] February 3, 1817. 

COMMITTEE OF SECRECY. 

• » % 


Lord MILTON, eldest son of Earl Fitzw illiam, a great borough proprietor. £. 

Rt. lion. GEORGE PONSONRY, a privy counsellor, late lord chancellor in 
Ireland, uncle to Lord Ponsonby and Viscount Lisjiore, and uncle in 
law to Earl Grey... 4000 

Mr. EGERTUN, nephew to 3\Ir. Bootle Wsleraiiam. 

Rt. Hon. W. ELLIOT, a privy counsellor. 

Lord CASTLEREAGII, a cabinet minister, principal secretary of state, 
commissioner for India affairs, &c. &c. 7500 

Lord LASCELLES, eldest son of the Earl of IIahewood, a great borough 
proprietor. 

Pit. Hon. BRAGGE BATHURST, a cabinet minister, chancellor of the 

Duchy of Lancaster, brother-in-law to Lord Sidmoutii.4525 

lion. W. LAMB, eldest son of Viscount Melecurn, ftnd soli-in-law of the 
Earl of Besborough, 

Sir ARTHUR PIGOTT, a Icing's counsel, representative of the 25 elector* 
of Horsham in Sussex, influenced by Viscountess Irvine. 

Rt. lion. F. J. ROBINSON, a minister, joint paymaster of the forces, vice 
president of the Board of Trade, the patron of the corn bill—before whose 
house, in Old Burlington Street, Edyvakd Vize and Jane Watson were 
shot, to death, on the 7th of March, 1815, when the military fired from his 
parlour windows.2000 

Rt. Hon. Sir J. NICHOLL, lent, a privy counsellor, dean of the arches, and 
judge of the prerogative court » . . . ... 5000 

Sir SAMUEL SHEPHERD, lent, a minister, a king’s serjeant, and the 

king’s solicitor general...SOCO 

Sir WILLIAM GARROW, lent, a minister, the king's attorney general, 

chief justice of Chester, and counsellor of state for the Duchy of Cornwall, O000 

Rt. lion. GEORGE CANNING, a cabinet minister, president of Ihe Board 


of Controul, receiver general of the Alienation Office... 4400 

lit. Hon. C. YORKE, a teller of the Exchequer. . . ....... 2700 

Mr. BOOTLE WILBRAIIAM, a ministerial member. 


Mr. WII .BERFORCE, formerly member for Yorkshire, now member for the 
little Borough of Rramber, and a great supporter of the Gagging Bills in 
1795. 

Rt. lion. W. DUNDAS, a privy counsellor, keeper of the signet in Scotland. 2269 

Rt. lion. GEORGE ROSE, a minister, treasurer of the navy, a clerk of par¬ 
liament, a lord of trade, keeper of exchequer records, clerk of pleas, ver- 
durer ol the Nevv loicst, kc. ............... 1 

Aid. Sir WILLIAM CURTIS, bart. the loan jobber, and dealer in 
flimsies. 

Admiral FRANK, a red admiral—not a yellow admiral. 

Eleven of the Committee receive out of the Taxes, annually.£53,251 


[6$ 

Annual 

) 'fusions. 
Salaries, fir 
Gratuities. 













IIoneV Reformists 1 Register; 




The C ouriter says that there was rv 
Laugh in the Honourable House at the 
ebwchision of this List.— A Laugh A i 
am certain that the rearin' will not Iuigri 
at the List, and Lam alsoCertain that his 
Reflections thereon will be.so like n*y 
own, that 1 shall not express them. As, 
in the mean time, an Address to' the lit- 
eubil*' has been left at the S ondon Ta-■ 
xern, to be signed by the 1,o'nd and In¬ 
dependent Livery of London, and as a 
Declaration is left at. the same Tavern to 
be signed by the Merchants, Bankers, 
Traders, and others, Who, I suppose, are 
NOT Loyal and Independent - Livery; 
and as these persons are doubtless desi ' 
rotis of having the utmost publicity giver, 
to their acts and deeds, I hereby SOLI¬ 
CIT all, and all manner, of INFORYf A 
\SON of, from, and concerning, each and 
every of the persons promoting and shin¬ 
ing such Petit idn and Dechiratioij, and 
particularly respecting their LOYALTY 
AND !N1)DPIiNI)E NCE yarn! 1 promts 
to publish a (inf of their names with such 
“particulars attached to each name, as will 
show their fellow citizens who they are, 
#nd v. hat they are. i will do this most 
impartially, without favour or affection to 
*eny of thern % and I hope that Gentlemen 
Yjill not be backward in qnabliyg me to 
complete my purpose effectually, and 
with as much dispatch:as possible. 

■ Vv hilst indulging a smile at some pro¬ 
ceedings respecting tjie SPA FIELDS 
MEETING on Monday next, t have been 
astonished at the irritation manifest!'. at¬ 
tempted to be excited in the minds of the 
persons likely to attend there, by the 
following Posting Bill:— 

(Copy.) 

S F A F I E L D S R O W ! 

T R U T H FOR A P,S N N Y. 
4& FLELX-S LLIKET. 

GO IT MY BOYS ! 

'wnts inflammatory placard has been post¬ 
ed in Fleet-street, and other parts of t he 
city, and part icularly at the YV est End of 
?he Town. A number of persons not re- 
ewllecting that my shop in Meet-street, is 
No. 55, have bpeu at No. 67, Old Bailey, 
where, ns f there carry on The greater part 
of my business, I am always to be found, 


and they have expressed strong feelings of 
surprise and resentment, at my having, as 
they imagined, issued it, and requested to 
know what the “ Truth for a penny ” is. 
These inquiries have been made by persons 
who did not kuowme; for tHose who do, 
are'well aware, first, that every tiling 
printed for me, lie it ever so trifling, 1 al¬ 
ways announce and advertise with my 
NAME to it'j end, secondly, that my ob- 
)ev.t\>Cu\g to enlighten my countrymen, I 
am an enemy to all violence and tumult. 

I The Placard is an announcement of a 
■-Penny Publication, ridiculing Reform and 
Re formists, sold by M r.J AM ES 1 ] ARPER, 
Bookseller, of No. 46, Fleet Street, at the 
corner of Raw Court, and directly opposite 
I to Peel’s Coffee House. He is a son oi 
) Mr. THOMAS HAMPER, Silversmith, 
of No. <207, Fleet Street, at the corner 
1 of Shire Lane, who is, I have been 
j informed, ail American loyalist. He 
| is a Common Councilman of the Ward 
i of FarringdoiyWithout, a decidedly thick 
Hand-thin Ministerialist, and therefore what 
is commonly called a LOYLAL MAN. 
The Placard was issued and caused to b . 
[ posted by his Son, who has lately gone 
into business and who, if iic goes on in 
this way, will have enough upon his hands 
It purports to be printed by H. Buyer 
P rinter in Bridewell Hospital, a ftoym 
Endowment of which he is an Officer 
being one of the Arts Masters, with i 
house in the Hospital rent free, a Salarv 
and other allowances. He, as'well as tin 
Messrs. Harper* Father and Son, is also z 
LOYAL Mai^. This inflammatory Bill 
therefore, prided by a LOYAL-Printer 
in a Royal Estal lishment, and issued by : 
1 .OYAE Bookseller, though WLTHOL1 
EUS NAME to it, (three days before i 
Spa Fields Alerting) with a recommend a 
tion to M GO IT MY BO YES '.” is wlioh » 
and entirely manufactured, published, ai:c 
posted by the EOY A E, whose vocifera 
tiousiu behalf of 1 oru Castlerealh am 
Social Order , and against Reformist! 
and Reform, are stunning and endless 

My limits are already exceeded ; am 
. I finish without being able to include sd 
veral tilings 1 wished. Reserving then 
till by and-by, 1 bid the Render Fare 

well. “ - s William hone, 

Eek 7„18iS. 14 - ' - 

On SIR F. BUItDE'l’T'S PLAN OI 
REFORM in the next Number. 


Lwnchm:— Pi mteii I»y Hay an.i 1 'uknek, No. 11, Newcastle Street, Strand; Published l> 
WILL! AM HQ \jj£. at $7,.Oy> A?.»-e’y, thyeej doors ffom Lui>o ate Hh.j,; wlh'S 

C.OMMVNiEA. IONS (post paid A »hohid be addressed ; and sold at 5». Fleet Street.— 
Race I Wo Pence each, 12s 6d. pet Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thonsaud. 














Price Two-Pence. 

% 


HONE’s REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 3.] Saturday, Feb. 15, 1817. [Vol. I. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER 

will, every half-year, have a Title-Page, 
with a Complete Index of reference to 
its contents, and bind up into a Volume, 
as large in size as a volume of the best 
edition of Hume’s History of England, or 
Gibbon’s Rome. But a volume of the 
Register will contain more than double 
the quantity contained in a volume of 
those works, and be at one half the price; 
so that the Reader will have, at the end of 
every year. Two Volumes of an authentic 
History of Reform, abounding with 
sound political information on subjects in 
which he himself, arid his children, and 
his country, are deeply interested ; and the 
contents of these Two Volumes, which 
he obtains by an easy purchase of Two- 
Pence a week, and which do not cost him 
Nine Shillings, will be equal to the 
contents of Four volumes of Hume’s His¬ 
tory of England, which will cost One 
Pound Twelve Shillings. 

No. I. was published on Saturday, Feb¬ 
ruary 1, 1817. The leading Article of 
No. II. for February 8, is, “ UNIVER¬ 
SAL SUFFRAGE and ANNUAL PAR¬ 
LIAMENTS against Mr. BROUGHAM 
and the WHIGS.” 


*** Communications should be ad¬ 
dressed (post-paid) to W. HONE, 67 , Old 
Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill, 
where the Reformists’ Register is pub* 
lished.— Reports of Meetings hold in 
the Country, or Newspapers containing 
them, and authentic Information, with 
useful Hints and Suggestions, will be 
thankfully received. 


SIR FRANCIS BURDETFS 

PLAN 

OF 

REFORM. 


Sir FRANCIS BURDETTlms given 
notice of a motion to be made in the 
Honourable House, on the^Sth instant, 
respecting REFORM OF PARLIA¬ 
MENT. It is now nearly seven years 
since Sir Francis made his celebrated 
speech, and laid down bis Plan of Re¬ 
form. At that time he was alone sup¬ 
ported by bis constituents, and by 
the wishes of the few who still thought 
Parliamentary Reform worth their no¬ 
tice. The nation had sunk into a kind 
of lethargy, from which it was slowly 
recovering. Pitt had contrived, by 
various means, to make the people 
distrust and hate one another; he had 
excited a rivalry of egotistical senti¬ 
ment, which induced a vast portion of 
the money-getting people to vie with 
each other in demonstrations of attach¬ 
ment to men and measures, whose ten¬ 
dency and object were to degrade them 
in their turn, and to make slaves of 
all. It was the fashion to exhibit 
this spurious loyalty by mis-naming 
and ill-using any body and every body 
over whom they had the least power; 
and, above all, to vilify and degrade 
the working man —to make paupers of 
the labourers from one end of the. 
country to the other. Pitt persuaded 
these silly selfish men, that, by keeping- 
down the workman, by oppressing him 
in every possible way, by paying him 
part of his wage* by parish allowance in 

















67] 

the shape of alms, they would procure 
their work to be done cheaper; and that 
all which was saved in wages would 
be added to their profit, which, as well 
as their business, was to increase con¬ 
tinually. Thus cajoled, thus separated, 
the silly sheep were annually sheared, 
without perceiving tne loss of their 
wool. Pitt gave them the power to 
abuse and ill-use one another; and so 
delighted were they with its exercise, 
that they never observed the hand of 
the thief who was all the while rob¬ 
bing them. In this state the Electors 
of Westminster, more enlightened 
than their fellows, found the country, 
when in the year 1807 they were 
called upou to elect two representa¬ 
tives for their city and liberty. The 
Whigs had been in power, but the 
system of Pitt had been pursued, and 
was improved upon; the jacobins of 
1795 had been subdued ; the reformers 
had been stigmatized, and were de¬ 
spised ;—every thing an arbitrary mi¬ 
nister could desire seemed to be at¬ 
tained, or within his grasp:—the 
rights and liberties of the people were 
treated as matters not deserving of the 
least regard ; the two factions shared 
the power and the emoluments of the 
state, without any one to call them to 
account, or so much as a murmur being 
heard against them. 

In this state of fancied security and 
repose, they were suddenly called into 
action bv a proposition made by some 
of the Electors of Westminster to 
“ return SIR FRANCIS BURDETT 
to Parliament free from expence, or 
personal trouble, and without even 
making him a candidate.” The reasons 
for this proposition were, that Sir 
FRANCIS BURDETT was the only 
man who had the sense and the cou¬ 
rage to fight the peoples’ battle. He 
had proved himself a friend to very 
extended suffrage, and to ANNUAL 
PARLIAMENTS — two important 
measures of which the people of West¬ 
minster were better qualified to judge 
than the electors in any other place 
in the kingdom: yet, even in Westmin¬ 
ster, the electors had so long been die- 


(6$ 

tated to by one or the Other faction, 
their votes had so long been divided 
between them, so much pains had 
been used to mislead them as to their 
true interests, such monstrous sums of 
money had been expended in efforts to 
corrupt them, and so successful were 
these efforts supposed to be, as to leave 
no doubt in the minds of the ministers 
that they could cause the return of 
whom they pleased. The proposi¬ 
tion from unnamed and unknown indivi¬ 
duals, to undertake the return of Sir 
Francis Burdltt, unaided by the rich 
and powerful of either faction, was 
treated with contempt; and a man 
was proposed to the Electors, of whose 
person and qualifications they were ut¬ 
terly ignorant,—but any thing , it was 
supposed, would do for Westminster, 
so it was but supported by some rich 
families and by the public offices. The 
ministerial candidate was, to be sure, 
a Brewer; and possessed, as brewers 
usually do, the leases of many public 
houses ; he was also a Colonel of West¬ 
minster cavalry —and, with his valiant 
men, of all shapes and sizes, mounted 
on all kinds of horses, from the hunter 
to the poney who usually runs in har¬ 
ness, had flourished before the KIng 
in Hyde Park. With his troops of 
horses which matched their riders, 
and riders who matched their horses, 
he had taken the field on Wimbledon 
Common, and had performed wonders 
among the furze-bushes. Many were 
the victories he had gained in this 
way; many were the posts and rails 
Ins valiant men had chopped at with 
their swords; numerous were the pigs 
and dogs they had rode over; and now, 
forsooth, he and they, backed on by 
the treasury, were all on the. alert to 
ride over the liberties of the people of 
Westminster. 

A stand was, however, now to be 
made on behalf of the people. It was 
undertaken, indeed, with full confi¬ 
dence in its success. Those who put 
themselves forward to manage it were 
few in number, of no political import¬ 
ance whatever, without influence*— 
even their names were unknown to 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 





February 15, 1817. [70 


the Electors. The Electors, from the 
long disuse of the elective franchise in 
the way in which alone it should ever 
he used, had no confidence in each 
other. Each man was indeed ready 
to do his duty, yet few reckoned upon 
the same disposition in their neigh¬ 
bours: so hopeless, indeed, did the ex¬ 
periment appear to them, that on the 
day the election commenced cighiu- 
four pounds only could he collected, 
with which to begin a contest on a 
spot where hundreds of thousands of 
pounds had on former occasions been 
expended. 

Under these circumstances the elec¬ 
tion commenced. It was the contest 
of honour, and virtue, and economy, 
against venality, and corruption, and 
influence, and profusion. The moment 
the people were convinced that the 
election was conducted by some of 
themselves , with no other object than 
the good of the whole nation , they rushed 
to the poll, eager to demonstrate their 
devotednes3 to the cause of liberty. 
The TREASURY became alarmed: 
every means, fair or foul, was resorted 
to; every miserable tool was employed 
—threats, promises, and persuasions, 
calumny, misrepresentation; frauds of 
all kinds were practised; letters were 
written for those who could not refuse 
their signatures, to induce others to 
procure votes; licences were threat¬ 
ened; tradesmen were to have their 
customers taken away;—no artifice 
was unemployed by the enemies of the 
people. Regardless of all this, the 
managers for the people kept their 
steady course: “ We,” said they, “ have 
undertaken your cause; the way is 
open—it is before you; do you your 
duty.” “ Electors may receive letters of 
thanks from the candidates who are 
acting for THEMSELVES, but you 
will not expect to receive them from 
the Committee who are acting for 
YOU, and by your means.” 

Contemptible as the people had ap¬ 
peared in the eyes of theTreasury—easy 
as the victory seemed at first to the va¬ 
liant Colonel, such was the effect of the 
people undertaking their own business^ 


that the ministerial candidate, having 
been kept at his post from mere shame, 
at length slunk from the contest. With 
him expired the hopes of both factions; 
and in him was demonstrated the im¬ 
becility of ministerial power over the 
people, when they are wise enough to 
see their own importance, and have 
courage enough to shew it. 

At the close of the poll Sir Francis 
B uRDETThad received as many single 
votes, or plumpers, within 7, us all the 
candidates, four in number, had re¬ 
ceived among them; and nearly two- 
thirds of the whole number of electors 
polled, voted for him. But the most 
remarkable circumstance attending 
this election was, that the whole ex¬ 
pense, from the commencement to the 
close, amounted only to the sum of 
£7 80 . 14 5 . 4 d. 

Too much praise can never be be¬ 
stowed on the Electors of Westminster 
for this disinterested and noble act. 
Not only did they put down corrup¬ 
tion,—not only did they display their 
own dignity,—not only did they shew 
themselves as men “ who knew their 
rights, and, knowing, dared maintain 
them;” but they set a glorious exam¬ 
ple to the country of what may be 
achieved by freemen. In this election 
there was no drunkenness—no de¬ 
bauchery—no false swearing—-no riot¬ 
ing—no murders—no prostituted Du¬ 
chesses kissing chimney-sweepers— 
no Fox's tails—no hired ruffians of any 
kind—no bludgeon-men—no sailors— 
no Irish chairmen—none of the base 
and vile, demoralizing, butchering 
tricks of the WHIGS or TORIES—no 
cowardly undermining of character—• 
no assassin-like attempt to destroy 
reputation — no hired voters — no 
obstruction at the place of polling—no 
puffing and lying-in the newspapers— 
no attempt to mislead: to the people 
the business was left; and nobly and 
effectually did they perform it. 

So astounding were the circumstances 
of this election, that men could not be 
brought to believe in them. So little 
had they been accustomed to see the 
people acting for themselves, that there- 




Hone's Reformists’ Register. 


71 ] 

turn of Sir Francis Burdf.tt produced 
more surprise than conviction. The 
people of Westminster had, however, 
satisfied themselves of their own im¬ 
portance, and henceforth they let no 
opportunity escape of laying before 
the country the necessity of a radical 
reform in the Commons’ House. Nei¬ 
ther was their example useless, nor 
their efforts to induce others to imitate 
them unavailing. To their good ex¬ 
ample, to their public meetings for re¬ 
form, may he traced the reviving de¬ 
sire for that object. Westminster in¬ 
deed has demonstrated, not theoreti¬ 
cally, but practically, the advantages of 
reform. Westminster has replied, by 
its act, to the calumny of the enemies 
of reform, that “ the House of Com¬ 
mons nas corrupt , because the people 
were corrupt .” Where among them is 
the corruption? In Westminster are the 
Courts o Law—the Houses of Parlia¬ 
ment—the Palaces—ihe AdmiralLy— 
the Pay office—the War and Ordnance 
offices—the Treasury—the India board 
—the great Army agents—the Barrack 
office—the. Navy office—the Victual¬ 
ling office—the Tax office—the The¬ 
atres—the Opera-House—and many 
other offices and public establishments, 
ALL of them from their very nature 
opposed to free election; yet in this 
place—abounding beyond all others in 
the means and the love of corruption— 
in this place, power was impotent 
against the people. Those who dare 
again say, the corrupt people make 
the Honourable House coirupt, should 
have this example held up to them. 
In answer to the libellous assertion they 
should be reminded, that the election 
of 1 S 07 was no momentary essay, was 
not the impulse of a moment, finishing 
for ever with the achievement. They 
should be reminded, that it is now 
nearly ten years ago; and from that 
time to this the Electors of Westminster 
have kept their steady course, while 
corruption has been obliged to hide 
its head, and to draw in its claws. 

The Electors of Westminster have, 
since that time, re-elected Sir Francis 
B yRDETT once, and Lord Cochrane 


[7 2 

twice, on the same excellent plan; 
thev have hud to contend three 

j 

times in Courts of law; they have held 
upwards of thirty public meetings, all 
at their own expence, all too at an ex¬ 
pence scarcely exceeding <£4000. 

Talk of reformation and economy in¬ 
deed! Here are examples of both, worthy 
the contemplation of every man. Here 
is no petty retrenchment from unli¬ 
mited extravagance; here is a radical 
reform in management and in morals, 
at once demonstrating that the people , 
and the people alone , are willing 
and able to do their own business in 
the best and the least expensive man¬ 
ner. 

While Westminster was divided be¬ 
tween the factions, the people were 
debased in all manner of ways. It was 
the interest of BOTH PARTIES to 
debauch both their minds and bodies. 
Their interests were separate and dis¬ 
tinct from those of the people, whom 
they looked upon as tools , to be used or 
to be laid aside, as suited their purposes; 
and yet these detestable WHIGS and 
TORIES never failed to represent 
them both as depraved and corrupt. 
“ Honourable,” and “ Right Honour¬ 
able,” and “ Learned” Gentlemen, and . 
“ Noble Lords,” as soon as they have 
obtained a seat, no matter by what 
means, presume to abuse the people. 
No matter what their course of life is,, 
what their education has been, what 
their knowledge, what their lack of 
it—the moment they are seated, they 
become inspired. One assumes the 
air of a Solon—Lycurgus this—So¬ 
crates that—“ Solomon, wiser than all 
the rest,” sits on the right hand of the 
exalted venerable figure, whose face is 
too sacred to be seen, but whose voice 
is heard in accents of “ Order, order!” 
In this mysterious chamber, where up¬ 
rightness and wisdom abounds, he 
who would across a dinner-tabl-e ap¬ 
pear a wretched, ignorant, indecisive 
creature, here becomes at once trans¬ 
formed into a wise, and virtuous, and 
manly person. In this wonderful as¬ 
semblage of various knowledge, all 
subjects are equally known to him; but 





73] February 15, 1817. [74 


in none does he excel so much as in 
his calumnies against the ‘people. Here 
it is he feels peculiarly at his ease; to 
this point all his wit and all his know¬ 
ledge is brought; and a beardless boy 
can dissect the mind of the most expe¬ 
rienced man. This is the point on 
which he may be said to pass his ex¬ 
amination : on this he must prove his 
capability for preferment, just as a 
midshipman does at the admiralty, or 
a surgeon at the college. This it is 
which produces cheering on both sides, 
and cries of “ Hear , hear!” Has he 
strayed from the right path, an in¬ 
creased anxiety “ to seize every oppor¬ 
tunity’to shew his hatred of the peo¬ 
ple shall again restore him to favour, 
to his rank in THE REGIMENT. 
Who have been so much or so vilely 
abused as the people of Westminster ?.— 
and for what, but for having done 
their duty as Englishmen? For a mo¬ 
ment, however, the petitioners for re¬ 
form have shared with them the abuse 
bestowed by both parties, but pre¬ 
eminently by the OUTS. They have 
been called “ wild — visionary — disgust¬ 
ing — malicious — disloyal — seditious — 
rebellious—rash experimentalists — mad 
enthusiasts — demagogues -— malcontents 
— liars—enemies of social order — incen¬ 
diaries. meditating civil war and blood¬ 
shed,r 

What a nation must this be if its 
people deserve these epithets; and what 
must they be who use them, if they 
are false! It will not do to say these 
epithets are applied to a few; for even 
those who use them—those who de¬ 
clare, as Mr, Brougham cjid, that no 
opportunity of reprobation should be 
allowed to pass by—they, and he, tell 
the House, that the petitions which 
deserve this reprobation, were signed 
by half a million of men—by halt a mil¬ 
lion of productive hands, and sturdy 
hearts—by half a million of men whom 
Mr. Brougham admits do very well un¬ 
derstand the meaning of the petitions 
jto which their hands have been set. 
Yet,with this testimony, extorted from 
an unwilling witness, tbeir petitions are 
called a “ Jarrago — i;aguc — dangerous- 


impracticable — pernicious — mischievous- 
blundering—intended to produce incal¬ 
culable mischief—inciting the people to 
revolt and rebellion” —And vet these 
gentlemen, the OUTS, not only call 
upon the people, but they actually 
persuade themselves that thte people 
hear the call, and will assist them to 
turn out the ministers. 

All is fair against the people , all is 
foul against their calumniators. Any 
one may abuse the people with the ut¬ 
most impunity, may, as we have seen, 
describe them as wretches fit only for 
the axe and the gibbet; and then, with 
unparalleled effrontery, call upon them 
to oust their opponents. But West¬ 
minster is a piactical answer to all 
their calumnies. Westminster has 
shewn no “ ignorant impatience no 
tumult has disgraced any of its pro¬ 
ceedings; all its elections have been 
peaceable, and orderly, and wisely con¬ 
ducted; its numerous public meet¬ 
ings, although attended by vast mul¬ 
titudes, have all of them been perfectly 
decorous, strictly confined to the ob¬ 
ject for which they were called—com¬ 
pletely meetings for business. 

Westminster, at this moment, ex¬ 
hibits a fair sainpie of what the whole 
people would be, if the plan of reform 
proposed by Sir Francis Burdett 
were adopted. Corruption and profli¬ 
gacy would speedily disappear from 
among them; and the profligate and 
the corrupt would no longer dare to 
offer themselves as candidates to mis¬ 
represent and abuse them. Then must 
a man have a character for wisdom 
and integrity, who aspired to the high 
honour of representing a virtuous, a 
free, an intelligent, and a brave people; 
and then would the wise and the virtu¬ 
ous, whose more correct notions of ho¬ 
nour keep them out of sight, come for¬ 
ward, proud to receive real honours 
from their countrymen. And what is 
there, after all, in the conduct of West¬ 
minster which would not instantly be 
put in practice by the whole people, if 
they possessed even the right of voting 
enjoyed by the people of J Test minster. 

Sir Francis Burdett has seldom 






75 ] Hone's Reformists’ Register, [70 


interfered in the paltry disputes between 
the two parties. IIis efforts have 
been directed to more important ob¬ 
jects. He knew of how little conse¬ 
quence to the nation were their vain 
disputes, their petty cavils; he re¬ 
served himself for higher purposes, 
and was always at his post when there 
appeared any the least chance of pro¬ 
moting the true interests of the people. 
This brought upon him the hatred of 
both battalions of the “ Regiment;' 
both were equally ready to oppose 
him, or to defeat his purpose, in any 
way. 

On the I2th of June, 1809, Sir 
Francis Burdett gave notice of a 
motion he intended to make on RE¬ 
FORM OF PARLIAMENT. In 
giving this notice, he said— 

“ The time is now arrived when I feel it 
necessary no longer to leave room for 
those insinuations which have been so 
frequently and so generally expressed un¬ 
der the definition of public demagogues 
and popular agitators, and of which I 
know I was the butt. On my part there 
shall be no ambiguity. I wish the people, 
upon this vital question of Reform, to 
know the nature and extent of my opinion ; 
and I am determined that this House shall 
not separate-—that its members shall not 
return amongst their constituents—in fact, 
that this House 6hall not continue longer 
in the contaminated state in which it has 
exhibited itself, without giving some 
pledge to the country of its future inten¬ 
tion upon the vital question of Reform, 
and therebv giving peace ami confidence to 
the public mind. VVith that object, it 
is my intention to come down to this 
House, and propose a short Resolution, 
calculated to inform both this House and 

*0 » 

the People of the length 1 am inclined to 
go. 1 have only to add, that my view's on 
the subject are neither hastily considered, 
ncr suddenly put into a practical sy tern. 
Whatever opinion may be ultimately pro¬ 
nounced upon them, I feel the consolation 
of having weighed them with attention. 
4 >have therefore only to take the present 


opportunity of giving notice, that io-mor - 
row I will submit to this House a Reso¬ 
lution, binding it early in the next session 
to take into its consideration the propriety 
of a Parliamentary Reform.” 

When the morrow came, and before 
Sir Francis could make bis motion, 
the House was counted out; and on the 
next day, notwithstanding the momen¬ 
tous subject of which Sir Francis had 
given notice, enough of the pretended 
reformers could not be. found to consti¬ 
tute a house. It is usu d in such cases 
to renew the notice; which custom 
had the Honourable Baronet complied 
with, it is probable, as the session was 
to close in a few days, be might have 
been ultimately baffled. On the 15th 
inst. therefore he stood up in his place, 
and said— 

“ Sir, I rise to offer to the attention of 
the House a Plan of Reform, not for its 
immediate adoption, but for its future con¬ 
sideration ; to state my opinion to the 
House and the Public upon this subject j 
and to propose to the House to come to a 
Resolution (according to frequent custom 
at the close of a session), the object of 
which is, to hold out an assurance to the 
country, that the House will, at an early 
period in the next session, take into its 
consideration the necessity of a Reform in 
the state of the Representation. 

I feel it a duty to myself and the pub¬ 
lic to relieve this subject from all misre¬ 
presentation, ambiguity, and misconcep¬ 
tion: and in now proposing for discus¬ 
sion, but not for immediate adoption, ihe 
outline of a SPECIFIC PLAN, 1 am 
answering those repeated calls which have 
been made upon me in this House, to 
state to this House, and to the Public, 
definitely and precisely, what my views 
are upon tVie subj *ct of PARLl \JVlEN- 
FARY REFORM; that henceforward it 
may oe fully and clearly understood, HOW 
FAR 1 DO REALLY MEAN TO GO, 
and at what poin I mean r o S LOP. 

“ i shall hold fast by that pi : n and sub¬ 
stantial Constitution, adapteo to ihe con¬ 
templation of common understandings. 



77 ] 

to be found in the Statute Bt>ok , and re¬ 
cognised by the Common Law of *he Land. 
—If it can be shown that the principles on 
which I proceed are erroneous, unconstitu¬ 
tional, and inconsistent with the ancient, 
FUNDAMENTAL LAWS VF ENGLAND, l 
shall stand corrected, and willingly aban¬ 
don my proposition ; but if, on the con¬ 
trary, I shall be able to demonstrate, that 
the present system is the creature of in¬ 
novation, and a departure from the old, 
established , unrepealed laws of the country , 
and that a recurrence to the practice of 
these laws is an easy and adequate remedy 
for the evil; though 1 may not indulge a 
hope of the concurrence of this House, yet 
I may hope for the approbation of the Pub¬ 
lic ; and, at all events, I shall enjoy the 
satisfaction of knowing that I have per¬ 
formed an essential duty, both to the peo¬ 
ple and myself, in bringing forward the 
present inquiry. 

“ A charge has been made by the abet¬ 
tors of corruption against those who wish 
for reform, as innovators and subverters of 
the Constitution of the country; whereas, 
the sole object of us reformers is, to rescue 
the country from the effects of the innova¬ 
tion that has been introduced. Those who 
speak so much of innovation seem to for¬ 
get what the great Lord Bacon has said, 

* that of all innovators, time is the greatest.’ 
Will you then, while all things are chang¬ 
ing around you, determine to stand still? 
Will you still cling to a rotten-borough 
system, the creature of innovation, nursed 
by usurpation, and matured by corruption ? 
for such shall 1 shew it to be. Is it rea¬ 
sonable that sovereignty should be attached 
to particular spots and places, to con¬ 
vert into Private Property that which the 
Constitution has declared to be a Public 
Trust —to permit an usurped local sove¬ 
reignty, independent of the King, inde 
pendent of the People, and destructive to 
both ? 

“ * The wisdom of our laws,* says Sir 
Edward Coke, * is most apparent in this, 
that any departure from their established 
principles, although at the time wearing 


[78 

the specious appearance of advantage, never 
fails to bring along with it such a train of 
unforeseen inconveniences, as to demon¬ 
strate their excellence, and the necessity of 
again having recurrence to them.’ And 
how strikingly that observation is exempli¬ 
fied in the consequences which have fol¬ 
lowed the departure from the principles of 
the Constitution, which has led to the 
establishment of this grievous Borough- 
monger system, the inconsistency of which 
with the principles of our laws and insti¬ 
tutions, so glaring in the terras of the 
writs of elections, and in every other 
point of view, no one can dispute. The 
simple principle upon which, as upon a 
pivot, the whole of this subject of Repre¬ 
sentation turns, is this— That the free sub* 
jects of this kingdom have a Right of Pro - 
perly in their own goods; in other ivords, 
that the People of England cannot be 
legally and constitutionally taxed without 
their own consent. — l suppose this will not 
be denied ; and yet it is equally indispu¬ 
table, that this principle is absolutely anni¬ 
hilated by the present frame of the Repre¬ 
sentation of this House, to which a Peti¬ 
tion on your table offers to prove that one 
hundred and fifty-seren individuals have 
the power of returning a majority; so 
that the whole property of the free subjects 
of this kingdom is, in violation of this first 
and plain principle, at the disposal of 157 
Borough-mongers; or in other words 157 
Borough-mongers have usurped, and hold 
as private property, the SOVEREIGNTY 
OF ENGLAND:—and can we be satis¬ 
fied with this miserable, pitiful substitution 
for the King and Constitution r --Can the 
People remain contented with the legisla¬ 
tion of such a power?—Impossible. Be¬ 
lieve me. Sir, the discontent that exists in 
this country arises principally from the 
certain knowledge the People now have of 
the corrupt state of this House, and their 
exclusion from that share in the Cortstitu - 
tiou to which they are by law entitled; that 
they are not fairly,nor indeed at all repre• 
seated,—in fact t that the interests of this 
House are not identified withy but opposite 


February 15 , 1817 . 




M) 

want to do, is to restore the OLD 
CONSTITUTION, which would pro¬ 
cure us the lull enjoyment of liberty. 
If, says Sir Francis, every pprson 
paying a chert tax had a vote, in 
what would a Parliament elected by 
them be deficient? in what respect 
would it differ from one chosen by Uni¬ 
versal Suffrage? He does not abuse 
those who think Universal Suffrage a 
practicable measure; but he says, I 
think it impracticable, and that all 
the advantages you expect would be 
obtained, if every payer of direct taxes 
had a .vote. ANNUAL PARLIA¬ 
MENTS, the old custom of ANNUAL 
ELECTION, he says, *• IS INDIS¬ 
PENSABLE:” the number of voters 
would secure them from any undue 
influence ; and the frequency of election 
would make it impossible to bribe than. ; 

An attempt has been made to per¬ 
suade the people, that Sir Francis 
Burdett is opposed to Annual Par¬ 
liaments ; and the Devil, as usual, 
shews his paw from under the cloak 
of a WHIG. The shameless, and no 
less wretched than shameless, man of 
the Morning Chronicle , in giving an 
account of the Meeting in Spa-Fields 
on Monday last, says— 

** The Chairman then stated his having 
written to Lord Cochrane on the subject 
of Reform, and requesting his Lordship to 
present the Petition of the Meeting to the 
House of Commons, and to attend them 
this day, should he find it convenient. To 
this the noble Lord had said, nothing 
would give him more pleasure than to pre¬ 
sent their Petition, but that he eould not 
attend the Meeting, as he was going to 
attend one at Hampshire. \Rear /] 

** A Icitter of a similar nature was sent 
to Sir Francis Burdett ; but he had 
pot returned any written answer. He had, 
however, told a Gentleman who waited 
.on him, that he had no objection to support 
that part of the Petition which supported 
Parliamentary Reform , but he never would 
consent to support the proposition for grant¬ 
ing Universal Suffrage , or for voting by 
ballot, as these were mere visionary the- 


[84 

ories. No man felt more than he did the 

necessity of Reform ; but impracticable 
schemes-were the mo t like!) to ruin it, 
and the he never should support.’. 

Sir Francis Burdett here says 
most distinctly, “ I will support vour 
request for ANNUAL PARLIA¬ 
MENTS, but 1 will not support your 
request for Universal Suffrage.” Words 
cannot be more explicit; yet the mise¬ 
rable tool, in the leading article of this 
paper of the same day, writes with his 
own hand — that “ The Honourable 
Baronet was invited to attend the 
Meeting, which he not only declined, 
but declared his resolution never to 
support the absurd theory of Universal 
Suffrage, or ANNUAL PARLIA¬ 
MENTS.” What ought to be said— 
what thought—of' any man who can 
thus deliberately commit so gross a 
fraud? and who but Mr. James Per¬ 
ry could look any man in the face 
after having done it? 

In the same man's newspaper, on 
the same day, is an article headed in 
very large letters—“ The Imposture 
of the day.” In this article he accuses 
the ministerialists of frauds and false¬ 
hood. All within the “ Regiment” 
this. But have they—could they—by 
any contrivance, do a more dishonest 
act than Mr. Perry has himself com¬ 
mitted ? could they commit a fraud 
more vile in its nature, and more de¬ 
serving of execration. 

On one occasion, when a Petition 
for Universal Suffrage was present¬ 
ed* Mr. Brougham condescended 
to repeat the lesson the Reformists* 
Register had taught him. — But Mr. 
LAMBTON must, it seems, have 
his flourish — his peck at the peo¬ 
ple. The Morning Chronicle reports 
him as saying— u He was as little 
disposed as any individual to sanction 
those wild, foolish, and disgusting 
principles of Reform which were pro¬ 
mulgated by certain persons out of 
doors—principles (if they could be 
called so) which were founde upon 
the subversion of our Constitution, 
upon the destruction of social order, 


Hone's Reformists' Register. 






85] 

and upon the destruction of all that 
was wise, permanent and useful in our 
invaluable system of law and govern¬ 
ment. [ Hear, Hear!] The disturb¬ 
ances occasioned by those men had 
at least been attended with one good 
consequence—they had developed the 
character of the instigators, and shewn 
how few they were in numbers; and 
hence, from their absolute insignifi¬ 
cance, it became more imperiously the 
duty of that House to interfere for the 
rest of the country.” [ Hear , Hear /] 

The OUTS, it seems, had made up 
their minds to turn out the Minister; 
and they were fully persuaded they 
should succeed. Hence, to keep any 
terms with the people was quite unne¬ 
cessary; and, in their fit of delusion, 
they went on striving who should 
abuse them the most, who should use 
the most vulgar epithets, and who 
should the oftenest repeat them. It 
may be observed, that by far the great¬ 
est portion of vulgar abuse has come 
from the OUTS, and from by far the 
greatest number of persons on their 
side of the House. NOW, when they 
begin to find their hopes defeated, and 
their conduct reprobated, their tone is 
lowered; and presently it will be chan¬ 
ged into soft and harmonious notes 
in the people's praise — because they 
may be useful at the approaching 
election! 

Some curious circumstances have 
transpired, tending to prove, the high 
sense of virtue, and the respectability 
of the individuals composing the House, 
and also of the House itself as a body. 

Lord Cochrane said, “ He remem¬ 
bered very well the time he was first 
returned as a Member to the House, 
which was for the Boro gh of Honiton, 
and \ 9 ti which occasion the town bell¬ 
man was sent through the town to 
order the voters to come to M r. Town¬ 
send’s, the head man m that place and 
a banker, to receive 101. 10s. [Hear, 
and a laugh.] t his was the truth, and 
he would ask, how could he in that 
situation be called a representative of 
the people in the legitimate constitution- 
pi sense of that word. He knew very 


[84 

well, that had universal suffrage been 
then the law, he must have had to pay 
20,000 persons; and though he was 
now conscious that he had done wrong, 
he assured the-House that that was the 
very way by which he- had been re¬ 
turned [Hear, hear!] If any Member 
disputed it, he could only say he was 
willing to shew the bills and vouchers 
which he had for the money [a general 
laugh]. He had no doubt but there 
were very many in that House who had 
hcen returned by similar means [hear, 
hear!]. His motive, he was now fully 
convinced,was wrong, decidedly wrong, 
but as he came home pretty well flush¬ 
ed with Spanish money, he had found 
this Borough open , and he took it ; and he 
was sure he would have been returned 
had he been Lord Lamclford's black ser¬ 
vant, or h>s great dog (a laugh) —See 
fol. 20. 

Mr. Calvert, adverting to this, 
upon a subsequent occasion, said, “ lie 
also could state a fact, which shew¬ 
ed the defects of the present mode of 
representation. He was one of six 
persons who had sent two Members to 
Parliament, and for which each Mem¬ 
ber paid ,£4500.” [Hear, Hear!] Such 
a system ought not to exist.” 

“ Proof as positive as that of holy 
writ!” 

On a petition for Annual Parlia¬ 
ments and Universal Suffrage being 
presented, Sir J. Sebright said, “ that 
so long as he had a vote to give, or a 
voice to raise, in that House, he would 
use them both against receiving anv 
Petition, the language of which was 
evidently to convey an insult. He 
knew there was a set of men in the 
country, who studiously endeavoured 
to induce the people to word their Pe¬ 
titions in such a way as would occasion 
their rejection, in order to promote 
their own views. [Hear, hear!] If 
the House wished to be respected out 
of doors, it must continue to RE¬ 
SPECT itself.” 

Who, after the Petition was rejected 
in order to prove the respectability of 
the House, can for a moment doubt of 
its respectability^—who will 4are to 


February 15, 1817. 





e?3 

insinuate that any thing improper 
could be sanctioned by it ? No one, cer¬ 
tainly, and, least of all, Sir John Se¬ 
bright. 

Well, hear him. Lord Castle- 
REagh had named him for the Com¬ 
mittee of Finance, upon which the 
same Sir John Sebright said, “ that 
he had been named by the present Mi¬ 
nisters a member of the Civil List 
Committee, but they refused the pow¬ 
ers necessary to render it effective, and 
it was, in fact, a gross delusion upon 
the public. That he considered the 
present Committee to be also a gross 
imposition, and that he would not put 
his foot into a Committee so consti¬ 
tuted, as by so doing he should be lend 
ing his aid to mislead and delude the 
public. That he was as hostile as any 
man to the factious and misguided 
part of the community; but that now 
was the time, when it became the im¬ 
perative duty of all independent Mem¬ 
bers and country-gentlemen to come 
forward, and to support such measures 
as would conciliate and give satisfac¬ 
tion to the rational and moderate part 
of the community. He therefore de¬ 
clined to be a Member/' 

Lord Castlereagh said, “ that 
the present Committee had the powers 
which had been refused to the Civil 
List Committee." 

Sir J. Sebright. —“ I am aware of 
that; but I owe it to my country not to 
contribute to practise a gross and scan¬ 
dalous delusion upon the public." 

Sir John is no jacobin —no revolu¬ 
tionist, no lover of the people he: - 

but NO COMMENT is NECES¬ 
SARY. 

In pursuance of their excellent steady 
course, we find the People of West¬ 
minster meeting in Palace Yard yester¬ 
day, and passing the following manly 
Address to the Prince Regent, on the 
insults offered to his person:— 

« TO THE PRINCE REGENT. 

,c The dutiful Address of the inhabitant 

Householders of the City and Liberties 

of Westminster. 

“ May it plkase your Royal High¬ 
ness —We, his Majesty’s loyal subjects. 


[88 

the Citizens of Westminster, beg to be 
permitted humbly to approach your Royal 
Highness, with an expression of our un¬ 
feigned sorrow, that our City should have 
been the scene of gross and outrageous in¬ 
sults against your Royal Highness, and in 
your royal person against th^ Kingly office 
and authority; and als > witn an expression 
of our indignation at the conduct of the 
persons who were guilty of such brutal and 
criminal excesses: and we feel confident 
that your Royal Highness will not be dis¬ 
posed to receive less graciously these assu¬ 
rances of our attachment, if we humbly 
endeavour to evince onr sincerity by frankly 
declaring to your Royal Highness our opi¬ 
nion of the character, and of the real 
causes, of acts so disgraceful and criminal. 

“ Wc presume not to penetrate the 
hearts and minds of those who appeared to 
wish to see established the fact, that a 
design existed against the life of your 
Royal Highness, to be perpetrated by 
means of deadly weapons, or arms, as the 
result of a treasonable conspiracy; but we 
hesitate not to avow our great satisfaction, 
that such fact has proved not to be well- 
founded : on which we are well assured 
that your Royal Highness will approve of 
our cordial congratulations, seeing that 
even the wish to preserve your own life 
cannot be more near to your heart than 
the wish to see every part of the people ol 
England stand before the world clear of the 
imputation or suspicion of premeditated 
or cold-blooded assassination:—and we 
humbly beg leave to add our confident 
hope, that your Royal Highness, in turn* 
ing your recollection to the shot which 
was really fired from the bank of the 
Thames, and which wounded one of the 
seamen in a barge, in which was youi 
Royal predecessor Queen Elizabeth, you 
will also remember, and will feel ready tc 
utter from your own lips, her Majesty’; 
gracious and memorable words on that 
occasion—‘ That she would lend credit tc 
nothing against her people, which parent! 
would not believe of their own children.’ 

“ Such as Englishmen were in thost 
days, we humbly presume to assure youi 
Royal Highness, we, their child ret-/, now 
are, faithful to our Sovereign, and' worth) 
of his confidence. But we cannot refrait 
from observing to your Royal Highness 
that wise and virtuous Counsellors, like i 
Cecil and a YValsingmam, enabled tha 
illustrious Queen to call her people * he 
guards,’ and to declare that * money wg: 
better in her subjects’ pockets than in he 
own exchequer / while Counsellors sue! 
as a Castlereagh and a Canning, afte 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 







*9] February 15,1817. [90 


having drained your people to the very 
iregs of misery and starvation, have ad¬ 
vised your Royal Highness to ascribe their 
ust complaints to disloyal and seditious 
Jesigns—have drawn about the metropolis 
i line of circumvallation of barracks, de¬ 
pots, and of arsenals—have filled your pa¬ 
lace-courts with troops and artillery—have 
surrounded your royal person with me¬ 
nacing dragoons—and have thus,by making 
your people miserable, and at the same 
lime exhibiting your Royal Highness as 
leaf to their cries, as suspecting their fide- 
delity,and setting them at defiance—driven 
some of the unhappy sufferers to that state 
of desperation, which alone could produce 
the perpetration of those outrages, which 
we so strongly reprobate, and which we 
hope they have already sincerely re 
pented 

** Open, we humbly beseech your Royal 
Highness, the faithful page of history; 
and when your Royal Highness has there 
read the invariable consequence of Princes 
being induced to make common cause with 
Gorrupt courtiers against an injured people, 
we presume humbly to hope, that your 
Royal Hi ghness will receive with your 
natural kindness and indulgence this our 
dutiful and loyal Address.” 

Major Cartwright proposed, and 
Mr. Cobbett, Junior, seconded the 
Address. 

Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, 
“ that the unanimity which had been 
displayed on the present occasion by 
the Meeting (to which he had to re¬ 
turn thanks for the honour conferred 
on him), was, he trusted, only an earn¬ 
est of that unanimity which would per¬ 
vade the whole country in the endea¬ 
vour to recover its common rights— 
rights now too well understood and too 
manfully asserted for the mean Bo- 
rough-mongering corrupt faction long 
to withhold from the people their full 
enjoyment. The worthy Major, who 
had spent his life in promoting to the 
utmost that cause, would receive the 
greatest reward — in his estima¬ 
tion—the success of the principles 
which .he had ably, consistently and 
honourably supported, and would enter 
into the enjoyment of the Constitution 
which was to be participated by all. 
[Applause.] lie was happy to hear 
that the Address contained not a par¬ 
ticle of adulation, as a Gentleman had 


erroneously represented it. It contain¬ 
ed the loyal sentiments of the people 
on the late insult, combined with an 
honest and humble representation of 
their feeling with respect to their grie¬ 
vances, presented in proper language 
to their Sovereign. 

“ The worthy Major had properly 
described the Borough Proprietors, who 
formed now the only obstacles to the 
accomplishment of the wishes of the 
People. Their wiles were, however, 
now discovered—they must take their 
hands out of the national purse, or 
their base and deceitful cry would no 
longer delude any but the knaves or 
tools in their own House. They would 
find no co-operation from those who 
loved the Constitution, from the Sove¬ 
reign to the meanest of the people. 
The Major had well compared them 
to pick-pockets, who cried ‘ Stop thief!' 
to avoid detection. They also remind¬ 
ed him of a dishonest steward, who, 
when any person discovered his tricks 
to the Gentleman whom he served, im¬ 
mediately cried out ‘ You are the man 
who stole my master’s faggots.’ The 
People demanded their rights, their 
fair constitutional rights, which form¬ 
ed the security of the people against 
the exactions of the Crown and its 
Ministers, and the answer was, 
“ Treason! Disloyalty!"'—as if loyalty 
to the Constitution must always be 
accompanied with disloyalty to the 
Crown. These men who raised this 
cry would persuade the Prince of that 
which it would be most dangerous to 
him to believe—that no one could be 
attached at the same time to the li¬ 
berty of the People and the security of 
the Throne. 

“ The sinecurists had at last begun 
to follow the example of the beaver, 
udiich, when its pursuers were close up¬ 
on it, tore oft'that part for which it was 
hunted down. The sinecurists, in obe¬ 
dience to common opinion—for which 
obedience he should give them all due 
' praise—had set the example of reduc¬ 
tion, which would, he hoped, be fol¬ 
lowed in all parts of our expenditure, 
and especially those military establish- 




Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


91 ] 

inents, which were quite inconsistent 
with the liberty and happiness of the 
country. The sinecures were not a 
large part, it was true; but it was like 
the money pocketed by a dishonest 
servant, who would let his master be 
robbed of a guinea, to get a shilling for 
himself. [Applause.] The sinecures 
were small only m proportion to the 
enormous burdens of the country ; but 
they were the main cause of a great 
part of those burdens. When a pump 
was dry *hey knew what was to be 
done—a small quantity of water was 
thrown on the sucker. It might be 
said, what difference could it make 
giving or withholding this small quan¬ 
tity? The truth was, it made the 
pump work so as to draw up all the rest. 
Thus these sinecures, useless offices 
and pensions, under whatever denomi¬ 
nation, whether great or small, were 
enough, by their corrupt influence, to 
draw the last shilling from the pockets 
of the people. [Applause.] 

“ As to loyalty, it was new talked of 
as an attachment to one part of the 
constitution only; that attachment 
might be more properly called royalty. 
Loyalty was an attachment to the 
whole constitution, and especially to 
the rights of the people, as its main 
foundation and principal end. As to 
the flatterers, who assumed exclusive 
loyalty to cover their servility, they 
could not be too much reprobated. This 
servility it was the duty of every indi¬ 
vidual to avoid. It was by avoiding 
flattery, as well to the people collec¬ 
tively as to the sovereign, if he had 
the honour of being admitted to his 
presence, that an individual could per¬ 
form his duty both to the Prince and 
the People; and if he lost the favour 
of either, would still be. safe in his own 
esteem. 

“ As to the Green Bag, which he 
had now the misfortune to have seen for 
the second time, what it contained it 
was impossible for him to guess. [A 
laugh.] What had' followed the pro¬ 
duction of the former bag was fresh in 
his memory. [Applause.] That the 
Ministers would not again take the 


[92 

same steps he hoped and was persua¬ 
ded. But if Gagging Bills w'ere passed, 
he hoped the people would meet to 
protest against them, till they obtained 
their repeal : besides, lie was of opi¬ 
nion that such bills were not of validity 
to repeal the Bili of Pvights and Magna 
Charta. [Applause.] 

“ Respect'ug the grand object of 
constitutional exertions, there was, he 
believed, little difference. The whole 
country desired a real representation 
of its sentiments and interests. Though 
there was a difference of opinion among 
honest men as to the manner in which 
it could be effected, vet no difference 
coiild exist on this head—-that it was 
better that it should be immediately 
and effectually done, than that this or 
the other line should be pursued in doing 
it. [Applause.] A real representation 
of the people of England was required. 

“ Some spoke of the people as if one 
class was divided from another—of 
higher classes and lower classes. He 
knew of no such distinctions. There 
were the Members of the House of 
Peers, which indeed formed a separate 
class; but all the rest were the People, 
or Commonalty of England;—to cre¬ 
ate any division in this body was most 
mischievous and insulting. Some were 
rich, some were poor; but the law be¬ 
held all with an equal eye : all had 
the same rights, and all were entitled 
to the same protection for their pro¬ 
perty and freedom. [Applause.] 

“ In presenting to the Prince Re¬ 
gent the Address with which he had 
been entrusted, he should follow their 
wishes with great satisfaction to him¬ 
self. He hoped that his lloyal High¬ 
ness would read and ponder it. B) 
referring to the reign of Queen Eliza¬ 
beth, to which the Address directec 
him, he might be led to follow the dic¬ 
tates of his own mind, in oppositior 
to other heads, and hearts inferior tc 
his own, and might prefer the exam¬ 
ple of that bright period of our history 
to the advice of sycophants and flatter 
ers, interested to deceive him. [A P 
plausc.] Remote as it was from the pre 
sent age, the name of Elizabeth ye 







£3] February 

vibrated to the heart of every English¬ 
man. She was surrounded by no sol 
diers-—by no guaids; she wanted none ; 
—she declared that monev was safer 
in her subjects’pockets than in her ex¬ 
chequer, well knowing that the swords 
and purses of her subjects were at her 
command, as she had never abused 
their confidence. This was a great ex- 
ample for princes to follow in govern¬ 
ing a people, whom it was easy to lead, 
but hard, and always impossible, to 
drive. [Applause.] A monarch, who 
would follow the spirit of this noble 
example, would restore the confidence 
of the people in institutions which had 
been brought into disgrace by a long 
course of mis-rule, not on the part of 
the King, but of the Borough Proprie¬ 
tors—of that corrupt body nns-called 
the House of Commons, whence the 
Commons were excluded—which felt 
every interest but that of the Com¬ 
mons. A reform in that body would 
conduce to the security of the throne, 
and the happiness of the people, by a 
recurrence to the principles of the 
constitution which had been always 
claimed, but never practised. This 
the People demanded with one voice ; 
and that assembly would be compelled 
to lend an ear to the Petitions of the 
People, and to be the instrument, peace¬ 
ably, legally, and speedily, of the RE¬ 
STORATION of the CONSTITU¬ 
TION of the country.” [Lvud ap¬ 
plause.] 

This article has extended to an 
unexpected length, I am, therefore, 
obliged to defer the subjects alluded to 
in my last, with some others on which 
I had intended to remark. The Rea¬ 
der’s attention, is requested, however, 
to the admirable address of Air. God¬ 
frey Higgins, a respectable magis¬ 
trate in Yorkshire, and an excellent 
man. 

TO THE GENTLEMEN OF THE 
COUNTY OF YORK, 

JVlio think a Change in the State of the 

Representation of the House of Cord- 

mens necessary . 

«* Gbjitlemei»“A firm conviction that 
it is my duty, impels me to address you at 


15 , 1817 . [54 

this moment. 1 have viewed with much 
anxiety, for some time past, the urprece- 
deuced state of the country. Several Meet¬ 
ings to petition Parliament for a Re¬ 
form, as you well know, have been called 
by the people. 

“ 1 beseech you. Gentlemen, to consider 
what is your duty on this occasion. Is 
not Reform that object for which you 
have been long struggling ? Is it not the 
object, which you firmly believe, can only 
save the country? Is it not that object, 
without the artainment of which, you be¬ 
lieve, either anarchy or despotism mast 
ensue ? Could it ever be obtained without 
the people ! Without that awful physical 
strength, in union with a general enlight¬ 
ened sentiment, that cannot be despised ? 
Did you ever suppose, that the corrupt 
perverter9 of the Constitution would, on 
their own suggesiion, reform themselves? 
Have you not been long complaining, 
that the people were deaf to your call, to 
assist in the cause of Reform? Has it 
not always been your firm conviciion, that 
sufferings, the consequences of those 
wretched measures you deprecated, would 
alone open the eyes of the public ? That 
it was through feeling that the great and 
saving truth of Reform must be taught ? 
God knows the lesson for the purpose has 
been severe and effectual. 

** Peaceably — manfully — lwnourably t 
are THE PEOPLE in your county com¬ 
ing forward to do that, for which you have 
long called upon them. And now that 
they answer your call, where are you ? 
Can you honestly—can you honourably— 
can you conscientiously say you are at your 
post i Are you where God, your country, 
vour constitution, and, I may add, your 
&AFETY, tell you, you ought to be l 
Admitting, in order to avoid all discus¬ 
sion, that the people are asking more than* 
in your opinion, can be granted with pro¬ 
priety—that they seem to be going farther 
than what is consonant to your ideas of 
safe and practicable Parliamentary 
Reporm —are not such the strongest rea¬ 
sons for your coming forwards to gukleand 
lead them? Will you sacrifice all your 
consistency to a cowardly pride ? Are you 
so mined by the wretched system , which 
has been long prevailing and underminiiig 
the best principles of the Constitution, 
that you cannot act with the people , be¬ 
cause they are degraded and rendered 
wretched by the very measures against 
which you yourselves have been so long 
struggling in vain ? Then, indeed , your 
sums set. Then are you gone for ever. 

What is[morc, you will deserve, for you 
will have prepared your own fate, Aftei 



Hon ft's Reformists’ Register. 


Jl5] 

this pusillanimity never more presume to 
breathe a wish for independence. As you 
cast your eye over Spain, Italy, Poland, 
and South America, dare not to heave a 
sigh for fallen liberty. As you look at 
home, utter no complaints at the venality 
which shall have laid your Magna 
Charta, and your Bill or Rights, 
prostrate at the feet of corruption. Oh ! 
that I could rouse you from your fatal 
lethargy! If I cannot, there are EVENTS 
COMING that soon will. And, when 
THE BLOOD OF CIVIL STRIFE 
Jlows down your streets, and the best parts 
of your Constitution are all expiring either 
in anarchy or despotism , what will be 
your reproaches should you be alive to 
make them ? 

“ Let me tell you your own belief 1 1 is, 

I know it is, that you may prevent all 
this, if you will only peaceably and con¬ 
stitutionally HEAD THE PEOPLE in 
that cause, in which you have been evi¬ 
dently instructing them. Be with them 
in the cause, and all must be well. Leave 
them, and how can you calculate the re¬ 
sult? In that conduct, which will be your 
honour, I see, and you equally see, nothing 
but safety, in that conduct which will 
be your eternal reproach, you a9 well as I 
can behold nothing but the most appalling 
horrors. 

If, contrary to every reasonable expecta¬ 
tion, and after a glorious constitutional 
struggle, the people be finally successful 
WITHOUT YOU, will you have the 
assurance to oiler them your congratula¬ 
tions? Will you be able to encounter 
the look of reproach they cannot but make 
you? Let me then persuade you, Coun¬ 
trymen ! to come forward, to place your¬ 
selves in the post of honour— in the gap 
’twixt military despotism aud popular an 
archy. Let me persuade you to lead the 
people, willing, nav, desirous to be led. 

“ I make no apology for obtruding my- ' 
self upon your notice, I feel it to be the 
duty of every man, whatever his situation 
in life may be, to endeavour to rouse,you 
from the CRIMINAL APATHY with 
which you appear to regard the feelings of 
the people, and the progressive state of the 
national distress. 

“ You view, with a just pride, the na¬ 
val and military trophies of your country 
abroad ; but bitter and unavailing will be 
your regret, if, from your own mis-ma,- 
nagement at home, your heroes shall have 
bled, only that their children may inherit 


[9G 

A COUNTRY IN SLAVERY, its agri¬ 
culture ruined, and its commerce gone. 

At this moment onefourth of all the 
inhabitants of England are paupers or in¬ 
solvent. How far do you expect this 
system to go ? How long do you expect 
it to last? 

“ Gentlemen, the people have been 
basely slandered. They are firm friends 
to a limited monarchy, and to the family 
on the throne. But they know their 
RIGHTS, and I sincerely believe they 
know their duties too. 

“ It is said that they are irritated, and 
their passions inflamed. Distress and ex¬ 
cessive misery may well plead their ex¬ 
cuse—may well excuse a little animation 
and warmth; and where beyond this, in 
your country, have they gone? It is 
your duty to sooth and comfort them, to 
shew them that you are a part of them¬ 
selves; not to absent yourselves from their 
legal public Meetings ; but to attend them, 
and to lead them in the paths of reason 
and moderation. 

“ In calling upon you to had, rather 
than be led by the people, I hope l shall 
convince them, that the Magistrates 
are not the servile venal tribe they have 
been erroneously represented, and that they 
will believ.e my assurance that they are 
many of them the firm friends of their 
rights, and much as their well-wishers, 
as, Gentlemen, your obedient humble ser¬ 
vant, “G. HIGGINS. 

“ Skellow Grange, Ferrybridge , 

Jan. 22, 1817. 

This is the plain dealing of an honest 
independent country gentleman, who 
loves his country, and therefore hates 
its corruptions and the corruptionists. 
What he says is calculated to rouse the 
most supine. Truth should be told to 
those out of the House, as well as to 
those in it; but there should be no 
crouching to the Honourable House it¬ 
self. It must not only be. told the 
truth, but must hear it. If the 
INS and the OUTS continue to 
LAUGH at Petitions for Reform, as 
the reporters sav they do, perchance 
they may have REMONSTRANCES, 
and then—let those laugh that 1 tin, 

WILLIAM HONE, 

February 14, 1817 . 


London:—Printed by Macdonald and Son, No. 46, Cloth Fair, West Smithfield ; Published 
by WILLIAM HONE, at 67, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; where 
COMMUNICATIONS (post-paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—* 
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Price Two - Pence. 


HONE’S 

REFORMISTS’ REGISTER 

No. 4 ] MONDAY, FEB. 17, 1817. [Vor,. T. 


MR. BROUGHAM’S 

ATTACK ON 

THE REFORMISTS, 

AND 

IIIS DECLARATION 

IN FAVOUR OF 

ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS, 

WITH 

SUFFRAGE AS EXTENSIVE AS TAXATION. 

In the second Number of the 
Reformists 9 Register, published 
February 8th, a hasty sketch was 
taken of the conduct of the would- 
be Ministers of the country; and 
as Mr. BROUGHAM had thrust 
himself forward in the bad work; 
as he had evinced an unceasing 
desire to outdo every other person 
in the use of coarse and vulgar 
epithets, indiscriminately applied 
to those among the People who 
had taken an active part in the 
great duty of petitioning for 
Reform of Parliament, he was re¬ 
buked and cautioned. 

It was hoped, and circumstances 

seemed to imply that the hope was 

not a vain one, that he had pro- 

fitted by the lesson which had been 
* 

read to him; but an irritable tem¬ 
per, not corrected by judgment, 


could not long remain inactive: 
the errors of a bad education could 
not be corrected; and, as judg¬ 
ment was wanting, no faculty re¬ 
mained capable of restraining the 
evil propensity which had become 
predominant—repose w r as con¬ 
sequently of short duration. 

It is both disagreeable and 
painful to be called upon to com¬ 
ment on the conduct of public 
men, in the way in which Mr. 
BROUGHAM compels us; but 
he leaves us no choice betw een 
an unprincipled betraying of our 
trust, a tame acquiescence which 
would, had our forefathers ac¬ 
quiesced in it, have put it out of 
our power, or rather w ould never 
have allowed us the opportunity 
of doing our duty to ourselves, 
as they in their day did to them-* 
selves; or to our posterity, as they 7 
have done for us. All the difference 
between the highest freedom, tlie 
highest cultivation of intellect— 
all the difference between the 
most ab ject, ignorant, and debased 
condition of mankind, and the 
highest attainment of knowledge, 
of philosophy, and of virtue, has 
been achieved by opposition to 
those whose narrow views, or 
selfish interests, would have pre¬ 
vented innovation—opposition to 












90] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [100 


those >vho denied innovation, who 
proscribed speculation, who op¬ 
posed all amendment) who stig¬ 
matised reform and improvement, 
oil the ground, the mistaken and 
ill-taken ground, that no PRE¬ 
CEDENT could be produced for 
the practice recommended. 

Many, it is true, have in all 
times opposed improvement, who 
had no evil intention , who were 
actuated by no bad motive, but 
whom fortune had placed in a si¬ 
tuation to decide for others better 
and wiser than themselves; for 
others whose enlarged minds 
could not be accurately judged 
of by them; for those whose pene¬ 
tration enabled them to see far 
into the condition of society, to 
judge of it accurately—to foresee 
changes, long before they could 
happen ; but of which, they who 
filled the seat of pow er and in¬ 
fluence, in the common accepta¬ 
tion of those words, were una¬ 
ble to form a judgment. Thus 
has the world been going on 
——wisdom suggesting changes 
and improvements continually; 
and brute force, guided by 
ignorance, continually impe¬ 
ding its progress. But, in our 
day, and in our country, this 
ought to be no longer the case, 
improvements are not now pro¬ 
posed, in the turbulent manner 
mwhich alone they could ages ago, 
be made manifest. This should be 
the age of discussion. Improve¬ 
ments are now proposed inva¬ 
riably by means of the press; and 
thanks to that mighty engine of 
life and energy; they are pro¬ 
posed to the whole community at 
vnce. Formerly, indeed, and long’ 
fitter the invention of printing, 
reading w r as so little known 
among the people that a very 


small part of them could ever 
enow the real views or intentions 
of those by whom any change 
was suggested; now, happily, 
from the general diffusion of 
some book-learning, and from the 
rapid, the unparalleled advance 
of knowledge, and the means of 
communicating it, and the eager 
desire for attaining it, among the 
middle ranks particularly, the 
nation is in a far better situation 
to judge of the proposals of any 
and every one who pretends to 
serve them. If any one now puts 
himself forward to teach , his doc¬ 
trine must be propagated by 
means of the press; he has no hope 
of success, but by its assistance. 
This both invites and provokes 
discussion; and if it were left 
perfectly at liberty on both sides, 
no harm could ensue. It is the 
OPPOSITION OF POWER, the 
desire to prevent some petty evil, 
which might or might not be the 
consequence of hasty adoption 
by some few enthusiasts that 
does the most evil. Many projects 
would expire as soon as promul¬ 
gated, if left to themselves, which 
cause mischief from an ill-advised 
opposition of authority. Many 
are the measures, eminently good 
in themselves, which are either 
rendered abortive, or made to pro¬ 
duce mischievous consequences 
by an ill-timed and mis-directecl 
exercise of power. The truti 
weapon, and indeed the onl) 
w eapon, which a wise man would 
use on such occasions is reason 
the most despicable, and tin 
most unjustifiable which any mat 
can use are ABUSE and FALSI 
IMPUTATIONS—always disho 
nourable to those who use them 
and always deserving of sever* 
castigation* 




101] 


February 17, 1817. 


. H hou a man avails himself of 

lllS SltlKllAv^ . 1 1 . , 

. . f o ueai m personal 

calumnies aoam?>t . ,r 
p p . ° r' 1 ‘victuals, 

for professing principles, or 

posing plans, which he does not 
comprehend; when, instead of 
taking the means to make himself 
acquainted with the measures , of 
putting' himself in a situation to 
judge of the performance, lie 
does all he can to call down ven¬ 
geance upon the head of the 
proposer—it then becomes a duty 
too sacred to be for a moment neg¬ 
lected, to expose the evil of his 
conduct, and thus as far as possi¬ 
ble to correct its evil tendency. 
This duty shall be performed 
with regard to Mr. BROUGHAM, 
in the best manner which the 
shortness of the time to render it 
useful will allow. 

Short as the period is since the 
present Session of Parliament 
commenced, it has been highly 
important. By the INS, an eager 
desire for COERCIVE MEA¬ 
SURES has been manifested ; by 
the OUTS, as determined a dispo¬ 
sition to assist in producing those 
measures has been constantly 
shown; not indeed always in direct 
terms ; not by saying do you pro¬ 
pose this, and we will assist you; 
no—but by an equally certain 
mode of attaining' the end, infinite¬ 
ly more mischievous, than a direct 
concurrence—by DEGRADING 
THE PEOPLE—by a CON¬ 
STANT SUPPORT OF THE MI¬ 
NISTER, in vilifying the People 
—by an alacrity in seizing and 
using every opportunity of cre¬ 
ating and fostering feelings more 
injurious—by encouraging bad 
men in their evil course, than any 
direct co-operation could have 
been. An open direct approval 
and support would have alarmed 
many—would have made the ti¬ 


[102 

mid hesitate;butanartful conduct, 

under the guise of opposition, 

operating by sympathy on weak 

g'inds, shuts out all reflection, 

1 * 1 - them along to the 

commission ot , 

direct proposal would deter'Vn& 
This must be more or less the 
case in every popular assembly, 
and pre-eminently so in the 
House of Commons, as it is now 
constituted. If its Members were 
chosen by the People, for the 
soundness of their understand¬ 
ings, for their knowledge of the 
history of former times, and for 
their acquaintance with the cir¬ 
cumstances of present times, there 
would be less to regret in this 
respect; but when wealth, or 
family connexion, without regard 
to any other qualification, send, 
as w e know they do, a vast por¬ 
tion of the Members to that 
House, the conduct here com¬ 
plained of is highly and singu¬ 
larly pernicious. 

If it be asked, why has Mr. 
BROUGHAM been selected ? the 
answer is, he has not been se¬ 
lected; he has forced us to notice 
him; he was determined not to 
remain in a mediocre situation; 
he must take the lead, if not in 
doing good, in doing evil; he 
has stepped out and challenged 
animadversion . The session com¬ 
menced the 28th of January, and 
the tumult on that day confined 
the business to the speech of 
the Regent; but on the next 
day, on one of the Petitions for 
Reform being presented, Mr. 
Brougham at once commenced his 
“ ANXIOUS” attack on the Peo¬ 
ple, and gave the cue to the 
House, by declaring their propo¬ 
sitions “ wild—vague—impracti¬ 
cable—pernicious—calculated to 
overthrow the Constitution, te 




103] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register 



to shake the universal security of 
property.” The propositions thus, 
reprobated, were UNIVERSAL 
SUFFRAGE and ANNUA* 

paruamenj^ c ;;; e „. ![t L 

JKBi P {he OUTS vied with one ano¬ 
ther in their abuse of the propo¬ 
sitions, and of those who had, as 
they then raid, misled the Peo¬ 
ple. . Mr. BROUGHAM, in par¬ 
ticular, soid— “ he abhorred the 
theories recommended by the 
madness of the enthusiasts, who 
misguided the People.” Day by 
day were the People stigmatized 
in the grossest language ; no time 
or opportunity was lost of repro¬ 
bating’ the “ mischievous, absurd, 
blundering' theories of leaders, 
who from ignorance, or WORSE 
MOTIVES, were misleading the 
People —and with admirable 
consistency, he told us, as it were 
in the same breath, 44 that the plea 
of ignorance did not apply to the 
HALF MILLION of MEN, who 
had signed the Petitions, as they 
all knew what they had signed, 
and none intended offence.” 

But Lord Cochrane having on 
Thursday last, made a declaration 
in favour of Annual Parliaments, 
this was not to he borne, and he 
was to be silenced. It was hoped 
that if be could be put down , and 
Sir Francis Burdett cajoled— 
to accomplish which , 710 small 
pains have lately been taken — 
that NO person would be found 
in the House to advocate the 
cause of the People; and the si¬ 
lence thus to be produced, 
was to answer all the arguments 
out of doors. Mr. BROUGHAM, 
according to the report in the 
Morning Chronicle of Saturday, 
spoke as follows 


“ There existed but one omy;~*‘ 
,, . ,, m attnbu- 

through the co'” J* 

,1 - ^reat pressure ot taxa- 
tmo’ *' ® _ 1 , 

tion to the long' and ruinous war 


in which it had been engaged. 
At the proper time, when the 
subject of Reform shall be fully 
before the House, he would take 
the opportunity of giving his sen¬ 
timents with that deliberation and 
coolness, which that most impor¬ 
tant question demanded. Many 
incidental conversations had al¬ 
ready taken place in that House, 
arising out of the petitions for 
Reform, but he may truly say, 
that there teas but one opinion 
within these walls upon the absurd 
and impracticable doctrine oj 
Universal Suffrage. What was felt 
here was equally expressed by 
all the enlightened, rational, and 
even moderately informed per¬ 
sons in the kingdom [Hear,hear!] 
Again and again he would ask, 
in what period of*British history 
has this right been ever exercised? 
Where existed the authority 
either constitutional or legal, that 
has even represented such a claim 
as a matter of right [Hear, lrear.] 
How far the elective right might 
be extended, what the duration 
of Parliament ought to be, will 
become more properly the subject 
of discussion, when the specific 
proposition shall be submitted to 
that House. But he must repeal, 
that iff there teas one man in that 
Flouse inclined to sanction by his 
support , the wild , delusive , and he 
must believe , NOT HONEST, pro- 
positions;, circulated with such per- 





105] ’ February 

verse industry out of doors, it was 
his duty to come forward and 
AVOW HIMSELF. If there was 
any such opinion in the House, 
the Member who held it, owed it 
to the cause of Reform, to the 
best interests of the people, to 
have the proposition canvassed, 
its absurdity exposed, and THE 
DELUSION FOR EVER DIS¬ 
PELLED from the public mind” 
[Hear, hear.] 

Lord Cochrane, in answer to 
those who maintained that UNI¬ 
VERSAL SUFFRAGE was an 
impracticable proposition, obser¬ 
ved, that in many of the Petiti¬ 
ons the means were pointed out, 
namely, by taking the lists alrea¬ 
dy prepared for the calling out 
of the militia whenever it might 
be required. Whenever the sub¬ 
ject came to be discussed, he 
should take as his guide the 
WISDOM OF THE PEOPLE, 
who would not be influenced in 
their judgment as Members of 
that House were. THE PEOPLE 
JUDGED COOLLY [a laugh, 
and hear, hear !] He repeated 
jt—the people judged COOLLY; 
and he sincerely believed that 
their opinions on every point were 
the best criterion of justice. He 
w as very sorry that that House in 
its decisions too frequently differ¬ 
ed from the opinions of the peo¬ 
ple. Whether it would be proper 
to confine the suffrage to house¬ 
holders, or to extend it to all 
males twenty-one years of age, 
was a fair subject of discussion; 
but no Member had a right to 


17, 1817. [106 

impute delusion to so large a body 
of the people , as that by which 
the latter proposition was main¬ 
tained. He apprehended that the 
delusion proceeded from a differ¬ 
ent quarter, and was generated 
by different views. With respect 
to a change in the duration of 
Parliaments, he was of opinion 
that the only effect of making 
Parliaments TRIENNIAL would, 
be to diminish the price at which 
seats were sold. In his opinion, 
Parliaments ought to be ANNU¬ 
AL, and all householders ouglit 
to have the elective franchise. 
Without these two things there 
would be no safety for the people. 
The Members of that House would 
again be thrown into the hands 
of Ministers, and be again made 
the objects of that shameful 
traffic, of the existence of which 
but too full proof had been af¬ 
forded. He w ould not delay the 
House any longer, but as an 
honourable and learned gentle¬ 
man had cast imputations so seri¬ 
ous on so large a mass of indi¬ 
viduals, stating, that they were 
deluded and misled, he had felt 
it his dusy to say thus much. He 
confessed, that he felt it difficult 
to conceive the FRAME OF 
MIND which could enable a 
Member of that House to stand 
up, and, on his single opinion, or 
on that of a small circle of his 
friends, dare to throw out such 
imputations on so large a body of 
the people, of whom he could not 
by possibility have any know¬ 
ledge.” 



107] Hoke’s Reformists’ Register. [10£ 


Mr. Brougham spoke to the 
following’ effect:—“ Sir, after the 
very pointed manner in which my 
conduct has been alluded to, by 
the Noble Lord, who has, in a 
very peculiar way, held up to 
public reprobation any Honoura¬ 
ble Gentlemen here who “ dares” 
(for that was the word) put his 
opinion on any subject of great 
national interest in competition 
with the opinion of fifteen thou¬ 
sand, or of fifteen hundred thou¬ 
sand people out of doors, and who 
ifot only does that, but who slan¬ 
ders the People of England by 
intimating that they labour under 
a gross delusion, and by accusing 
their leaders of dishonest prac¬ 
tices ; I think the House will par¬ 
don me, if 1 trouble it with a few 
words in my own JUSTIFICA¬ 
TION [hear, hear!] I will say 
nothing of the possible conse¬ 
quences to the person so pointed 
out by the Noble Lord. Nor will 
I impute any motives to the No¬ 
ble Lord ; for it would not be 
Parliamentary so to do. Sir, I 
speak in the hearing of many 
Gentlemen who have done me 
the honour to attend to my con¬ 
duct in Parliament, both recently, 
and when I had a seat in this 
House four or five years ago ; and 
I think they will agree in allow¬ 
ing that there are few, if any, in¬ 
dividuals here, who have ever 
shown on all occasions a more 
determined resistance to any at¬ 
tempts, even of the faintest des¬ 
cription, to oppress the People of 
this country, [hear, hear!] I 


have in all cases gone as far as ii 
was possible for me to go, to as¬ 
sist in opening' the door of this 
House to their complaints; and 1 
have done all that I could—and 
not less than the Noble Lord—tc 
discountenance, as far as my lit¬ 
tle influence would allow me, an} 
proposition which appeared tc 
me to be calculated to impede, 
cramp , and hamper the exercise ol 
POPULAR RIGHTS [hear, hear 
hear!] I therefore PUT MY¬ 
SELF on my country, IN COM¬ 
PETITION WITH the NOBLE 
LORD, as to which of us has 
shown himself to be the greatei 
friend of the People of England 
[hear, hear, hear!] But, Sir, 1 
will not show my friendship foi 
the People, by telling them 
FALSEHOODS [hear, hear!] 1 
will not be a party in practising 
DELUSION on the People [hear 
hear, hear!] I w ill not take ad¬ 
vantage of the warmth of popu¬ 
lar meetings, a great proportion 
of the individuals constituting 
which are necessarily ignorant 
of the nicer points of history and 
antiquity, to induce the People tc 
sign such Petitions as those w hich 
have lately been presented to this 
House, [hear, hear, hear!] Sir 
I do not blame the large body ol 
the People, who have appeared 
before us as Petitioners for the lan- 
guag'e in which they have ex¬ 
pressed themselves; but 1 blam* 
them, or rather I blame the FA¬ 
BRICATORS ot the Petitions, b} 
whom they have been paimei 
upon the People, for having the 



109] Eebruary 17, 1817. [110 


assurance to declare, that Univer¬ 
sal Suffrage was a right for which 
our ancestors shed their blood, 
[hear, hear, hear !] Sir, I would 
not be a party in telling the Peo¬ 
ple (monstrous assertion!) that 
twelve hundred years ago, this 
country enjoyed a free and per¬ 
fect Constitution [hear, hear, 
hear!] Gracious Cod! Twelve 
hundred years ago! Sir, we have 
heard of Histories of England by 
various individuals, and of various 
descriptions ; but in what History 
of England is to be found, not 
only a trace of this country’s 
having* a free and perfect Consti¬ 
tution 1200 years ago, but a trace 
of its having' enjoyed any Con¬ 
stitution at all at that period! 
[hear, hear, hear!] What do we 
know of the state of this Coun¬ 
try, in that respect, in the year 
<518 ! Why, Sir, we know little 
or nothing of the Constitution of 
England half as many centuries 
back; and what can we possibly 
know of its Constitution two hun¬ 
dred years before the different 
kingdoms of the Saxon Heptar¬ 
chy w ere united under one mo¬ 
narch? [hear, hear, hear!] This, 
Sir, is a specimen of the histori¬ 
cal knowledge, of the antiquarian 
research, of the acquaintance 
with Constitutional law, of these 
WISEACRES OUT OF DOORS, 
who, after poring for days and 
nights , and brooding over their 
wild and MI SC HIE VO US 
SCHEMES , rise up with their 
little nostrums and big blunders 
to amend the British Constitu¬ 


tion [laughter, and loud cheers !] 
And then, Sir, we are pronounced 
ignorant and daring, who refuse 
to subscribe to the creed of these 
true Reformers, who know ac¬ 
curately w hat happened in this 
Country 500 years before authen¬ 
ticated history begins ! [hear!] 
and we are told that he who will 
not believe the self-evident pro¬ 
positions of these gentlemen, 
which it is said are so reasonable 
as not to admit of the least con¬ 
troversy, are dishonest as well as 
ignorant and daring. Sir, the 
Noble Lord says I accused the 
People of England. I did not 
accuse the People of England. 
1 accused those persons who de¬ 
luded , or rather attempted to de¬ 
lude (for I am persuaded the ex¬ 
periment will fail in the main), 
the People of England, and in 
making that allusion, I referred 
to the monstrous absurdities con¬ 
tained in most of the Petitions for 
Reform, Avhich have recently been 
presented to this House. I beg, 
however, to be distinctly under¬ 
stood. I do not think these de¬ 
lusions will spread far. The 
People of England have not, in 
my opinion, exhibited any symp¬ 
tom of participating in them. It 
is true, they have presented 
HUNDREDS OF PETITIONS 
to this House. I believe ABOVE 
A MILLION OF PEOPLE have 
declared to this House some opi¬ 
nion or other on the question of 
Reform. These persons have 
been collected together at meet* 
ings, to which they flocked sin* 




Ill] 

ply because they felt severe dis¬ 
tress. They knew not from the 
false prophets and bad teachers 
who got among them, but from 
their own experience, and from 
the nature of their sufferings, that 
they in a great measure origina¬ 
ted in the maladministration of 
public affairs. So knowing, and 
so feeling, they naturally vented 
their complaints in the Petitions 
with which the fable of this 
House groans ; into which Peti¬ 
tions many statements and pro¬ 
positions have evidently been 
thrust, to which the actual Peti¬ 
tioners themselves were no par¬ 
ties whatever, [hear, hear, hear !] 
There is one conclusion, Sir, 
which we ought to draw from all 
these considerations ; namely, 
that severe distress is the real 
cause of this popular agitation ; 
and that as far as the people call 
upon us for great Retrenchments 
and some Reform, the call is well 
founded and MUST BE HEARD. 
I heartily hope that it may be 
heard before it is too late, and 
that the people may by that 
means be taken and kept out of 
the hands of those who would 
betray them into misery a hun¬ 
dred fold greater than that which 
they at present endure” [hear, 
hear!] 

Lord Cochrane adverting to 
the comments made by the Ho¬ 
nourable and Learned Gentle¬ 
man on the Petitions which had 
been sent down from the Metro¬ 
polis for the adoption of the peo¬ 
ple, said, that “ knowing, 


[112 

did, the honourable character of 
the individual in whom these 
Petitions originated, he was sure 
that no attempt would ever be 
made on that individual’s part to 
deceive the People. There was 
not a worthier man existing than 
the Gentleman to whom he allu¬ 
ded, MAJOR CARTWRIGHT; 
and he was perfectly certain that 
the sentiments which that Gen¬ 
tleman expressed were sincere, 
and came from the bottom of his 
soul. With respect to himself, 
he should never resent personal 
allusions of any kind made to 
him in THAT HOUSE. They 
would fall as a blunt arrow, or 
as the stone which was thrown the 
other day, but never found. But 
this, in justice to himself, he 
would say, that he was not in ha¬ 
bits of intimacy with any man 
base enough to entertain a de- 
sire to overthrow any part of our 
Establishments. As to the Petiti¬ 
ons which he had presented, he 
felt it his duty to receive any per¬ 
son who might choose to call 
upon him on Parliamentary bu¬ 
siness ; and if a Petition, couched 
in proper terms, were put into 
his hands, lie felt it his duty to 
present it to that House, without, 
however, considering that he was 
in any way responsible for the 
opinions which the Petition might 
contain. The, universal voice of 
the people cried for Reform. He 
trusted that the House would 
not set up THEIR opinion 
AGAINST that of the WHOLE 
COUNTRY besides. He should 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


as he 



113] February 17, 1817. [114 


most sincerely deplore the day, 
should it ever arrive, on which, 
by the vote of that House, the 
Reform which the people so loud¬ 
ly and unanimously required, 
should be refused to them.” 

Who, after having read those 
speeches, could for a moment 
suppose, that Mr. BROUGHAM 
had ever been the THE PRO¬ 
POSER OF ANNUAL PARLI¬ 
AMENTS HIMSELF, the deci¬ 
ded ADVOCATE for that mea¬ 
sure ; yet such is the fact. 

In the month of June, 1814, a 
dinner was given at the City of 
J^ondon Tavern, by certain Live- 
rymeri in favour of Parliamentary 
Reform, on which occasion, Mr. 
BROUGHAM made a speech, as 
follows:— 

“ Mr. BROUGHAM returned 
thanks, and said, that the last 
time he had met the Livery, he 
had declined making’ professions 
or promises, because he saw them 
so often broken; but had desired 
tlie Livery, if it were worth their 
attention, TO MARK HIS CON¬ 
DUCT, and if it betrayed his de¬ 
claration, to punish him next 
time they met by drinking to his 
DEPARTED PRINCIPLES:— 
that time was now come, and he 
met them without any conscious¬ 
ness of having forfeited their fa¬ 
vour. These two years had been 
pregnant with important events ; 
and infinitely various as these 
were, they all agreed in this, that 
they had mightily redounded to 
tire honour of THE CAUSE, and 


the confirmation of OUR PRIN¬ 
CIPLES. The fundamental max¬ 
im of liberty had been solemnly 
recognized in the face of the 
world, that all power is from 
THE PEOPLE; and that they 
have a right to choose their go - 
vernment , and dismiss their riders 
for misconduct . They had done so 
in France, and it was a lesson that 
could not be forgotten in the rest 
of Europe. The saying, that 
‘ laws are silent in the midst of 
arms/ had failed for once; and 
this fundamental principle had 
triumphed over the triumphs of 
the allied armies. So much for 
the honour of THE CAUSE. 
But the principles of Reform had 
been assisted also in their pro¬ 
gress. Where is now the GAG 
with which our mouths had for 
five-and-twenty years been stop¬ 
ped, as often as WE have required 
that PARLIAMENTS SHOULD 
BE CHOSEN YEARLY, AND 
THAT THE ELECTIVE FRAN¬ 
CHISE SHOULD BE EXTEND¬ 
ED TO ALL WHO PAY TAXES ? 
lie have been desired to wait; for 
the enemy was at the gate, and 

ready to avail himself of the dis- 
•/ 

cords attending our political con¬ 
tests, in order to undermine our 
national independence. This ar¬ 
gument is gone, and our adversa¬ 
ries must now look for another . 

He had mentioned THE TWO 




115] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [lltf 


RADICAL doctrines of YEAR¬ 
LY ELECTION ; and THE 
FRANCHISE enjoyed BY ALL 
PA YING TAXES; but it would 
be superfluous to reason in favour 
of them here, where all were 
AGREED upon the subject. 

“ However, as elsewhere they 
may speedily be discussed, he 
should take leave to suggest a 
fact, for the use of such as might 
have occasion to defend their 
principles. It was one for the 
truth of which he might appeal 
to his honourable friend the Mem¬ 
ber for Middlesex (Mr. Byng) 
who knew as well as he did, that 
there was a great improvement 
always observable in the conduct 
of the House of Commons, to¬ 
wards the LAST YEAR of a 
Parliament; insomuch, that he 
had heard it observed, that more 
good was done in that year, than 
in all the other five or six. The 
reason of this he should not pre¬ 
sume to state; but some persons 
were of so suspicious a nature, 
as to insinuate, that it might be 
the knowledge of Members, that 
at the end of that session they must 
meet their constituents, SUCH OF 
THEM AS HAD ANY!!! and 
give an account of their trust. 
He avowed that thisfact had been 
one of the chief grounds of HIS 
conviction of the expediency of 
YEARLY ELECTIONS ; and 


if any one thought, this unsafe , 
HE should answer, that SUCH 
FREQUENT RECUR¬ 
RENCE, and such extension of 
thefranchise as should accompany 
it, were the best checks upon 
profligate expense. IF any other 
check was wanting, it might be 
provided also. He had talked of 
such Members as HAD constitu¬ 
ents, being reminded of it by the 
manner in which the toast had 
been given out by a mistake— 
he hoped not an ominous one. 
It had been said, ‘ a full, fair, and 
free representation in Parlia¬ 
ment’—leaving out ‘ THE PEO¬ 
PLE.’ Now this is just what is 
done ELSEWHERE . There IS 
‘ a fall, fair, and free representa¬ 
tion m Parliament ’—we need not 
drink to that. There is a full re¬ 
presentation of the Aristocracy— 
a .fair representation of the 
Landed Interest—a free repre¬ 
sentation, a free ingress of the 
Court,— but not much representa¬ 
tion of the People—THEY ARE 
LEFT OUT, as they were to¬ 
day. It AH ST, however, be 
otherwise SOON. While they 
bear the burdens of the state, 
THEY MUST, as of RIGHT, 
share in its government; and 
to EFFECT THIS REFORM, 
ALL GOOD MEN MUST NOW 
UNITE!!! 

“He lamented the absence of his 




117] February 

friends now detained elsewhere; 
but he knew they would come, 
the moment their duty permitted. 
Messrs. Whitbread, Brand, Cree- 
vey, Bennett, Grattan, Lord Os- 
sulston, Lord A. Hamilton, he 
knew were most anxious to join 
the meeting-. What they were 
now about he could not precisely 
say; but he guessed they were 
not supporting* the Court at that 
particular moment.” 

The history of the transaction 
is this—Lord Cochrane having 
been convicted of a fraud on the 
Stock Exchange—although his 
constituents, the Electors of 
Westminster, thought him inno¬ 
cent, yet, it was probable that 
lie might be expelled the House of 
Commons, and be also declared 
ineligible,—at this moment, Mr. 
BROUGHAM was brought under 
the particular notice of the per¬ 
sons who were the most likely to 
interfere in an election, as a man 
whose talents might be highly use¬ 
ful to the People, and whose de¬ 
sire it was to assist the electors of 
Westminster in obtaining for 
their country, the right of suf¬ 
frage as extensive as taxation, 
and the shortening of Parlia¬ 
ments to the period of one year. 
The electors of Westminster had 
been taught caution , and they ob¬ 
jected to Mr. Brougham, that his 
tergiversations had apparently dis¬ 
qualified him for the office HE 
SOUGHT; but that errors and 
mistakes, if corrected by subse¬ 
quent good conduct, would be 
overlooked ; that they would not 
condemn any man for what he 
had been , but would applaud him 


17, 1817. [118 

for what he was , if deserving of 
applause ; but as the only reason 
for their interference was, to pro¬ 
mote ANNUAL. PARLIA¬ 
MENTS , and SUFFRAGE as 
extensive as taxation , they could 
neither vote themselves, nor re¬ 
commend to the notice of the 
electors any man who did not 
explicitly avow his determination 
to procure for them in Parlia¬ 
ment these two vital objects. 
Mr. BROUGHAM’S friends re¬ 
presented him to be decidedly with 
the people of Westminster ON 
THOSE TWO POINTS, and 
desirous of an opportunity PUB¬ 
LICLY to DECLARE HIM¬ 
SELF\ That opportunity soon 
offered. A dinner, intended to 
spread the desire for Parliament¬ 
ary Reform , and to promote the 
return to Parliament of these 
otherwise properly qualified per¬ 
sons who maintained the same 
principles, had, for two or three 
years, been annually held. To one 
of these, in 1814,Mr.BROUGH AM 
and several other Members of the 
House of Commons, as had been 
the practice, were invited; and 
it teas on this occasion , and under 
these circumstances , that Mr. 
BROUGHAM made the speech 
inserted above. 

Had the report of this speech 
been copied from a newspaper, 
had it been taken from the short¬ 
hand notes of a reporter, it might 
have been objected that it was 
incorrect—that it was erroneous— 
that words bad been misapplied 
-—that phrases had been misun¬ 
derstood, or distorted, and a 
wrong bias given to them. But 
no the inhabitants e/' Westmin¬ 
ster, who had proceeded thus far, 
who knew what the conduct of 
PUBLIC MENlixd been,would 



119] Hone’s Ref6timtsts’ Register. Ll20 


be satisfied with no security short 
of the very best—they knew that 
whoever they should at any time 
recommend to the notice of the 
Electors, would not only himself 
he rigorously scrutinized, but 
that they also would he called 
Upon to account for their Own 
conduct in having- proposed him. 
A deputation w as therefore sent 
to Mr. BROUGHAM on the morn¬ 
ing following' the day on which 
the dinner took place, to request 
he would correct the report of his 
speech ; but Mr. BROUGHAM, 
instead of correcting the report, 
thought it less trouble to write 
out the whole of it; and he ac¬ 
cordingly WROTE WITH HIS 
OWN HAND the copy from 
which the foregoing is printed ! 

Mr. BROUGHAM divides THE 
PEOPLE into two classes, the 
deladers, and the deluded \—that 
is. into fools and rogues. In 
which of these classes would he 
choose to he placed—in w hich of 
these characters did he appear 
at the Livery Dinner? This man 
of m any tergiversations , why does 
he presume to tell us that the 
applause he there received was 
the result of delusion PRAC¬ 
TISED BY HIMSELF; or 
that be himself was deluded by 
the applause? Mho told him 
that the persons who composed 
the intelligent, respectable, ho¬ 
nourable, and numerous company 
whom he addressed, w ere too ig¬ 
norant to understand the DELU¬ 
SION he put upon them ? And 
with w hat claim to forbearance 
does HE come, “ what has'HE to 
say in mitigation of sentence ,” 
who tells us plainly that he DE¬ 
LUDED, misled, abused, so re¬ 
spectable an assemblage; and 
through them THE PEOPLE of 


England ? for to this it must 
come—to this point he must be 
held—from this there is no es¬ 
cape. Would he say he was de¬ 
luded—deluded by the gentle¬ 
men who composed that meeting? 
Then mark the consequence. 
All that is necessary to furnish a 
complete, a perfect, a triumphant 
reply, immediately follows:— 
THE PEOPLE are tviser, and 
understand the subject better, than 
their QUONDAM LEADERS: 
and if so, why not a submission 
at once on the part of those lead¬ 
ers ?—Why A BUSE for argu¬ 
ment, and FOUL CALUMNIES 
against the most venerable, the 
wisest, the best, the most public- 
spirited of THE PEOPLE? 
But there was no delusion in the 
way spoken of: there w as, to he 
sure, a delusion; but it w^as 
of a very different kind—the 
company was deluded into a be¬ 
lief of Mr. BROUGHAM’S SIN¬ 
CERITY! Scandalously as the 
People had been abused in words, 
infamously as they had been be¬ 
trayed, still they could not sup¬ 
pose it possible that a man whose 
whole conduct was to he before 
the Public, who COURTED the 
People’s favour, and told them, 
if he u varied from his profes¬ 
sions, to drink to his DEPARTED 
PRINCIPLES”—that he, who 
thus invoked vengeance upon his 
own head, could be insincere . 
Of Mr. BROUGHAM’S former 
conduct as a public man, they 
were not ignorant; but they had 
seen him, with great pertina¬ 
city, and singular success, oppose 
some of the evil acts of the Mi¬ 
nister; and they hailed his return 
to good principles with great joy. 
But Mr. BROUGHAM has for 
ever taken away all expectation , 



m] 

all hope of hits usefulness . 
was cautioned, cautioned too IN 
MORE WAYS THAN ONE; 
but, heedless as unprincipled, lie 
plunged on still deeper and 
deeper in the mire, until all 
chance of being extricated, has 
totally failed. 

It is impossible, in the compass 
of a single Register , to compare 
Mr. BROUGHAM ’S several 
speeches, and to draw the infe¬ 
rences which would naturally re¬ 
sult from the comparison; the 
reader must do this for himself. 

A few words must however be 
said, by way of contrast between 
those who deal in calumnies, and 
those who are the objects of those 
calumnies—and first of MAJOR 
CARTWRIGHT. Not only are 
the words of Lord Cochrane 
true, of this venerable and highly 
respectable gentleman, “ that a 
worthier man was not in exis¬ 
tence, and that the sentiments ex¬ 
pressed by him were sincere, and 
came from the bottom of his soul 
but it is also true, that a great 
part of his long life lias been em¬ 
ployed in endeavours to promote, 
and by all the honest means he 
could at any time use to convince 
the People of the advantages of 
Parliamentary Reform, and in 
endeavouring to obtain it for them. 
He indeed may be said to have 
lived for no other purpose. To 
this he has sacrificed his repose, 
his health, his fortune. Well in¬ 
deed may his CALUMNIATOR 
say,, that lie “ pored for days 
and nights.” Day and night has 
been constantly employed by him 
to the utmost of his strength, in 
endeavours TO BENEFIT HIS 
COUNTRY. There has been no 
variation in his conduct, no devi¬ 
ation from the course he oriyi- 


im 

naUv marked out*. He took the 
OLD LAWS AND CUSTOMS 
for his guide, and comparing 
them with the increase of know-' 
ledge, and the moral fitness of the 
People, he said thus and thus it 
teas, —and thus it ought now to 
be. Many are the discussions he 
has promoted—truth was his ob¬ 
ject in promoting them—reason 
was the weapon he fought with— 
and to this test was he constantly 
endeavouring to bring his, and 
the People’s opponents. Much 
has he done—much may he still 
live to accomplish, in spite of 
those, who can so far forget what 
is due to his character, as to re¬ 
ward him with ABUSE, to decry 
his MOTIVE, and to treat him with 
language that would scarcely be 
applied to a scoundrel. Does Mr. 
BROUGHAM know no one who 
entertains opinions coinciding 
with MAJOR CARTWRIGHT* 
Mr. BROUGHAM does indeed 
know several; not inactive men, 
not ignorant, unlearned men, but 
men of great and singular indus¬ 
try, of great talent, of vast learn¬ 
ing—men, with whom to be 
acquainted, is, as it ought to 
be esteemed, matter of continued 
gratulation; but ALL are inclu¬ 
ded under the vulgar terms made 
use of by Mr. BROUGHAM. 
Y et after all, how very small a 
part of the intellectual wealth of 
the country do these excellent 
persons possess; and how vast is 
the amount of this wealth enjoyed 
by others, who fall under the in¬ 
discriminate lash of the orator. 

Of the Petitioners themselves, 
it may be affirmed, that they in¬ 
tended offence to none—Mr. 
BROUGHAM admits this—as lit¬ 
tle offence did the framers of the 
Petition intend, unless indeed it is 


February 17, 1817. 
He 




1231 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [124 


to be understood, that a statement 
of truths is intentionally offen¬ 
sive, and therefore to be rejected. 
If so, how Jew even are the 
truths the Petitions contain. 
Were an attempt indeed made, to 
state all the facts on the subject 
of Parliamentary Reform, as they 
relate to the conduct of the 
House of Commons, every Peti¬ 
tion would consist of volumes. 

No one who has seen much 
of mankind will expect that any 
conduct, however guarded, how¬ 
ever correct, would meet the ap¬ 
proval of those ivhose object it is 
to obtain , or to keep their places — 
an EXCUSE will never be want¬ 
ing: formerly the CRY in the 
mouth of every enemy of the 
People was, you are not agreed 
in anyone point; you do not know 
what you want; w hy are you 
not more specific ? and this w r as 
at that time to silence all com¬ 
plaining. Now' another course is 
pursued; the form of a petition is 
prepared, and copies are sent to 
various places; the People are 
requested to peruse them, to dis¬ 
cuss them, and if they accord with 
them, to sign them ; instantly a 
CLAMOUR is raised, and “ dis¬ 
honesty,” and all kinds of evil in¬ 
tentions, are imputed to the 
framers of Petitions, “ to be sent 
cut and dried to all parts of the 
country not to agree was a 
folly,—to agree is it seems a cripie. 

But gentlemen are fond of 
precedent . ANNUAL PARLIA¬ 
MENTS are bad things, because 
you cannot show that the prac¬ 
tice existed “ 1200 vears ago!” 

v o 


The gentlemen shall have PRE¬ 
CEDENT for the practice they 
so vehemently condemn, their own 
practice too ;—in the case of the 
Slave Trade, when an open com¬ 
mittee sat at a Tavern for the pur¬ 
pose of issuing out Petitions, and 
receiving them back again, when 
signed, and causing them to be 
presented. How long is the pe¬ 
riod since Mr. BROUGHAM’S 
coadjutors in that business did 
these things, and when, but 
for their praiseworthy exertions, 
that diabolical traffic would still 
have existed in France? How w ill 
Mr. BROUGHAM reconcile this 
with his denunciations so illi¬ 
berally poured upon the head of 
MAJOR CARTWRIGHT? Mr. 
BROUGHAM will be at no loss 
to supply other precedents. 

Why then should a set form of 
*/ 

a Petition for Reform be alone 
condemned ? Why should that 
which is allowable and praise¬ 
worthy in other cases of less im- 
oortance, be called “ dishonest ” 
in this, of much greater conse¬ 
quence ? Why should that which 
even Mr. BROUGHAM himself 
assisted the excellent Thomas 
Clarkson to perform, be so un¬ 
mercifully, and so unjustly, per¬ 
secuted in the person of the ex¬ 
cellent MAJOR CART WIGHT ? 
And why, when all the good 
men who assisted Mr. Clarkson 
in his good work, are praised and 
held up to the admiration of their 
grateful countrymen^ why should 
other good men be held up to 
abhorrence for assisting MAJOR 
CARTWRIGHT in his? There 




126] February 

is much to reprobate in the in¬ 
consistency of Mr- BROUGHAM, 
but the whole of his public life 
has been inconsistent, perfectly 
at variance with the steady course 
pursued by MAJOR CART- 
BRIGHT, and infinitely low'must 
it sink in the comparison. Mr. 
BROUGHAM commenced by 
being’ a WHIG; next he became 
an AUTHOR—when, speaking 
of Mr. Pitt, in the year 1802, he 
said, “ He sincerely hoped once 
more to behold the same splendid 
talents marshalled in the cause 
of humanity and sound policy, 
which formerly almost rendered 
it triumphant; and he expected 
to find that GREAT STATES¬ 
MAN, who so eminently distin- 
tinguished himself on all the 
former discussions of the ques¬ 
tion [the Slave Trade], in oppo¬ 
sition to his own personal interest, 
now dedicate a part of his leisure 
to a contest in every way so 
worthy of his powers. If to this 
object he should devote so much 
of his time as the Catholic Eman¬ 
cipation does not occupy, his 
country will have less reason to 
regret his retirement from office; 
and if his disinterested efforts in 
these two great causes shall be 
crowned with success, we may 
ALMOST be consoled for his 
failure in subduing the enemies 
of Monarchical government , and 
maintaining the ancient balance oj 
Europe .” 

Of his regard for the property 
and lives of the People, at this 
time, the following quotation may 
serve for proof; 


17, 1817. [120 

“ The operations of war are 
rendered very harmless, and a 
foundation is laid for their gra¬ 
dual disuse. A few useless mil¬ 
lions, and a few still more useless 
LIVES, are sacrificed ; the arts of 
peace continue to flourish, some¬ 
times with increased prosperity; 
and the policy of preferring to 
purchase defeat at a distance, ra¬ 
ther than victory at home—of 
paying allies for being vanquish¬ 
ed, rather than gain the most 
splendid triumphs on their own 
ground—has been amply re¬ 
warded, by the safety , increased 
resources , and real addition of 
power , w hich results from an en¬ 
joyment of all the substantial 
blessings of peace, with the only 
REAL ADVANTAGES of we- 
cessary warfare ! ” (Brougham’s 
Colonial Policy , vol. II. p. 217.) 

After this he became A WHIG 
—aga in . At Liverpool he abused 
the Reformers. At the London 
Tavern he became a REFOR¬ 
MER, a promoter of ANNUAL 
PARLIAMENTS—and NOW he 
has turned WHIG AGAIN; how- 
ion g he may continue a WHIG, 
it is impossible to say, as that 
may perhaps depend upon Messrs. 
Ponsonby and Co.; for should 
they turn him off, no resource 
remains for him, but that of a third 
rate Tory. Mr. BROUGHAM’S 
real importance and usefulness 
depended wholly upon his PO¬ 
PULARITY —that is gone ; and, 
it is of no consequence to the 
People, what becomes of him. 

WILLIAM HONE. 
Monday Morning , Feb. 17 , 1817. 



1271 Hose’* Reformists’ Register. [128 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS REGIS¬ 
TER, will, every half-year , have 
h Title-Page, with a Complete 
Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, 
as large in size as a VoLume of 
the best edition of Hume’s His¬ 
tory of England, or Gibbon’s 
Home. But a volume of the Re¬ 
gister will contain more than 
double the quantity contained in 
a volume of these works, and be 
at one half the price ; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of 
every year, T wo. V glumes abound 
ing with sound political Informa¬ 
tion, on subjects in which he him¬ 
self, and his children, and his 
country, are deeply interested ; 
and the contents of these Two 
Volumes, which he obtains by an 
easy purchase of Two-Pence a 
iveek ,and which do not cost him 
Nine Shillings, will be equal to 
the contents of Pour volumes of 
Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve 
Shillings. 


No. 1, was published on Satur¬ 
day Feb. 1, 1817. The leading 
Article of No. II. for Feb. 8, is 
“ UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE and 
ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS 
against Mr. BROUGHAM and the 
WHIGS.” No. III. consists of Sir 


Francis burdett's plan 

OF REFORM, - 

Communications should, 
be addressed (post paid) to W, 
HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three 
doors from Ludgate Hill, where 
the Reformists’ Register is pub¬ 
lished.— Reports of Meetings 
held in the Country, or News- 
papers containing them, and au¬ 
thentic Information, with useful 
Hints and Suggestions, will be 
thankfully received,, 

The excellent letter of the late 
Duke of Richmond to Col. Shar- 
man, on Universal Suffrage and An* 
nual Parliaments , and the Bill for 
Reform in Parliament on those 
principles, having been long out of 
print, and being at this time much 
wanted, I have re-printed both in 
octavo. The LETTER to COL. 
SHARMAN is Price Two-pence. 
The Duke’s important BILL, which 
had become very scarce, is prefaced 
by his Grace’s “ DECLARATION 
of the Rights of the Commonalty 
of Great Britain, without which they 
cannot be free.” I have also added 
Titles to each of the Clauses of the 
Bill, to facilitate reference, which is 
now peculiarly necessary, as the Bill 
itself is the basis of Sir FRANCIS 
BURDETT’S Plan of Reform , as 
well as most others. The BILL, 
with these additions, is Price Four- 
pence. 

W. II. 


London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican ; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67 , Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill ; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
each, 12s. 6d. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand, 





Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMIST’S REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 5.] Saturday, Feu. 22, 1817. [V'oi,. I. 


APOSTACY 

AND 

CORRUPTION. 


Mr. Brougham's shiricing of Lord 
Cochrane's Charges — Mr. Hard 
and his Rotten Borough—The 
Cruelty of Corruption-One Hun¬ 
dred Houses pulled down, and One 
Hundred families sent to the 
Workhouse , by a Boroughmonger, 
for Electioneering Purposes — 
Earl Grey in 171)4 and 1817— 
St. Leonard, Shoreditch, Resolu¬ 
tion—Lord Holland's Twattle — 
Bobby Southey and Wat Tyler, 
and Mr. Wait liman's Black Street 
Sweeper—Wat Tyler's SONG, 
* When Adam delv'd and Eve span,' 

6fc. - Dr. Slop's Green Bag, 

and Falstajf—The Reports, and 
the Butcher's flatulent Horse — 
Kew Wall concerned in treason¬ 
able practices. 


Our “ LITTLE NOSTRUM,” 
has been very potent. It has been 
said, “ that mighty events may 
be traced to very small causes;’’ 
let us hope that this maxim, and 
the experience of the present 
moment, may serve as a caution 
to those who sit in high places, 
not to affect too much contempt 
for those who may happen to be 
seated a little lower. On Mon¬ 
day, as the Morning Chronicle 
informs us, a debate took place in 
the House of Commons, of which 
the following' is an abstract:— 


Lord Cochrane rose for the purpose 
of presenting a Petition from the In¬ 
habitants of Harborough, in Leices¬ 
tershire, praying for Annual Parlia¬ 
ments and Universal Suffrage; doc¬ 
trines which, he had no doubt, would 
excite the indignation of an Honour¬ 
able and Learned Gentleman, who on 
a recent occasion had condemned 
them as chimerical and absurd. That 
they were chimerical and absurd, as 
had been stated, was mere matter of 
opinion 5 but when he heard an Ho¬ 
nourable Member of that House de¬ 
signate those who supported these 
doctrines as included in two classes, 
the misleading and misled, the de¬ 
signing and dupes, he felt himself 
bound to say a few words. Among 
the many authorities he might now 
mention, he should merely take one. 
Judge Beackstone had observed, that 
the law, in order to he binding on all, 
must be made by all ; and that every 
man was supposed to be present at the 
making of a law, in consequence of 
his being represented. Now if such 
was the case, if the law became only 
binding on those who were present at 
its being enacted, what was to be said 
of the great body of people who were 
not represented ? M hat, he would 
ask, was to be said of Scotland, the 
country in which he was born, where, 
out of a population of two millions, 
there were only 2700 electors? He 
maintained that the inhabitants of 
that country were not bound by the 
laws enacted here, as—[loud cries of 
order ! from all sides of the House.] 
The Speaker apprehended such 
language was not Parliamentary, and 
could not by any means be permitted 
in the House [hear, hear, hear !] 













131] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [132 


Lord Cochrane said, had the House 
heard his sentence finished, they might 
have thought otherwise. 

The Speaker—I am sorry to say 
the Noble Lord’s sentence is already 
too complete [hear, hear, hear !] 

Lord Cochrane proceeded. Such 
had been the opinion of the Learned 
Judge which he had thought proper to 
quote. That such opinions as those 
of the Petitioners might be entertained 
without their having any intention to 
subvert the Constitution or establish¬ 
ed forms of the couutry, certainly re¬ 
quired no demonstration ; and it was 
equally clear they might be entertain¬ 
ed without any imputation being 
thrown on individuals. He had risen 
the other night in consequence of a 
pointed requisition made by an Ho¬ 
nourable and Learned Gentleman now 
before him, that if any Member 
thought the visionary theories of uni¬ 
versal suffrage and annual Parliaments 
could be maintained 3 he would show 
that that requisition he felt himself 
bound to comply with, and had com¬ 
plied with, although he was then con¬ 
scious to himself, and still was so, that 
he could not compete with the Ho¬ 
nourable and Learned Gentleman in 
words. He had then felt it necessary 
to state, that to the wisdom of the 
people he was more disposed to trust 
than to the wisdom of the House, per¬ 
suaded that the people on every occa¬ 
sion decided coolly [a laugh ]5 that 
they decided wisely and brightly [hear, 
hear ! and a laugh]. He had also no 
hesitation in saying, that he was de¬ 
cidedly of opinion any system of re¬ 
presentation was better than the pre¬ 
sent. Rut he would have expected 
that the Honourable and Learned 
Gentleman would have felt for the 
Petitioners, when he- considered he 
himself zcas not long ago of the same 
opinions, and had made an open decla¬ 
ration of them in a speech, on a day 
which he (Lord C.) could name, and 
would name, when that Learned Gen¬ 
tleman had not, the good fortune to re¬ 
present Or rotten Borough , as he did 


now . The day was the 23rd of June, 
1814, when there were strong expec¬ 
tations, he would not say by that Ho- 
nourable Gentleman himself, bdt by 
others, that he would be returned for 
the City of Westminster. This speech 
then delivered, was certainly a sure 
criterion of his political opinions at 
that crisis, whatever they may be now ; 
and of the genuineness of that speech 
he had sufficient proofs in his hand. 
The Learned Gentleman had declared 
his opinions were firmly in support of 
Annual Parliaments, and suffrage co¬ 
extensive with taxation [hear !] He 
(Lord Cochrane) had seen that Ho¬ 
nourable Gentleman’s w'ords on paper, 
not taken from him by a reporter, 
who might afterwards be charged 
with having mistaken them 3 but 
written coolly and deliberately— by 
whom ? Why, by himself 3 although 
indeed no name or signature was at¬ 
tached to the declaration.—Soon after 
(a day or two) he was waited upon 
for the purpose of correcting his 
speech, when he, instead of correct¬ 
ing it, thought it less trouble, and 
much better for him, to write it afresh , 
which he accordingly did. He at the 
present moment represented a rotten 
Borough 3 but still he (Lord Cochrane) 
had sufficient evidence to prove these 
to have been the opinions of the Learn¬ 
ed Gentleman, and he would now' read 
them from the speech written by his 
(Mr. Brougham’s) oum hand. But 
first, to put an end to all doubts on the 
subject, he wished to know, whether 
the paper he now held in his hand was 
the writing of the Learned Gentle¬ 
man [loud and repeated cries of order, 
order!] He hoped the House would 
hear with attention the then senti¬ 
ments of the Honourable Gentleman, 
which he should now' read from a ma¬ 
nuscript he held in his hand. 

The Noble Lord here read from 
the manuscript Declaration, made 
by Mr. Brougham, the whole oi 
which was published in the “ Refor¬ 
mists’ Register Extraordinary,’* 
on Monday afternoon. 



133 ] February 

ff As often as we have required 
that Parliaments should be chosen 
yearly, and that the elective franchise 
should be extended to all that pay Taxes, 
we have been desired to wait, for the 
enemy was at the gate, and ready to 
avail himself of the discords attending 
our political contests, in order to un¬ 
dermine our national independence. 
This argument is gone, and our adver¬ 
saries must now look for another. It 
would be superfluous to reason in fa¬ 
vour of them here, where all were 
agreed upon the subject.” Now such 
were some of the words made use of 
on that occasion by the Honourable 
Gentleman, and certainly he (Lord C.) 
knew no man who wore shoes or eat 
bread, who did not pay Taxes; be¬ 
cause, though he perhaps did not pay 
them directly, they were laid on the 
articles he consumed, by the person 
from whom lie purchased them. But 
he would proceed in the3e extracts 
from the speech of the Learned Gen¬ 
tleman, aware they must be very 
amusing to the House. “ He sug¬ 
gested a fact for the use of such as 
might have occasion to defend their prin¬ 
ciples. It was one, for the truth of 
which he might appeal to his Honour¬ 
able Friend (Mr. G. Byng), the 
Member for Middlesex, who knew as 
iwell as he did, that there was a great 
improvement always observable in the 
conduct of the House of Commons 
towards the last year of a Parliament, 
insomuch that he had heard it ob¬ 
served, that more good was done in 
that year, than in all the other five or 
six. The reason of this he should not 
presume to state, but some persons 
were of so suspicious a nature, as to 
insinuate, that it might be the know¬ 
ledge of Members, that at the end of 
that Session, they must meet their 
constituents, such of them as had any, 
and give an account of their trust. ' 
He says again, in another part of the 
same speech, after complaining of a 
toast given by mistake, and which had 
said, “ a full, fair, and free represen¬ 
tation in Parliament,” leaving out the 


22 , 1817 . [134 

People, “ this is just what is done 
elsewhere. There is a full, fair, and 
free representation in Parliament—we 
need not drink that. There is a full 
representation of the aristocracy, a 
fair representation of the landed in¬ 
terest, a free representation, and a free 
ingress of the Court; but not so much 
representation of the People. They 
are left out, as they were to-day. It 
must, however, be otherwise soon. 
While they bear the burdens of the 
State, they must, as of right, share 
in its government, and to effect this Re¬ 
form, all good men must now unite.'’ 
Such were the sentiments of the 
Learned Gentleman, who was noi* 
falling so unmercifully foul on the 
friends of Reform, charging them as 
deluding and misleading. While such 
were the sentiments of the Honour¬ 
able Gentleman then, but they were 
different from those which at one time 
had influenced him. There had then 
been three periods in the history of the 
Honourable Gentleman, when his opini¬ 
ons had differed. The first was, the 
time before he changed his opinions 
to that of Annual Parliaments, when 
he was neither among the misleading 
nor their dupes, but was an advocate 
for moderate and temperate Reform. 
The second period was, the time lie 
had made this memorable speech. And 
here he could not help alluding to the 
time when this speech had been deli¬ 
vered. It was when he (Lord C.) 
had been expelled from the House, 
and when, consequently, a vacancy 
was expected for Westminster. He 
did not impute motives to the Ho¬ 
nourable Gentleman, but it was 
singular that this very period should 
have been selected as the most proper 
for making the speech [hear !] One, 
however, who knew that such a 
speech had at such a time been made 
by the Honourable Gentleman, would 
now have expected he would of 
course have been less severe on the 
Reformers, instead of now pronoun¬ 
cing anathemas on their motives and 
characters and it would therefore 




135 ] 

have perhaps, been more prudent for 
the Honourable Gentleman (Honour¬ 
able he would still call him, in all his 
proceedings) to have said less. With 
respect to an individual who had been 
noticed formerly as the source whence 
all these Petitions, or the most of 
them, emanated (he meant Major 
Cartwright), he begged leave to say, 
that he did not know a more disinte¬ 
rested, or upright individual. At¬ 
tached to the principles of no party, 
[a laugh] advocating neither the 
claims of one class or another, that 
venerable man had devoted his whole 
life to the cause of the People, and in 
defence of their best and most sacred 
privileges. Pie was proud to bear 
this testimony, having had the most 
satisfactory evidence from personal 
knowledge that this was the case. 

“ He should not now further trespass 
on their attention, unless he was 
compelled to say more, when he should 
roduce more facts. He concluded, 
y moving for leave to bring up the 
Petition.” 

Mr. Brougham said, a more 
groundless aspersion had, he believed, 
never been brought forward against 
any individual. He did not accuse 
the Noble Lord, however, or those 
out of doors, who had put the brief 
into his hands, of uttering any false¬ 
hood in the statement which had just 
been submitted to the House 5 but he 
decidedly accused them of rashness 
and imprudence, and of not waiting 
for only a few days longer, when they 
would have had a full and fair oppor¬ 
tunity of hearing his opinions on this 
most momentous and important sub¬ 
ject 5 and when they could then have 
found whet her lie was, or was not, in¬ 
consistent [hear, hear, hear !] Plad 
those out of doors, whose tool the 
Noble Lord was, but waited those few 
days, they would then have known 
what his real sentiments on the ques¬ 
tion were 3 having, as the House welt 
gnew, reserved to himself the right of 
then speaking what he felt on the 
Subject (hear, hear!] How then 


[136 

could the Noble Lord, how could they 
in whose hands he is, presume to 
knoAv what were the opinions he (Mr. 
B.) had formed on this most interest¬ 
ing question ? How do they know 
that he would not have stated his opi¬ 
nion then in the very terms which 
had just been read ? That they should 
have ascertained his sentiments, was 
a moral impossibility [hear, hear !] 
But the Noble Lord had given a mis¬ 
statement of what took place 5 and he 
should now endeavour to give the 
House the particulars of the case. A 
dinner was given at the London Ta¬ 
vern, to the PTiends of Parliamentary 
Reform, at which he (Mr. B.) at¬ 
tended, with his friend, the Member 
for Middlesex, with the late truly res¬ 
pected, and much lamented Member 
for the town of Bedford (Mr. Whit¬ 
bread), with the Member for Hert¬ 
fordshire (Mr. Brand), and the Mem¬ 
ber for Shrewsbury (Mr. Bennet). 
In the course of what passed there, 
some observations fell from him, si¬ 
milar to what had been read by the 
Noble Lord. The chief motive he 
had in correcting what he had there 
stated, was to prevent the possibility 
of his words, on this dangerous, and 
yet important question, being misre¬ 
presented. He then said, or at least 
meant to be understood as saying,wliat 
he still maintained, that it was conso¬ 
nant to the genius and spirit of the 
Constitution, and expedient in every 
sense of the word, that the power of 
election should he LI 31 ITED to those 
who paid direct taxes. He corrected 
what he had said on the subject, as he 
was aware of the mistakes of report¬ 
ers. He again repeated, and wished 
it to be understood, that what he then 
said, the same he now maintained \ 
viz. that the payment of direct taxes 
ought to be the limit of the elective 
franchise. lie did not wish to com¬ 
pete with the Noble Lord; but this 
was his meaning when he so spoke. 
He should wish to say one word upon 
what had been said, respecting his ad¬ 
vocating the cause of a moderate and 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



13/1 February 22 , 1817 . [ 13 $ 


gradual Reform. Six years ago, it 
would be remembered, be had repeat¬ 
edly said, both within and without the 
House, that it would be proper for 
those who wished for Annual Parlia¬ 
ments, to unite with those who were 
more moderate, and thus secure a 
footing. There was no reason for their 
stopping short, and he did not hold 
it to be inconsistent in the friends of 
Annual Parliaments to unite with the 
more moderate Reformers, and to ob¬ 
tain, in the first instance, a beginning. 
This was the opinion he then held, 
and he had never deviated from it. 
The Noble Lord teas much mistaken, 
when he supposed that the mere produc¬ 
tion of a speech delivered by him (Mr.B.J 
at a Tavern, would make him swerve 
from the line of duty, merely from the 
foolish and childish desire of keeping up 
AN APPEARANCE OF CONSIS¬ 
TENCY. If he supposed him (Mr. 
R.) to do so, he was much mistaken. 
The House had heard him declare his 
intention to reserve his right of being 
heard, when the question was brought 
fully under the consideration of the 
House, and he could only add, that he 
would still reserve to himself that 
right, uninfluenced by any thing the 
Noble Lord had said. He again re¬ 
peated, that when he spoke of the ex¬ 
tension of suffrage, it should be to 
those who paid direct taxes only ; for 
he never dreamt of it going further. 
As to the miserable motives alleged 
to have actuated him, as if he could 
prostitute himself at one time to de¬ 
liver opinions which were not the 
sentiments of his heart, for the pur¬ 
pose of being carried into the House, on 
the shoulders of a RABBLE [hear, 
hear!]; and at another time to bend to 
prejudices he might, have to contend 
with in the House ; all he should say, 
was, that he treated such charges with 
the contempt they deserved. The 
only pain he felt, was when he con¬ 
templated the folly and the madness of 
some wild theorists, and the base expe¬ 
dients and false practices they made 
use of to divide the People from the 


Constitution, merely to gratify party 
purposes, and to compass objects, in 
which the good of the country was 
neglected, while the interest of one or 
two individuals was the all in all 
[hear, hear, hear!] This gave him 
more pain, than all the Noble Lord 
had said, or could say [hear !] 

Sir F. Burdett lamented that 
gentlemen who agreed in the general 
principle of the necessity of some Re¬ 
form, instead of keeping their own 
eyes, and directing the eyes of the 
public, to the notorious fact, that the 
Members of that House were nomi¬ 
nated, by a very small body, and that 
less than tivo hundred persons actually 
nominated the majority of the House , 
acted towards each other with the 
hostility of the professors of different 
sects of religion, instead of uniting to 
obtain the abolition of at least that 
enormous grievance. It was much to 
be regretted, that those who were all 
anxious to obtain a salutary Reform, 
should thus waste their strength in 
acrimonious contention, instead of 
combining to obtain the great object 
in view. 

Lord Cochraxe, in moving that it 
should lie on the table, said, the Ho¬ 
nourable and Learned Gentleman’s 
censures had been bestowed on the 
most honourable characters, and on 
almost the unanimous voice of the 
country, which the Honourable and 
Learned Gentleman had maintained 
was divided into only two classes—- 
the deceivers and the deceived. It was 
on that account that he had quoted 
the Honourable and Learned Gentle¬ 
man’s former opinions, in order to 
show that he ought to have been less 
severe ; and he was happy to observe 
the good effect of the step which he had 
taken, in the altered tone of the Ho¬ 
nourable and Learned Gentleman. Hft 
was in the recollection of the House, 
that nothing personal had originated 
with him. He had merely stated, 
that Triennial Parliaments would only 
reduce, and not remove, the existing 
corruption ; and he had that evening 




139 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [140 


quoted, in support of that statement, 
the Honourable and Learned Gentle¬ 
man’s observation, that in the last 
year of every Parliament, more be¬ 
nefit accrued to the public than during 
all the preceding years of its exist¬ 
ence. It was his firm conviction, 
that unless the House discussed the 
subject with the deliberation which 

its importance demanded-unless 

every part of it should be fully and 

fairly investigated- wiless the doors 

of the gallery should remain open dur¬ 
ing the whole of the proceedings, that 
the public might, in the usual manner, 

become acquainted with -[a loud cry 

of Order!] unless a full, and free, and 
open discussion should be entered into, 
on the question which the Right Ho¬ 
nourable Gentleman, and the Honour¬ 
able Gentleman behind him, declared 
ought not to be at all entertained, the 
country would consider that it had a 
most serious cause of complaint. 

Mr. Brougham denied that he had 
at all altered his tone on the subject. 
The Noble Lord had alluded to a cer¬ 
tain influence to be exercised over that 
House—not the influence of well dis¬ 
posed persons—not the influence of 
the wishes expressed by the People in 
their Petitions 3 but another descrip¬ 
tion of influence, which appeared to 
him to be of the nature of intimida¬ 
tion. Warm friend as he w r as to the 
cause of Parliamentary Reform, he 
held that that cause must be supported 
by othe’ means than this. If there 
should appear any symptom of such a 
proceeding on the subject, he should 
not have the slightest hesitation in 
resorting to one of two expedients, in 
order to counteract it—-either to move 
the adjournment of the discussion sine 
die, or to prevent all possibility of that 
influence being used in the way to which 
the Noble Lord had alluded. 

Lord Cochrane, in explanation, 
denied any intention of intimidation. 
He was only anxious that the House 
might fully consider the important 
subject that would be brought be¬ 
fore it. 


The Petition was then ordered to 
lie on the table. 

The reader will not fail to ob¬ 
serve, that the words “ ANNUAL 
PARLIAMENTS” are not to be 
found in the speech of Mr. 
Brougham, delivered on Monday 
last: he will find it distinctly 
laid down by him as a principle 
not to bo departed from in the 
speech at the London Tavern , 
and the reasons why it was used; 
and they remain uncontradicted. 

%j 

Mr. Brougham has completely 
shirked “ Annual Parliaments.” 

I11 the speech of Monday, Mr. 
Brougham says, his object at the 
London Tavern was, “ that the 
power of election should be limit¬ 
ed to those who paid direct taxes.” 
A reference to the speech at that 
Tavern will show, that so far as a 
man’s object is to be understood 
from his words, they decidedly 
imply not a limitation of suffrage 
“ to tliose who paid direct taxes;” 
but an extension of suffrage. 
" WE have required,” says .Mr. 
Brougham, “ WE have required 
that Parliaments should be chosen 
EVERY YEAR; and that the 
elective franchise should be EX¬ 
TENDER TO ALL WHO PAY 
TAXES.” 

Mr. Brougham now says, he 
meant to limit the suffrage “ to 
those who paid direct taxes.” 
What must he inferred from 
this, but Pint the company which 
he addressed were advocates for 
“ universal suffrage,” or there 
was nothing for him to limit i 
Mr. Brougham may be fairly left 
on the horns of this dilemma, 

Mr. Brougham savs, in his 
Monday’s speech, “ As to the 
miserable motives alleged to have 
actuated him, as if he could pros¬ 
titute himself at one time to de- 




141] February 

liver opinions which were not the 
sentiments of his heart, for the 
purpose of being carried into the 
House on the shoulders of a 
RABBLE [hear, hear!], and at 
another time to bend to preju¬ 
dices he might have to contend 
with in the House, all he should 
say was, that he treated such 
charges with the contempt they 
deserved.” 

As to the RABBLE—the 
“ rabble ” at the London Tavern, 
whom he “ limited'' —and the 
M rabble ” in Westminster, whom 
he courted — Mr. Brougham 
knows that half the story has not 
yet been told; but his bad ex¬ 
ample shall not be followed : he 
concludes by calling the Electors 
©/’Westminster a“ rabble ”—the 
* rabble there do, however, un¬ 
derstand their duty, and will do it; 
they understand Mr, Brougham, 
too, very well; and they will 
be better pleased to see Mr. 
Brougham left just where his 
own conduct has placed him, 
than they would be to see him 
trampled upon, now that he has 
fallen. 

Every body must agree with 
Sir Francis Burdett, in regret¬ 
ting the differences among the 
Reformers; but every body must 
also have perceived, that it was 
neither with the Reformers out 
of the House, nor with the Minis¬ 
terial party within the House, 
that the contest commenced. The 
supporters of all the corruptions 
were not the persons who kept 
up the ball of discord when it 
had been thrown. They sat snug, 
and laughed at those who , with 
pretended claims to the support 
of the People , poured out upon 
them the foulest epithets— abused 
them for their acts—and imputed 


22, 1817. £ 142 

to them the foulest motives. A 
singular coincidence, in point of 
expression, may be found be¬ 
tween the words used by the 
OUTS, against the 600,000 or 
700,000 men who, Mr. Canning 
admits, have signed petitions for 
Annual Parliaments and univer¬ 
sal suffrage—or Annual Parlia¬ 
ments with a less extended suf- 
fage—and the words used by 
the Committee of Secrecy, in 
their Report, against a small 
number of persons therein re¬ 
presented to have committed or 
contemplated acts of treason; and 
yet we are told “we were to have 
waited only a few days longer, 
and we would then have known 
what Mr. Brougham’s real senti¬ 
ments were; having, as THE 
HOUSE well knew , reserved 
himself the right of THEN speak¬ 
ing what he felt on the subject.” 
That is, give me a bludgeon, and 
let me use it to knock out the brains 
of the Reformers; or let me point 
them out, and call down perse¬ 
cution upon them; and when this 
has been done, I will tell you 
what my opinion really is. The 
attack made by the Outs against 
the People, the “ acrimony,” 
was theirs—the defence was 
left to the People; or rather it 
was presumed they had neither 
the sense nor the courage to de¬ 
fend themselves. In this pre¬ 
sumptions spirit their submission 
was anticipated, as a matter of 
course; but give the People a 
clear stage, and fair play, and 
they will always, as they have 
now done, beat down their oppo¬ 
nents. 

The Chronicle tells us that the 
Hon. Mr. WARD said, “ when the 
question of Parliamentary Reform 
should come to be regularly 





143 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [144 


discussed, and when the House 
should be told, as no doubt it 
would be told by the advocates 
of what was called moderate Re¬ 
form, that the alterations which 
they proposed were trifling, and 
could do no harm , he would re¬ 
mind them of his Hon. and 
Learned Friend’s suggestion, that 
a 4 beginning ’ w as at any rate ad¬ 
visable ; and on the ground that 
the beginning of an inroad on the 
CONSTITUTION, teas dangerous , 
he would firm ly RESIST EVERY 
PROPOSITION that might be 
made on the subject 

The Hon. Mr. W ard, son of Lord 
Viscount Dudley and Ward, is 
the “ representative” nominally 
for ILCHESTER, but really of 
Sir William Manners. Of this 
Sir William Manners enough 
might be said, were we disposed 
to lay open the private character 
of individuals; but Sir William 
may be allowed to enjoy his ow n 
comforts, and the unalloyed hap¬ 
piness which results from his cor¬ 
rect and amiable conduct. Not 
so, however, his public conduct; 
that must, when circumstances 
call for it, be exposed. 

Mr. Oldfield, a person who 
has for many years carried on 
the trade of a Borough-Broker — 
that is, of a go-between for those 
who have SEATS in the honour¬ 
able House TO SELL, and those 
w ho have a desire to PURCHASE 
them—a man who, from his inti¬ 
mate acquaintance with all the 
practices respecting the traffick¬ 
ing in seats, and from his reading 
and research into the history of 
the House of Commons, is better 
qualified than any one else to 
describe the manner in which it 
is composed, gives the following 
account of the ROTTEN borough 


of Ilciiester, the place for which 
Mr. Ward sits :— 

44 This borough has been so 
44 IMPRUDENT in the exercise 
44 of its CORRUPTION as to 
44 have had the whole system sere- 
44 ral times exposed before Com- 
44 mittees of the House of Com- 

44 MONS.” 

44 The houses in this place were 
44 purchased up about the year 
44 1784, by the late John Har- 
44 court, Esq., who sold them to 
44 Richard Trow ard, Esq., at- 
44 torney at law r , of Norfolk street. 
44 Mi’.Troward sold them again to 
44 his partner,the late Mr. Albany 
44 Wallis, who bequeathed them 
44 to Colonel BAYLEY,from w hom 
44 they were purchased by Sir 
44 William Manners, the present 
44 proprietor , who has since pos- 
44 sessed himself of nearly the 
44 whole borough. 

44 At the general election in 
44 1802, a great majority of the 
44 voters w ere BRIBED, at £30. 
44 a man, to vote against the pro- 
44 prietor. This caused the trial 
44 and conviction of Alexander 
44 Davison, Esq., and his agents, 
44 at the assizes for the county of 
44 Somerset, in 1804; for which 
44 they afterwards received sen- 
44 teuce in the Court of King’s 
44 Bench, to suffer one year’s im- 
44 prison meat. 

44 TO PREVENT A SIMILAR 
44 OCCURRENCE AT A FU- 
44 TURE ELECTION, SIR WIL- 
44 LIAM MANNERS CAUSED 
44 ALL THE HOUSES TO BE 
“PULLED DOWN, EXCEPT 
44 ABOUT SIXTY, IN ORDER 
44 TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF 
“VOTERS; AND ERECTED 



145] February 

“ A LARGE WORKHOUSE, TO 
“ ACCOMMODATE THOSE 
“ WHOSE DISOBEDIENCE 
“ HAD OFFENDED HIM !!! 

“THE NUMBER OF HOUSES 
“DESTROYED UPON THIS 
“ OCCASION WAS ABOUT 
“ ONE HUNDRED, AND THE 
“ ELECTORS M HO OCCU- 
“ PIED TFIEM, MTTH THEIR 
“ FAMILIES, HAVE MOSTLY 
“ RESIDED IN THE WORK- 
« HOUSE EVER SINCE ; THE 
“ NOMINATION OF THE MEM- 
“ BERS IS THEREBY TRANS- 
“ FERRED FROM ABOUT ONE 
“ HUNDRED AND SIXTY 
“ HOUSEHOLDERS TO AN 
“ INDIVIDUAL.” 

Mr. Ward says THIS IS the 
Constitution , or his words have no 
meaning. If so—not to allow 
ONE MAN to make PAU¬ 
PERS of 100 families at his will 
and pleasure—not to permit one 
man to turn 100 families into a 
WORKHOUSE at once—not to 
siifier a man to debase, and injure , 
and ruin , 100 families on one 
spot—not to snder this man to 
put 100 Englishmen and their 
families into the most deplorable 
condition this comitry knows — 
not to permit, aye, and even not to 
encourage these things, would 
he, in the words of the Honour¬ 
able Mr. Ward, the worthy repre¬ 
sentative of this borough, “ the 
beginning of a dangerous inroad 
in the constitution, which he 
would firmly resist!” 

People of England, hear this ! 
IIow many of you have in various 


22, 1817 . [146 

parts of the country Jbeen treated 
thus , it is impossible for me to 
say—how many of you have felt 
your heart’s blood How to your 
heads, at observing such things— 
how many of you Will feel this 
sensation at reading the account, 
I cannot tell ; but this I can tel), 
that lie who docs not feel an ar¬ 
dent glow of indignation, is un¬ 
worthy of the country in which 
he lives, of those who have pre¬ 
ceded him, and even of the very 
name of man. One hundred fa¬ 
milies; 500 men, women , and chil¬ 
dren, TURNED OUT OF HOUSE 

and HOME-their tenements 

pulled about their ears—every 
comfort, every enjoyment which 
they had been able to procure for 
themselves, taken from them— 
all hope for the future destroyed 
—500 persons perpetually degra¬ 
ded, and punished by no law — 
punished beyond the letter or 
spirit of any law, for even the 
most atrocious crime not incur¬ 
ring the penalty of death—pu¬ 
nished, too, to satiate the malig¬ 
nant, unrelenting*, inexorable 
temper of an individual—“ will 
corruption defend this l l ” The 
question has been asked in a 
much less atrocious case —and, 
without waiting for a reply, it 
has been concluded, that corrup¬ 
tion would not defend, would 
shrink from the defence—and 
the conclusion was natural. In 
common life, atrocities meet with 
execration; and well constituted 
minds cannot conceive the shame¬ 
lessness of the PUBLIC COR¬ 
RUPTIONISTS. But CORRUP¬ 
TION can and will defend ANY 
THING—will not oniy defend 
any thing, but it will propagate 
any thing, however base asnl in¬ 
famous* 




1 47} 

Yet corruption has its regrets — 
regret that any thing- stands in 
the way of its diabolical wishes 
and intentions. Corruption re¬ 
grets that the People of Eng-1 and 
should consist of more than two 
classes, such as Sir WILLIAM 
MANNERS and HIS PAU¬ 
PERS ; and to the condition of 
th is latter class it would bring 
us all. To this, if it be not itself' 
destroyed , to this it will bring- us 
all: and richly indeed shall we 
deserve such treatment, if we do 
not continue our exertions TO 
PUT AN END TO CORRUP¬ 
TION. 

Whatever dangers or evils are 
likely to arise to the Constitu¬ 
tion from the present appeals to 
the People, and the PETITIONS 
of the People to Parliament— 
they are all to be traced to the 
immortal and heaven-born Wil¬ 
liam Pitt, and the present EARL 
GREY. This is not mere asser¬ 
tion. A Petition prepared and 
presented by Earl, then Mr. 
GREY, to the House of Commons 
in 179*3, states:— 

" The Majority of your honourable 
House is elected by less than 15,000 
electors, which, even if the male adults 
in the kingdom be estimated at so few 
a number as 3 millions, is not more 
than the 200th part of the People to be 
represented ; 70 of your honourable 
Members are returned by 35 places, 
where the right of voting is vested 
in burgage, and other tenures of a 
similar description, and in which it 
■would be to trifle with the patience of 
your honourable House, to mention any 
number of voters whatever, the elections 
at the places alluded to being notoriously 
a mere matter of form ,• and this your 
petitioners are ready to prove, 

“ In addition to the 70 honourable 
Members so chosen, 90 more of 
your honourable Members are elected 


[ 14 $ 

by 46 places, in none of which the 
number of voters exceed 50. 

“ In addition to the 160 so elected, 37 
more of your honourable Members 
are elected by 19 places, in none of 
which the number of voters exceed 50. 

“ In addition to the 197 honourable 
Members so chosen, 52 more are 
returned to serve in Parliament by 26 
places, in none of which the number 
of voters exceed 200 . 

1 n addition to the 249 so elected, 20 
more are returned to serve in Parlia¬ 
ment for counties in Scotland, by less 
than 100 electors each 5 and 10 for 
counties in Scotland, by less than 250 
each. 

ce In addition to the 279 so elected , 
13 districts of burghs of Scotland, not 
containing 100 voters each, and 2 dis¬ 
tricts of burghs, not containing 125 
each, return 15 more honourable 
Members ; and in this manner, accord¬ 
ing to the present state of the repre¬ 
sentation, 294 of your honourable 
Members are chosen; and, being a 
MAJORITY of the entire House of 
Commons, are enabled to decide ALL 
questions in THE NAME OF THE 
WHOLE PEOPLE of ‘ England and 
Scotland. Eighty-four individuals do, 
by their own immediate authority, 
send 157 of your honourable Mem¬ 
bers to Parliament. And 150 more, 
making in the whole 307, are returned 
to your honourable House, not by the 
collected voice of those whom they ap¬ 
pear to represent, but by the recom¬ 
mendation of 70 powerful individuals , 
added to the 84 before-mentioned ; and 
making the total number of PATRONS 
altogether only 154, who return a de¬ 
cided majority of your honourable 
House. 

“ Your petitioners inform your ho¬ 
nourable House, and are ready to 
prove it at your bar, that they have 
the most reasonable grounds to sus¬ 
pect that no less than 150 of your ho¬ 
nourable Members owe their elections 
entirely to the interference of PEERS; 
and your petitioners are prepared to 
show by legal evidence, that 40 Peers, 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 




149] February 

m defiance of your resolutions, have 
possessed themselves of so many burgage 
tenures, and obtained such an absolute 
and uncontrolled command in very many 
small Boroughs, as to be enabled by 
their own positive authority to return 81 
of your honourable Members. 

“ Your petitioners complain, that 
PROPERTY, whether well or ill 
employed, has equal power; that the 
present system of representation gives 
to it a degree of weight which renders 
it independent of character, enables it 
to excite fear as well as procure respect, 
and confines the choice of electors 
within the ranks of opulence 3 be¬ 
cause, though it cannot make riches 
the sole object of their affection and 
confidence, it can and does throw 
obstacles, almost insurmountable, in 
the way of every man who is not 
rich 3 and thereby secures to a select 
few the capability of becoming can¬ 
didates themselves, or supporting the 
pretensions of others. Your ho¬ 
nourable House knows, that the com¬ 
plicated rights of voting, and the 
shameful practices which disgrace 
election proceedings, have so loaded 
your table with petitions for judgment 
and redress, that one half of the usual 
duration of a Parliament has scarcely 
heen sufficient to settle who is en¬ 
titled to sit for the other half 5 and it 
was not till within the last 2 months 
that your honourable House had an 
opportunity of discovering, that the 
2 gentlemen who sat and voted near 3 
years as the representatives of the 
Borough of Stockbridge, had pro¬ 
cured themselves to be elected by the 
most scandalous bribery 3 and that 
the 2 gentlemen who sat and voted 
during as long a period for the 
borough of Great Grimsby, had 
NOT BEEN ELECTED AT ALL. 

“ The expense to each of the parties, 
who have been either plaintiff or de¬ 
fendant, in petitions tried before 
your honourable House, in the pre¬ 
sent session, has upon an average 
amounted to above 1001. per day 3 
and that the attornies’ bills in one 


22, 1817. [150 

cause, the trial of which in point of 
form only lasted 2 days, and in point 
of fact only 6 hours, amounted to 
very near 12001 .” 

flie Petition so prepared and 
presented by Earl Grey, con¬ 
tained the above amongst other 
statements in behalf of Reform, 
ail capable of proof; and in 1794, 
his Lordship, then in the House 
of Commons, strenuously op¬ 
posed the suspension of the II 
beas Corpus Act. 

“ O 11 this occasion (said Mr. 
Grey), it is held improper to ap¬ 
peal to the public for their senti¬ 
ments, though on former ones, 
the minister himself had affected 
to appeal to the public voice. 
When Mr. Pitt was defeated on 
the subject of Parliamentary Re¬ 
form, he had recourse to resolu¬ 
tions at the Thatched House Ta¬ 
vern , in concert with Mr. Horne 
Tooke, who was now under con¬ 
viction, only for persevering* in 
those sentiments, which others 
had abandoned. Mr. Pitt had 
then resolved, “ That considering* 
it was vain to look to Parliament 
for a regeneration, originating* 
within itself] it be recommended 
TO THE PEOPLE throughout 
the kingdom, to assemble during* 
the ensuing summer, in districts, 
for the purpose of an application 
to Parliament on the subject;’ 7 
but William Pitt, the Reformer 
of that day, was William Pitt 
the prosecutor, and the persecutor 
too, of Reformers now . He who 
thought tit to inflame the passions 
of the People , and to instigate 
them to a contempt for the House 
of Commons then , would not at 
present allow the People to judge 
of their own rights, and dearest 
interests; hut persecuted with the 
real bitterness of an apostate, his 



151] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [152 


own partner in the question of Par¬ 
liamentary Reform. This same 
William Pitt, who had taught 
the People to believe that nothing 
honest teas to be expected from 
the House of Commons ; now as¬ 
serted, that the People should do 
nothing' for themselves, hut 
should submit implicitly to the 
House the right of personal free¬ 
dom. Mr. Grey asserted, that if 
any evil had arisen from the doc¬ 
trine of applying to the People, 
instead of to Parliament, Mr. Pitt 
was to be considered the cause, 
if the language of applying to 
the People for a Reform teas cri¬ 
minal, Mr. GREY said he had 
HIMSELF been guilty, since he 
did not scruple to assert, that from 
the House of Commons he had no 
hopes of Parliamentary Reform ; 
THAT HOUSE NEVER 
WOULD REFORM ITSELF, 
or destroy the Corruption by which 
it was upheld , by any other means 
than those of the RESOLU¬ 
TIONS OF THE PEOPLE 
ACTING UPON THE PRU¬ 
DENCE OF THE HOUSE. 
That point they could only ac¬ 
complish, but by MEETING IN 
BODIES, and this, in 1782, had 
been the opinion of the Minister. 
An Honourable Gentleman (Mr. 
Windham) had asserted, that 
universal suffrage was a doc¬ 
trine only fitted for the refuse of 
the People. If this were so, of 
that description were the Duke 
of Richmond and Mr. Pitt ; and 
this he proved from the Duke's 
Letter to Col. S harm an. Mr. 
GREY, in the course of the de¬ 
bate, declared, that however im¬ 
pugned, Parliamentary Reform 
teas a cause IIE WOULD NE¬ 
VER DESERT, nor would he, 
to preserve power , or gratify am¬ 


bition, become AN APOS~ 
TA TE.” (Annual Reg.) 

Hence it appears, that if precedent 
be wanting for the strenuous efforts 
of the People at this time, in meeting 
and petitioning for Reform, the late 
Mr. Pitt and EARL GREY are 
notable authorities. Mr. Pitt is in 
his grave, with the brand of apostacy 
upon his memory for ever. EARL 
GREY, after taking office under the 
present system, still lives ; and on 
Monday evening presented to the 
House of Lords, a Petition from the 
Common Council of the City of Lon¬ 
don, praying for Economy and Re¬ 
trenchment in every branch of the 
Public Expenditure, and a Reform in 
the Commons’ House of Parliament. 
The Times reports Earl Grey to have 
then said, that ANNUAL PARLIA¬ 
MENTS never had been, and he 
trusted never would be, the Constitu¬ 
tion of the legislature of this country ! 

“ Rut (said Earl Grey), were it 
“ proved that such had been the Con- 
“ stitution of Parliament 3 I should 
“ still ask, what Government, what 
“ Parliament, what race of men in 
“ this country, were so infallible, as 
“ to entitle them to bind posterity by 
“ their decision, and to impose upon 
“ the country for ever any system of 
representation which they might 
:e choose to sanction. No particular 
system of Parliamentary represen- 
“ tation constituted any of the rights 
(c of the People. These rights are 
liberty and security : the particular 
“ Laws and Constitution of Parlia- 
“ ment, are modes whereby those 
(t rights are obtained.—He was a 
<c friend to a moderate Reform ofPar- 
“‘liament 3 at the same time he was 
“ prepared to state that he did not 
“ carry his opinion on that subject so 
far as he had done ; and no fear of 
“ unpopularity would ever deter him 
“ from any CHANGE of OPINION, 
“ which experience might induce him 
to adopt on a question of such great 
“ importance. The Plan prayed for 
“ by the Petitioners, was precisely 




February 2*2, 1817 . [154 


“ that which he had himself proposed 
“ in the other House of Parliament, 
“ at a period of life, when the hope of 
“ benefit from change was usually 
“ more sanguine, and the opinion of 
“ its necessity less tempered by pru- 
“ dence, than at the age in which he 
“ was now addressing their Lord- 
“ ships. EXPERIENCE had taught 
“ him to doubt the advantage of a 
“ Reform to such an extent, but he 
“ was still strongly of opinion, that 
“ no time should be lost in removing 
“ from the system of our representa- 
“ tion those obvious stains” [Is the 
essence of lemon at hand?] “ which 
“ were the fruitful excitements to 
“ discontent. The Petition stated that 
“ all attempts to remove the difflcul- 
“ ties into which the country was 
“ plunged, would be of no avail witli- 
“ out a Reform of Parliament. This 
“ was an opinion in which HE could 
“ not concur. WITH ALL ITS 
“DEFECTS, THE PARL1A- 
“ MENT of this Country was the 
“ best legislative assembly in the 
“ world, and WAS CAPABLE OF 
“ REDRESSING EVERY EVIL 
“EXPERIENCED BY THE 
“ COUNTRY, without resorting to 
“ any alteration in its constitution. 
“ It was certain, however, that the 
“ correction of some of the more ob- 
“ vious DEFECTS [gentle word] of 
“ the representation of the tlouse of 
“ Commons, and in particular a di- 
“ minution of the patronage of the 

crown [and none of the aristocra¬ 
cy ?] would go far to allay much of 
“ that discontent, which at present 
“ existed, and to reconcile all men sin- 
“ cerely to the PRACTICAL AD- 
“ MINISTRATION of the consti- 
“ tution 1” 

This, theii, is Earl GREY’S opinion 
now' j now, when the People, “desert¬ 
ed in their utmost need ” by their lead¬ 
ers, are doing without them, and strug¬ 
gling through good report and evil 
report to obtain Reform, in as con¬ 
stitutional a manner as Earl Grey 
was attempting in 1791. His lord¬ 


ship then did so much for Reform, by 
his personal exertions both in and out 
of the House;—he then attended so 
many meetings for Reform, and made 
so many excel lent speeches—he 1 abour- 
ed on so many committees for Reform 
then —he assisted in preparing so ma¬ 
ny addresses, resolutions, and peti¬ 
tions, in hehalf of Reform then— he, 
by bis purse and influence, caused so 
many hundreds of thousands of inva¬ 
luable publications, showing the 
necessity of Reform, to be printed 
at low prices, and circulated through¬ 
out the kingdom then —Earl Grey 
was, to all intents and purpose, SO 
EFFICIENT A REFORMER then , 
that any change in his conduct now 
will have no eifect on the conduct of 
the persons whom he awakened to 
the necessity of Reform then. They 
still continue their steady course. 
Only four days before his lordship’s 
speech on Monday, which is a death¬ 
blow to hope of Reforming aid from 
him now, some of the worthiest and 
most excellent of his disciples in St. 
Leonard, Shoreditch, resolved on a 
Petition, now in course of signature, 
reminding the honourable House, in 
the true spirit of his lordship’s “ DE¬ 
PARTED PRINCIPLES’’ (I ask 
Mr. Brougham’s pardon, for quoting 
his phrase), that— 

“It is notorious, repeated Peti- 
“ tions have been presented, read, and 
“ ordered to be laid on the table of 
“ your honourable House, in which, 
“ amongst other numerous horrible 
“ facts, offered to be proved at the 
“ bar of your honourable House, the 
“following are stated: That 487 
“ members out of the 658, composing 
“ the whole number of your honour- 
“ able House, are placed therein by 
“ tlie nomination of individuals 
“ members of the House of Peers, of 
“ members of your honourable 
“ House, and of bis majesty’s Minis- 
“ ters. That bribery, corruption, and 
“ profligacy, are so open and avowed, 
“ that seats in your honourable House 
“ are bought and sold with the same 




1551 Hone s Reformists’ Register. [156 


€< facility as stands for cattle, in a 
4< fair !” 

In the minds of these persons, Earl 
Grey, four-and-twenty years ago, 
indelibly implanted the principles of 
Keform. Those principles they still 
cherish and inculcate. The defection 
of his Lordship effects no change in 
them 5 the principles of Reform are 
unchangeable truths, wholly indepen¬ 
dent of the conduct or views of pub¬ 
lic men ; and were Earl Grey buried 
"with his ancestors to-morrow—though 
1 should he most sincerely sorry to 
bear of his Lordship’s death—it would 
excite no other feeling for him, as a 
public character, than a deep regret, 
that such a man should, as a Refor¬ 
mist, have outlived his consistency and 
usefulness, and gone to his long home, 
leaving to his countrymen the recol¬ 
lection, that he was only a few degrees 
less AN APOSTATE than William 
Pitt. 

Lord Holland, on presenting the 
Petition of the Livery of London to 
the Lords, on the same day, said. 
When he considered the variety of 
opinions among those who called 
for Parliamentary Reform, he was 
i( under some apprehension that the 
“ object was not attainable at this mo- 
** merit, and that the subject was not 
a in a state to enable EVEN PAR- 
v LI AMENT to decide SATISFAC- 
** TORILY upon it. He was far 
“ from agreeing that no good could 
<f be done without Parliamentary Re- 
Cf form, though he admitted that some 
(i alteration in the system of repre- 
sentation might be beneficial, espe- 
^ ciallv in the northern part of the 
« British Island. But REFORM 
c< would not pay the National Debt, 
e * feed the hungry, nor prevent im- 
“ provident wars.” 

Well then, now we have Lord 
Holland's opinion 3 or rather his 
consideration,” “ apprehension,” 
and “ disagreement”—why what 
STUFF is all this—does Lord Hol¬ 
land imagine that there is any thing 
in such verbiage as this to satisfy 


THE PEOPLE ? If he does, then 
lie may as well employ himself in 
nothing else than writing lives of 
Lopez de Vega, and scanning Spa¬ 
nish Sonnets. He, then, is not 
among those who call for Parliamen¬ 
tary Reform, he,—he, Lord Hol¬ 
land, the nephew of Mr. Fox—he, the 
great Whig Peer,—has some appre¬ 
hension that Parliamentary Reform 
is not attainable at this moment. I 
would ask Lord Holland, why he has 
this apprehension ? why the subject 
is not in a state to be decided on ? 
He says it is not in a state to enable 
“ even Parliament to decide satisfac¬ 
torily upon it.” Mark the words, 
<e even Parliament.”—What ! does he 
mean that Parliament, YV ITH ALL 
ITS WISDOM, cannot decide upon 
it ? Does he suppose more wisdom to 
be necessary to decide upon it, than 
Parliament possesses ? And does he 
imagine that Parliament will get 
wiser ? Lord Holland has too much 
intellect to believe this 3 but lie 
would palsy the arm that would assist 
in renovating the constitution of that 
honourable House. He affirms that 
REFORM will neither pay the 
National Debt, feed the hungry, nor 
prevent improvident wars. Indeed, 
my Lord! Will not REFORM do 
these things? Will your Lordship say 
what will? Mill the present, or any 
other House of Commons, got toge¬ 
ther in the same way ? What has this 
House of Commons done? By this 
very House of Commons, the Debt 
has been increased, the People left un¬ 
fed, and the late improvident wars pro¬ 
secuted ? Will your Lordship point to 
any security the country has, that 
the same career of Ministerial pro¬ 
fligacy will not be again protected and 
encouraged by the honourable House 3 
or rather, will your Lordship deny 
that there are at this moment stronger 
reasons than common to believe that 
the honourable House is, and will be, 
more under the thumb of Ministers 
than ever ? Surely your Lordship will 
not deny either this, or the affirmation 



15?] Februar y 

in the Petition on the table of the 
honourable House, that seats in that 
House have been bought and sold, 
with the same facility as stands for 
cattle in a fair. Can it be expected 
that the honourable House, by being 
left to fester in its impurity, will ac¬ 
quire constitutional aid and vigour, 
and quietly “ slough off” ITS OWN 
CORRUPTION? 

Inconsistency is not confined to 
the Houses of Parliament. A cu¬ 
rious little Dramatic Poem is just 
printed, entitled “ WAT TYLER.” 
A quotation will shew its tendency. 

SONG. 

“ ‘ When Adam delv’d, and Eve span, 
Who was then the gentleman ?’ 
Wretched is the infant’s lot, 

Porn within the straw-roof’d cot! 

Be he generous, wise, or brave. 

He must only be a slave. 

Long, long labour, little rest, 

Still to toil to be oppress’d ; 

Drain’d by taxes of his store. 

Punish’d next for being poor: 

This is the poor wretch’s lot, 

Born within the straw-roof’d cot. 

While the peasant works—to sleep; 
What the peasant sows to—reap ; 

On the couch of ease to lie, 

Rioting in revelry ; 

Be he villain, he he fool, 

Still to hold despotic rule, 

Trampling on his slaves with scorn ; 

This is to be nobly born. 

‘ When Adam delv’d, and Eve span. 
Who was then the gentleman ? ’ ” 

w at Tyler is attributed by the 
Morning Chronicle, to no less a per¬ 
son than the Poet Laureate, one Mr. 
Robert Southey, a gentleman of cre¬ 
dit and renown, and, until he became 
Poet Laureate, a Poet. The present 
poem appears to have been written ma¬ 
ny years ago, when Mr. Southey had 
not merely reforming opinions, but 
very wild notions indeed. In conside¬ 
ration of a Court pension, lie now 
regularly inflames his muse, in praise 
of official persons and business, at 
certain periods throughout the year, 
as precisely stated and rehearsed in 
verse, as the days whereon bis pen¬ 
sion is made payable and receivable. 
His present muse, however, is ny more 


22, 1817. [15$ 

like to that which he formerly court¬ 
ed, than the black doll at an old rag 
shop is like Petrarch’s Laura. Poor 
Southey ! a pensioned Laureate ! com¬ 
pelled to sing like a blind linnet by 
a sly pinch, with every now and then 
a volume of his old verses flying into 
his face, and putting him out ! I have 
no doubt, he would at this moment 
exchange his situation, fleshpots and 
all, for that of the Negro, who earns his 
“ daily,” by sweeping the crossing at 
Mr. Waitliinan’s corner! 

As to the “Green Bag,” it remind* 
me of I>r. Slop’s, in Tristram Shandy; 
which, to secure the instruments, was 
tied so tight above, that the Doctor 
cut his own fingers, in undoing the 
knots. And as to the contents, who for¬ 
gets what Falstaff enumerates to have 
lost, out of his pocket behind the arras? 
a seal-ring of his grandfather’s, worth 
forty pounds, and three or four bonds 
of forty pounds a-piecethe seal-ring 
turned out to be copper, and his 
bonds “ Tavern reckonings, memo¬ 
randums of bawdy houses, and one 
penny-worth of sugar candy to make 
him long winded.” Really, my Lord 
Castlereagii, this sugar caudy is 
confoundedly suspicious ! 

Then as to “ the Reports,” why to 
be sure they are very loud, and seem to 
have alarmed the personages who 
emitted them. They remind me 
wonderfully of a butcher’s horse in 
Kent, whose only use, being old and 
past labour, was to collect Orders; 
for which purpose, a bridle was put> 
on him every day, and a boy mounted 
on his back to scour the country. 
This horse had a habit of running 
home alone, under the influence ot 
great and unaccountable fright. It 
was when the boy was dismounted, 
taking instructions from the ser¬ 
vants, that, not feeling the curb, the 
old hack, who had no mettle in him, 
so strangely set oft. At length it was 
discovered, that the poor creature 
having an inward complaint, when¬ 
ever he broke wind loudly, became 
dreadfully alarmed at the sound of his 
own “ reports,” and galloped away 



[160 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


169] 

at full speed, snorting, and kicking, 
and terrifying himself, and all the old 
people and children in his flight j— 
never stopping till he reached his 
master's door, where he staid till 
a second <e report ” frightened him 
oil to the stable! 

Gentle Reader, farewell ! 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Friday, 2\st February, 1817. 

P. S. As to PLOTS, here is a 
Specimen of the miserable shifts to 
which the poor creatures are reduced. 
The SUN, a Treasury paper, actually 
made a Second Edition last night 
solely of the following stuff 

“ We should deem ourselves in some de¬ 
cree guilty of “ Misprision of Treason,” 
if we suffered a day to pass, without contri¬ 
buting to the utmost of our power, to the 
Detection and Exposure, we will not say 
of the Designs of the Disaffected, but of 
those who aim at nothing short of Trea¬ 
son, Rebellion, and the Destruction of 
the Sacred Person of the Hfad oy the 
State, in order to accomplish their diabo¬ 
lical purpose, in the entire Destruction of 
that Constitution, which has long been the 
GloPvY of Legislation, and the Pride of 
Englishmen— the British Constitution. 
The following daring, infamous, and flagi¬ 
tious Placard was posted upon a wall, be¬ 
tween Richmond and Kew, and was indig¬ 
nantly torn down by a Gentleman who saw 
it. We pledge our Paper for the authenti¬ 
city of this wicked attempt to excite Eng¬ 
lishmen to the most daring Acts of Rebel¬ 
lion, Murder, and Anarchy. It was 
printed in large letters, in the most striking 
form, and posted in the most conspicuous 
place near the spot: — 

“ ENGLISHMEN, 

THE REGENT 

raUST BE PUT ASIDE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 

OF 

THE GENERAL GOOD: 
iC Had you rather Ccesur were living and 
die all Slaves, [Freemen.” 

“ Than (hat Cccsar were dead to live all 

Here’s ci'amming for another Green 
Bag, and another Report! 


*** Mr. Capel Loffi’s Communication 
in the next Number. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year , have a Title page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume’s History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
be at one half the price; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year, 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which be 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested ; and the contents of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a IFeek , 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil¬ 
lings . 

No. I. was published on Saturday, Feb. 1, 
1817- The leading Article of No. II. for 
Feb. 8, is “ UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE 
and ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS, against 
Mr. BROUGHAM and the WHIGS. No. 
III. consists of Sir FRANCIS BURDETT’S 
PLAN OF REFORM. 

No. IV. is a Register Extraordinary, 
and was published on Monday , to repel the 
mischievous attacks of Mr. Brougham on 
the Reformists : it contains his Declara¬ 
tion at the London Tavern, in 1814, entire, 
from the original manuscript, the whole of 
which is in Mr. Brougham’s hand-writing; 
and it also contains the history of that De¬ 
claration. 

The excellent Letter of the late Duke of 
Richmond to Colonel Sharman, on Uni¬ 
versal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments , 
and the Bill for Reform in Parliament on 
those principles, having been long out of 
print, and being at this time much wanted, 

I have reprinted both in octavo. The 
LETTER TO COLONEL SHARMAN is 
Price Two-pence The Duke’s important 
BILL, which had become very scarce, is 
prefaced by his Grace’s “ DECLARATION 
of the Rights of the Commonalty of Great 
Britain, without which they cannot be 
free.” I have also added Titles to each of 
the clauses of the Bill, to facilitate refer¬ 
ence, which is now peculiarly necessary, as 
the Bill itself is the basis of Sir FRANCIS 
BURDETI’S Plan of Reform, as well as 
most others. The BILL, with these addi¬ 
tions, is Price Four-pence. W. H. 


London : Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE 
at 67 ,Old Bailey, three doors from LudgaTe Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should lie addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street —Price Two-Pence 
each, 12s. Gd. peT Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand, 







Price Two-Peace. 


HONE S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER* 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY< 


No* 6*] Saturday, March 1, 1817. [Vol. 1, 


SUSPENSION 

OF THE 

HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 


Lord Sidmouttis Employment, and mine 
— The Reports—Lord Castlereagh — 
Pikes — Societies — Mr. Cleary's Pe¬ 
tition—Reform and Revolution — 
Westminster Meeting—Sir F. BUR- 
DETT'S SPEECH, at length— 
Mr. Fox on the Butchery of Sidney, $c. 
—Bribery by Sir William Manners — 
Bribe'em and the Black Candidate — 
New Shoreham and the Christian 
Club—Deficiency of the Green Bag 
—Parodies on the Litany, #c. pub¬ 
lished by me—Parodies on the Litany, 
Cathechism, fyc. published by Mr. 
John Reeves, Mr. John Bowles, and 
a Church Dignitary. 


To my utter astonishment, last 
Saturday morning-, it appears, 
that the night before* whilst I 
was at the printer’s, correcting 
the proof of my Register for 
publication, his Majesty’s Secre¬ 
tary of State for the Home De¬ 
partment, Lord Sidmouth, was 
actually causing a Bill to be read 
in the House of Lords, for sus¬ 
pending the Habeas Corpus Act; 
where it was read a first time, 
without opposition , and ordered 
to be read a second time on 
Monday; when the Noble Lord 
passed it through the two remain¬ 
ing stages. 


That excellent paper, the Ex¬ 
aminer < observed so well last 
Sunday on the Report whereon 
this measure is founded, that I 
shall, without apology, request 
the reader’s attention to its re¬ 
marks* 

<( The great object of the produc¬ 
tion (the Report ) is evidently to con¬ 
found the cause of Reform with sedi¬ 
tion and confusion ; to make out that 
reform indeed is a mere pretence, 
or an attempt to gain a footing for 
Rebellion ; and that the uppermost 
thing in the minds of those who pro¬ 
fess it, is not the purification of Par¬ 
liament, and a return to the first prin¬ 
ciples of the Constitution, but an 
overthrow of the Constitution itself. 
The moral to be deduced is obvious: 
There must be no Reform at ail j— 
Parliament must grant nothing, or 
every thing will be lost$—Corruption 
must stand its ground.— Now we, of 
the Examiner, happen to be Refor¬ 
mers ourselves, and pretty staunch 
ones. We are far from crying out, 
<< No Regent,” or off with his 
head! ” We should be content with 
a little voluntary diminution of what 
adorns it. Neither do we cry out, 
“ No Castlereagh,” or oft with 
his head ! ” His Lordship has quite as 
much right to existence as any other 
offender against the Constitution 5 
and as to his head, we are hardly sure 
he has one, except upon the old pro¬ 
verbial principle of the pin. But we 
are not the less staunch Reformers on 
that account. We wish the Princh 
had had a better taste in things, had 
not married to pay his debts, or had 
left his wife alone when he separated 















Hone’s Reformists’ Register* 



from her; and we wish also, that he 
had stuck faster to some of his old 
friends, and had been a little quicker 
with his sums of money, small and 
great. Furthermore, we think Lord 
Castlereagii a very dull, as well as 
unconstitutional personage } and are 
quite sure that he ought neither to be 
Minister of such a country as this, 
nor to sit ten minutes longer in the 
Parliament, which he treated like a 
common Exchange. In short, we 
would have no corruption, no seat- 
telling, no state of things at the mercy 
of rich monopolizers of boroughs, and 
any stupid person who chuses to fawn 
upon them ; no Septennial Parlia¬ 
ments, with all the other noes, small 
and great, that are included in these 
negations. We would have none oi 
these ; we have done something and 
suffered something against them} w r e 
hope to do still more} we are staunch, 
tried, well-known, and inflexible Re¬ 
formers } and yet so little does this 
shallow attempt at identifying Reform 
with sedition hold good, that last 
week, in making our usual summary 
of the news, and speaking of the pro¬ 
gress of Reform, we literally forgot 
to notice the late secret arrests, and 
every thing concerning them 3 so ut¬ 
terly unconnected in our minds were 
the two subjects. 

“ There are two distinct features 
in the Report, but the expression in 
both is the same. The first regards 
an actual conspiracy, which is alleged 
to have existed 3 and the second takes 
cognizance (which it has no right to 
take) of the mere Societies for Re¬ 
form 5 —but Reform,—Reform is the 
galling thing throughout ; and the 
more galling, inasmuch as the Re¬ 
porters, with all their pains-taking to 
confound them, are really obliged to 
separate the two questions. This 
situation gives them a strange suc¬ 
cession of aspects 3 —they are at first 
very satisfied and authoritative 3 then 
they look alarmed 3 then they look 
auk ward, from a sense that they have 
carried the alarm too far 5 then they 


are bungling, inconsistent, and to tb 
last degree, lack-a-daysical. 

“ That some sort of conspiracy ha 
existed, seems likely: but of wha 
sort, and above all, of what exten 
and importance, is yet to be told. 1 
is easy to talk of things in the gross-- 
to run riot in plural numbers, like Si 
Hugh Evans, when he is “ very me 
lancholies 3 ” and to tell us that Socle 
ties exist, that Plans have been formed 
and Arms been prepared: but o 
whom, and how many, have the So 
cieties been composed 3 w r ere the plan 
feasible or absurd, and what was tin 
mighty quantity of arms ? We mus 
know the nature and situation of tin 
men, the feelings by which they wen 
possibly impelled, and the resources 
which they proposed to act, before w< 
can judge w hether the alleged con 
spiracy wus any thing formidable, o 
only a petty effort of ignorant despe 
ration. Let us not forget the forme 
times of terrors and suspensions, an< 
the fate of poor frenzied Despard 
who was a conspirator no doubt, bu 
a conspirator rendered mad by tha 
very abuse of powder, which we havi 
been threatened to be called upon t< 
submit to, for the prevention of trea 
son. 

“ What are the facts brought, in tli 
present instance, to prove the exis 
tence of a treasonable conspiracy 
The alleged discourses at the meet 
ings, the inspections, the plans, &c 
&c. may be true or false, accordinj 
to the truth or falsehood of the wit 
nesses. The only facts which th 
reader can take for granted, are, th 
inflammatory placard, the ‘250 pike 
heads, and the French revolutionar 
symbols, used at the meeting in Spa 
fields. The last is certainly a symp 
tom in conjunction with the others 
the second is of more importance 
and the first would go a considerabl 
way, if we had ever before heard c 
this dreadful placard, which is state 
in the Report to have been circulated 
and in a postscript of its own, to hav 
been multiplied to the amount -o 



165] 

5000. Who can tell any thing of 
the circulation of such a paper ? As 
to ourselves, we have not only never 
seen it, but as we have just said, 
never even heard of it 5 and yet we 
deal in news and reports, and are 
among those terrible fellows ycleped 
Reformers.—Yes 5 now we recollect, 
we did hear of some such placard, 
which was said in the newspapers, 
two or three months ago, to have been 
thrust under the door of an alehouse! 
This is the solitary instance in our re¬ 
collection. Perhaps the person who 
gave that information to the newspa¬ 
pers, can tell us about the other 4,999 5 
and by-what subtle means we can pro¬ 
cure an authentic specimen of that 
very public document! 

The reader is to observe, that no 
evidence has been suffered to transpire 
on the occasion ; but it is quite im¬ 
possible to pronounce on the truth or 
falsehood of the most broadly-asserted 
facts, such as the 250 pike-heads, 
without knowing the nature of the 
witnesses. How are we to be sure that 
the Committee has not been imposed 
upon, especially after what occurred in 
the House of Lords on Friday ? The 
occurrence is very remarkable. The 
Committee, in their Report, speaking 
of the Hampden, Spencean, and other 
Societies, all of which are in a man¬ 
ner mixed up together, at least in the 
imputed objects, spoke of a London 
Union Society, that had branch 
Unions corresponding (mark these 
terms) and affiliated with it, and said 
that others of these Societies adopted 
the name of Spencean Philanthropists, 
and that Members of a Club of this 
description discussed and prepared for 
execution the plans of the conspirators 
in London. In answer to this charge, 
comes forward the Secretary to the 
London Union Society (Mr. Cleary), 
with a Petition, in which he under¬ 
takes to prove, indisputably, not only 
that the London Union Society has 
no connexion with the Spencean, but 
that it’s main objects were different j 
ti*ut it never did any act except the 


[166 

publishing of one address to the na¬ 
tion on the subject of Reform ; that 
it never had any one Branch 5 ” that 
it never held any Correspondence either 
written or verbal with any Society of 
any sort; that it never was affiliated 
to any Society, or branch, or any 
body of men whatsoever; finally, 
that it has not even met for nearly 
three years and a half last past 5 and, 
of course, that it is not now in exist¬ 
ence. 

“ This Petition was got rid of by a 
form of the House ! and that too, in 
opposition to the wish and recom¬ 
mendation of one of the Members of 
the Lord’s Committee (Lord Fitz- 
william). —It is worth while to at¬ 
tend to the names of the founders of 
this Union Society :— they are stated 
in the Petition to be, f Mr. Edward 
Bolton Clive, Mr. Walter Fawkes, 
the late Colonel Bosville, Mr. Mon¬ 
tague Burgoyne, the present Lord 
Mayor , Mr. Alderman Goodbehere, 
Mr. Francis Canning, Mr. William 
Hallet, Sir Francis Burdett, Major 
Cartwright, Mr. Robert Slade, Mr. 
Timothy Brown, Mr.. J. J. Clarke, 
and several other individuals equally 
respectable.’ Does not the reader 
see! 

“ We shall here state very expli¬ 
citly what appears to us to be the real 
state of the case immediately before 
us. It is this ; that the late general 
enlightenment of Europe through the 
medium of wit and philosophy, has 
set an infinitely greater number of 
persons speculating than was sup¬ 
posed ; that this has been the case in 
England, as well as in France and 
Germany, and even the English lower 
orders that the distress of those 
lower orders have quickened their 
perceptions in certain matters con¬ 
nected with truth and common jus¬ 
tice j that where the distress was felt 
deepest, the perceptions took an 
angry, perhaps a morbid turn 5 lastly, 
that some actual revolutionary design 
las in consequence taken place, but 
confined to a few individuals made 


March 1 , 1817 . 



|(>7] Hone’s Reformists’ Register, [168 


desperate by suffering; and that with 
this design the 'Reformers, so called, 
and so really understood by all parties, 
have nothing whatsoever to do. The 
Committees have overshot their mark.” 

The PEOPLE OF WESTMIN¬ 
STER, ever alive to infractions of the 
Constitution, had scarcely recovered 
from the shock of Lord Sidmouth’s 
proceedings in the House of Lords, 
on Friday night, when they deter¬ 
mined to call a meeting, as soon as 
possible, to oppose the measures of 
the Ministry in a legal and constitu¬ 
tional way. A requisition was signed 
in the afternoon of Saturday, and 
was on Sunday transmitted to Arthur 
Morris, Esq. the High Bailiff", re¬ 
questing him to call a Meeting of 
the Electors of Westminster, in Pa¬ 
lace Yard, on Tuesday, to petition 
Parliament against the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act ; and Mr. 
Morris, as soon as lie obtained it 
that evening, with an alacrity highly 
to his credit, immediately appointed 
the meeting as desired. On Mon¬ 
day the advertisements appeared in 
the newspapers, and on the next day, 
Tuesday (Feb. 25), at one o’clock, 
the meeting took place. It consisted 
of at least twenty thousand persons, by 
whom a Petition against the Suspen¬ 
sion of the Habeas Corpus Act was 
passed unanimously. On this occasion, 
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT made an 
excellent Speech, which I have taken 
pains to give at length. 

Sir Francis Burdett said, “ that 
often as it had been his duty to meet 
his constituents to consider of the ex¬ 
isting situation of public affairs, he 
had never before met them more sen¬ 
sible of the weight of the duty which 
tv as to be discharged., or upon a more 
painful occasion. They were now as¬ 
sembled, after a long course of cala¬ 
mities, after war carried on under 
different false pretexts, which he had 
the consolation of recollecting he had 
always held up to the People of Eng¬ 
land in its true light, as a war to sub¬ 
vert their own freedom, by employing 


their blood and treasure to subvert 
the freedom of every other people in 
Europe [applause."] During the whole 
of that period, we had been encou¬ 
raged by the hope, that at least when 
the struggle should be terminated, 
our sacrifices, and especially the re¬ 
straints upon our liberties, should be 
at end. He had often heard Mr. Pitt 
state, and state so solemnly, that, to 
use a vulgar expression, he swore to it 
till he was black in the face, that the 
object of the war was not, as had 
been asserted by others, the restora¬ 
tion of the House of Bourbon. Be¬ 
lieving, as he had always believed, 
that the object of the wsfi was to 
destroy the rising liberties of foreign 
states, and now believing its effect to 
have been the destruction of our own 
prosperity and happiness, he had pre¬ 
dicted that the first measure, after the 
conclusion of a foreign war, would be 
a war undertaken against the ancient 
laws and fundamental birth-rights of 
the people at home [loud applause .] 
It was melancholy, indeed, to re- ( 
fleet, that, after expending so much 
blood, and so much money, to crush 
the freedom of the rest of Europe*, we 
had at last fallen under the yoke our-: 
selves. It was not one measure only— 
the suspension of the law that secures 
to every man his personal liberty— 
which ought to excite alarm : a ne\v| 
set of measures had been proposed, 
a little code of despotism, enacting re-| 
straints upon writing, upon speaking,! 
upon meeting, and upon the exercise 
of the most usual as well as of the 
highest faculties of our nature. Onej 
bill was brought in to suspend the 
Habeas Corpus Act, another to punish 
seditious writings, and a third to pre¬ 
vent public meetings. The last was, 
perhaps, the most extraordinary, and 
to him appeared the most impractica¬ 
ble ; for it went to interrupt all com¬ 
munion between man and man, to 
break oft all settled intercourse, to 
prevent persons meeting together in 
societies and clubs for fair and open 
purposes, absurdly to prevent that sort 


» 





[169 

of correspondence without which no 
general object can be or ever was ac¬ 
complished, and even to render society 
itself criminal. He had heard of many 
loyal associations, perhaps falsely so 
called; for he denied that any man 
could be loyal, whose views did not em¬ 
brace the whole of the constitution : 
but he had never heard that there was 
any thing objectionable in the princi¬ 
ple of these associations. There were 
the miscalled loyal associations of Mr. 
John Reeves, with branch and affili¬ 
ated societies—there w r cre the Asso¬ 
ciations for obtaining the abolition of 
the slave trade, who had been success¬ 
ful—there w r ere the Pitt clubs, now 
much reduced, he supposed from the 
general detestation in which Pitt 
principles w r ere held—and the Bruns¬ 
wick Knights, who held principles di¬ 
rectly opposite to those winch seated the 
Brunswick family on the throne, and 
which Knights Lord Sidmouthhimself 
had patronized (at Norwich). The cus¬ 
tom in this, and in every free country, 
had always been, to assemble in clubs 
and societies, and the measures now' 
proposed were to put dow'n these as¬ 
semblies openly meeting for legal pur¬ 
poses, and to obstruct free discussion, 
winch was as much the right of 
Englishmen without as of those within 
the w'alls of St. Stephen’s [applause.'] 
Free discussion and petition was a 
part of the contract at the Revolution 
by winch the crown was transferred 
from the House of Stuart to King 
William [applause]. Who, then, were 
the friends of the Constitution, those 
who would break that contract, or 
those who w r ould uphold it r [applause.] 
It had been noticed in the Parliament¬ 
ary reports, that some societies had 
branches and affiliated members; in 
other words, societies which, being 
situated in distant parts, kept up an 
occasional correspondence for their 
mutual benefits; as if such a thing 
W'as in itself an evil, and never before 
heard of. How was it that the dis¬ 
gusting traffic in African slaves had 
been finally abolished ? How many 


[170 

meetings, and subordinate meetings, 
had they not heard of, with respect 
to the law's on the corn trade, the 
w T ool trade, and other branches of 
commerce, having for their professed 
object the carrying some measure by 
the legal and constitutional method 
of petition through Parliament. The 
Report stated the existence, among 
other societies, of Hampden clubs ; as 
if their existence was a new disco¬ 
very ; or as if the public required a 
ghost from the dead to tell them that. 
In his opinion, if there had been a 
conspiracy entered into at the Spa- 
fields meeting, the Noble Secretary 
of State (for all Lords w r ere Noble) 
was a fellow conspirator with the 
gentleman w'ho stood near him [Mr. 
H unt]. He had not only permitted, 
but recognized the assemblage at that 
place. Another part of the new code 
was, for the more effectual suppres¬ 
sion of seditious writings ; as though 
the law w T ere not already severe 
enough against every publication <j£ 
the truth; and as if Ministers had it. 
not, unfortunately, in their power 
already to corrupt the larger part of 
the press. Some of those w'ho had 
opposed the measures w hich had been 
produced in Parliament, thought the 
Law Officers culpable, because they 
had not prosecuted some public 
writers. This was a narrow view of 
the question, and a bad manner of 
opposing these unconstitutional Bills. 
Nothing could be farther than this 
from the intention of the Meeting. 
If any libels or seditious writings had 
been published, he did not doubt the 
good will of the Law Officers to pro¬ 
secute. No doubt they might con¬ 
jecture from this, that what had been 
written had been law'ful; but that 
the friends of corruption being unable 
to bear these lawful writings—being 
unable to bear sound sense and tem¬ 
perate reasoning [applause] -pro¬ 

posed laws to infringe the liberty of 
the press and the constitution of the 
country, by allowing that to be pu¬ 
nished which by law could be 


March 1 , 1817. 




171] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [172 


questioned at present. These were 
restraints not only on their peculiar 
or constitutional, but on their na¬ 
tural rights 5 and to make them com¬ 
plete, an act ought to be passed for 
tearing out the tongues and eyes of 
the People. 

He should feel happy, in con¬ 
junction with his noble colleague, in 
presenting and supporting their Peti¬ 
tion j but they must be aware how 
humble and weak would be the efforts 
of a few, against the majority in the 
House as at present constituted. They 
(the People of Westminster) were 
taxed with wishing to subvert the 
Constitution of the country. They 
were taxed with objecting to the 
frame of the Constitution. This was 
not true. So far from objecting to 
the frame of the Constitution, they 
only objected to that which was out 
of frame. So long as that House 
should remain under the control of a 
set of borough proprietors, there was 
no more security for the wholesome 
use of the prerogative, than, for the 
enjoyment of popular rights. The 
Crown was as much under their con¬ 
trol as the country j and until that 
bond which they affected to call a 
bond between the governor and go¬ 
verned, but which he called a bond of 
infamy, and a bond of corruption, 
under which, if not dissolved, they 
must all become bondmen, should be 
destroyed—until such a Reform in 
the Commons’ House of Parliament 
should be effected, as would preserve 
the majority independent of the Trea¬ 
sury Bench, be could hold out to them 
but a very faint prospect of success. To 
that object, therefore, above all others, 
their endeavours ought to be incessant¬ 
ly directed. He knew of no right that 
any set of men could claim to be gover¬ 
nors perpetually, unless it was that 
which had been formerly known by the 
name of divine right; and what had 
been said of that monstrous doctrine 
by a great man who lost his life in 
defence of English freedom—he meant 
Sidney—might be fairly applied to 


the influence of the borough proprie¬ 
tors—he never could believe in the 
principle of divine right, until he 
could be persuaded that some men 
were born with the mark of a saddle 
on their backs, and others booted and 
spurred to ride them ’ [loud and con¬ 
tinued applause]. 

[Mr. Henry Hunt, who spoke at 
the Meeting, having stated that a 
Resolution proposed by Lord Coch- 
rane, on the second night of the 
meeting, fell to the ground for want 
of a seconder —that no ONE Member 
had been found in the Honourable 
House to second it—the assertion was 
taken to be in pointed allusion to Sir 
F. Burdett, who noticed it as fol¬ 
lows :— ] 

“ A gentleman who had spoken be¬ 
fore him (Mr. Hunt), had called in 
question his conduct in Parliament. 
Now he did not think himself ac^ 
countable to that gentleman for the 
motives of his proceedings there; but 
in the present instance, he had no 
hesitation in saying, that the motion 
of his noble colleague (Lord Coch¬ 
rane) had been submitted to him, 
and he advispd him not to bring it 
forward at that time. That motion, 
which was not seconded, was brought 
forward at so late a time of the night, 
that he and the greater part of the 
Members had left the House. It 
would have been better, he imagined, 
if that amendment had been sub¬ 
mitted by the Noble Lord (Lord 
Cochrane) the next day, as a sub¬ 
stantive proposition. While he sat 
in Parliament, which would be so 
long as he had the confidence of his 
constituents [applause ], he should act 
according to the best of his discretion. 
His constituents might not at all times 
know all the circumstances, whether 
this or that line of conduct, in 
many cases, were most advisable 
[applause .]--They might, however, 
judge from the whole tenor of his 
conduct, whether he was deserving 
of their confidence, and when they 
judged that he was no longer worthy 



173] March 

of it, whether they had yearly or 
weekly Parliaments, the seat which 
nc now filled should be at their dis- 
osal [ loud applause] . But Mr. 
Iunt had gone much farther—he 
had prescribed not only what his (Sir 
Francis Burdett’s) conduct should 
be, but what he should say. Really 
this was outrageous. He had rather 
be the tool of a Court, than be moved 
as a puppet, and commanded when to 
speak, and when to hold his tongue 
[ applause ]. 

“ There was one word more on the 
subject of that Gentleman, if he had 
not trespassed too long on their time 
[cries of go on!] It had been asked, 
whether he (Mr. Hunt) was an 
Elector of Westminster. He did not 
think it of the slightest consequence 
as affecting his right to speak at a 
public Meeting of the Inhabitants. 
When it was a question of voting, 
the case w*as different; but every ra¬ 
tional man would be glad to hear what 
could be said on any question from 
those who were capable of addressing 
the Meeting. The public, he thought, 
were indebted to any man who could 
instruct them 3 and it was a pity that 
more persons were not found disposed 
frequently to meet the people [ap¬ 
plause /] He (Sir F. B.) should con¬ 
clude, by thanking them for their 
notice of him. They might perhaps 
soon hear of another Report of ano¬ 
ther Secret Committee, on account of 
the treason they had that day com¬ 
mitted [laughing] 5 for he thought the 
Assemblies chiefly referred to in the 
Report, were just as lawfful and con¬ 
stitutional 5 for to fix unconstitutional 
objects upon them, they had not been 
able. Whatever should be the event 
of the bills now pending, he could as¬ 
sure them that they would not pre¬ 
vent his meeting them [bud, ap¬ 
plauses] j whether a gibbet should be 
erected in the lobby of the House of 
Commons, and the Members held 
responsible for their votes; or the sub¬ 
ject was to perish in a dungeon, de¬ 
prived of the trial by jury, he for one 


1, 1817. [174 

should be indifferent; for when 
Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights 
should have expired, he should think 
he had lived long enough [loud and 
continued applause] . He hoped also 
that the measures adopted would have 
no influence on the minds of his coun¬ 
trymen [applause], especially those 
summoned to act as Jurymen [loud 
applause] , but they would continue to 
act as if these measures had never 
been heard of, on the principle of the 
Laws and the Constitution. If in 
any other place any other body of 
men but a Committee of the House of 
Commons had attempted to influence 
the public mind as to the guilt or in¬ 
nocence of men to be brought to trial, 
they would have deservedly been held 
up to the punishment of the law, but 
still more to public reprobation. He 
should take his leave, hoping, that, in 
acknowledgment for the approbation 
of his Constituents, he should always 
be found, to the best of his abilities, a 
supporter of the Constitution, the 
Liberty, and the Rights of his Coun¬ 
trymen” [loud and universal applause 
followed the Honourable Baronet's 
speech]. 

In order to give Sir FRANCIS 
BURDETT’S SPEECH at length, I 
have been obliged to omit the other 
Speeches at this most numerous and 
orderly Meeting, and more especially 
for the purpose of introducing some 
admirable remarks of the late Mr. 
Fox, in liis Historical Fragment, 
which are quite in point to present 
measures. After relating the butchery 
of Sidney and other great and good 
men, by the execrable Sovereign of 
that day, Mr. Fox thus proceeds 

f< The King, during the remainder 
“ of his reign, seems, with the excep- 
“ tion of Armstrong’s execution, 
“ which must be added to the catalogue 
“ of liis murders, to, have directed his 
“ attacks more against the civil rights, 
tc properties, and liberties, than against 
“■ the lives of his subjects. Convic- 
“ tions against evidence, sentences 
“ against law, enormous fines, cruel- 



175] Hone’s Reformists* Register. [176 


ff imprisonments, were the principal 
" engines* employed for the purpose 
<c of breaking the spirit of individuals, 
“ and fitting their necks for the yoke. 
“ But it was not thought fit to trust 
wholly to the effect which such ex- 
ft amples would produce upon the 
“ public. That the subjugation of 
“ the people might be complete, and 
ff despotism be established upon the 
“ most solid foundation, measures of 
<( a more general nature and effect 
“ were adopted 5 and first, the charter 
“ of London, and then those of almost 
<c all the other corporations in Eng- 
“ land, were either forfeited, or forced 
to a surrender. By this act of vio- 
sc lence two important points were 
(c thought to be gained 5 one, that 
“ in every regular assemblage of the 
f( people, in any part of the kingdom, 
<c the crown would have a command- 
“ ing influence ; the other, that in 
case the King should find himself 
ff compelled to break his engagement 
“ to France, and to call a Parliament, 
“ a great majority of Members 
“ would be returned by electors of 
* c his nomination, and subject to his 
<f control. In the affair of the char- 
et ter of London, it was seen as in 
<( the case of ship-money, how idle it 
t( is to look to the integrity of judges 
for a barrier against royal encroach- 
<( ments, when the courts of justice 
“ are not under the constant and 
vigilant control of Parliament. 
And it is not to be wondered at, 
f( that, after such a warning, and 
“ with no hope of seeing a Parlia- 
“ ment assemble, even they who still 
“ retained their attachment to the 
true constitution of their country, 
“ should rather give way to the tor- 
“ rent, than make a fruitless and dan- 
“ gerous resistance. 

“ Charles being thus completely 

* u The expedient of transporting men 
t( among common felons, for political of- 
“ fences was not then invented, which is 
f ‘ the more extraordinary, as it had begun 
“ in this reign to be in some degree made 
£ use of in religious persecutions,’’ 


“ master, was determined that the 
relative situation of him and his 
“ subjects should be clearly under- 
<e stood, for which purpose he ordered 
a declaration to be framed, wherein, 
u after having stated that he consi- 
“ dered the degree of confidence they 
“ had reposed in him as an honour 
particular to his reign, which not 
<c one of his predecessors had ever 
“ dared even to hope for, he assured 
them he would use it with all pos- 
possible moderation, and convince 
“ even the most violent republicans, 
“ that as the Crown was the origin of 
“ the rights and liberties of the Peo- 
“ pie, so was it their most certain and 
<e secure support. This gracious de- 
claration was ready for the press at 
the time of the King's death, and 
e(! if he had lived to issue it, there can 
“ be little doubt how it would have 
(< been received, at a time when 

“ numquam Libertas gratior exat 
(< Ouam sub Rege pio, 

“ was the theme of every song, and, 
“ by the help of some perversion of 
“ Scripture, the text of every sermon, 
“ But whatever might be the lan- 
(( guage of flatterers, and how loud 
“ soever the cry of a triumphant, but 
“ deluded party, there were not want- 
“ ing men of nobler sentiments, and 
“ of more rational views, Minds 
“ once thoroughly imbued with the 
“ love of what Sidney, in his last 
“ moments, so emphatically called 
the good old cause, will not easily 
“ relinquish their principles : nor was 
“ the manner in which absolute power 
was exercised, such as to reconcile 
to it, in practice, those who had 
“ always been averse to it in specula- 
“ tion. The hatred of tyranny must 
“ in such persons, have been exaspe^ 
“ rated by the experience of its 
“ effects, and their attachment to li- 
“ berty proportionably confirmed. 
“ To them the state of their country 
e>f must have been intolerable : to re-? 
“ fleet upon the efforts of their fathers, 
once their pride and glory, an4 
whom they themselves had followed 



177] , March 1 , 1817. [178 


“ with no unequal steps, and to see the 
i( result of all in the scenes that now 
u presented themselves, must have 
“ tilled their minds with sensations of 
“ the deepest regret, and feelings bor- 
“ dering at least on despondency. To 
“ us, who have the opportunity of 
“ combining, in our view of this pe- 
“ riod, not only the preceding, but 
subsequent transactions, the con- 
“ sideration of it may suggest re- 
“ flections far different, and specula- 
“ tions more consolatory. Indeed 1 
t( know not that history can furnish a 
<f more forcible lesson against despoil- 
f( deucy, than by recording, that vvith- 
“ in a short time from those dismal 
days in which men of the greatest 
“ constancy despaired, and had rea- 
“ son to do so, within five years from 
the death of Sidney, arose the 
f( brightest aera of freedom known to 
“ the annals of our country.” 

What heart does not heat high 
at the recollection that our rights, 
which are now about to be wrest¬ 
ed away, were stipulated for, and 
insisted upon, by the virtue of 
our ancestors; and that they 
shed their blood to secure them 
to us ? —w ho amongst us does 
not sorrow over the foreclosure 
of our liberty by its treacherous 
guardians? There is, however, 
one consolation remaining, that 
corruption will speedily w ork its 
own cure and our deliverance; not 
so much by exhausting its re¬ 
sources, as by the sure and cer¬ 
tain co-operation of a “ little nos¬ 
trum” called the National Debt. 
This will effect the whole busi¬ 
ness, without the nation exerting' 
any other faculty than patience. 

When relating' in the last Re¬ 
formists ’ Register , from Mr. Old¬ 
field’s Representative History of 
Great Britain and Ireland, that 
100 houses had been pulled down 
by Sir William Manners, in the 


borough of ILCHESTER, and 
that the Electors who occupied 
them had, with their families, 
been sent to the Workhouse, and 
this to prevent their ever voting 
again as they had done in 1802, 
for Alexander Davison, Esq. of 
coal-contracting memory, who 
had bought their “ sw eet voices ” 
at £30. a head; I forgot to men¬ 
tion another little circumstance 
or two, as follows :— 

On the 25th of November, 1803, 
John Manners, Esq. petitioned 
against the election of Charles 
Brooke, Esq.; and William 
Webb, Esq. petitioned against 
the election of Sir William Man¬ 
ners, Bart. Mr. Manners alleged 
that Mr. Brooke had been guilty 
of bribery and treating'; and Mr. 
Webb alleged that Sir William 
Manners had been guilty of 
bribery and treating. A Com¬ 
mittee being appointed to try 
these cross petitions, and Mr. 
Manners having declined pro¬ 
ducing evidence against Mr, 
Brooke, it was decided that nei¬ 
ther Sir William Manners, nor 
Mr. Manners, nor Mr. Webb, 
w ere duly elected; that the 
election was a void election, as 
far as related to Sir William 
Manners; that it appeared to 
the Committee, that he (Sir 
WILLIAM MANNERS) had 
been guilty of bribery and cor¬ 
ruption ; and that HE was inca¬ 
pable of representing in Parlia¬ 
ment the borough of Ilchester !! 
What did the 100 wretched Elec¬ 
tors think of tin’s ? 

One is forcibly reminded v 
such CORRUPTION os this, of 
the following excellent scene by 
Foote, the dramatist, in his 
Nabob , 



179 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [ISO 


Enter Mayor and Touchit. 

Serv. Walk in. Gentlemen ! his 
honour will be presently here. 

Touch'd: Do you see, Mr. Mayor, 
look about you ! here are noble apart¬ 
ments ! 

Mayor. Very fine, very curious, in¬ 
deed ! But, after all. Master Touchit, 
I am not so over fond of these Na¬ 
bobs 3 for my part, I had rather sell 
myself to somebody else. 

Touchit. And why so, Mr. Mayor ? 

Mayor. I don’t know—they do a 
mortal deal of harm in the country : 
Why, wherever any of them settles, 
it raises the price of provisions for 
thirty miles round. People rail at 
seasons and crops 3 in my opinion, it 
is all along with them there folks, that 
things are so scarce. 

Touchit. Why, you talk like a fool! 
Suppose they have mounted the beef 
and mutton a trifle 3 a’n’t we obliged 
to them too for raising the value of 
boroughs ? You should always set one 
against t’other. 

Mayor. That, indeed, is nothing 
but fair. But how comes it about r 
and where do these here people get all 
their wealth } 

Touchit. From our settlements 
and possessions abroad. 

Mayor. I’ve often been minded to 
ask you what sort of things them there 
settlements are 3 because why, as you 
know, I have been never beyond sea. 

Touchit. I will explain that in a 
moment: Why, here are a body of 
merchants that beg to be admitted as 
friends, and take possession of a small 
spot in a country, and carry on a be¬ 
neficial commerce with the inoffen¬ 
sive and innocent people, to which 
they kindly give their consent. 

Mayor. Don’t you think now that 
is very civil of them ? 

Touchit. Doubtless. Upon which, 
Mr. Mayor, we cunningly encroach, 
and fortify by little and by little, till 
at length, we growing too strong for 
•the natives, we turn them out of their 


lands, and take possession of their 
money and jewels. 

Mayor. And don’t you think. 
Master Touchit, that is a little uncivil 
in us } 

Touchit. Oh, nothing at all : 
These people are but a little better 
than Tartars or Turks. 

Mayor. No, no. Master Touchit 3 
just the reverse ; it is they have caught 
the Tartars in us. 

Touchit. Ha, ha, ha ! well said, Mr. 
Mayor. But, hush ! here comes his 
honour. Fallback! 

Enter Sir Matthew Mite, attended 
by a Black. 

Mite. May I presume. Sir, to ask 
who you are, and what your business 
may be ? 

Touchit. My name. Sir, is Touchit, 
and this gentleman, a neighbour of 
mine. We are ordered by the 
CHRISTIAN CLUB, of the bo¬ 
rough ofBribe’em, to wait upon your 
honour, with a tender of the nomina¬ 
tion of our two members at the ensuing 
election. 

Mite. Sir, I accept their offer with 
pleasure 3 and am happy to find, not¬ 
withstanding all that has been said, 
that the union still subsists between 
Bengal and the ancient corporation of 
Bribe’em. 

Touchit. And if they ever are 
severed, I can assure your honour, the 
CHRISTIAN CLUB will not be to 
blame. Your honour understands me, 

I hope ? 

Mite. Perfectly. Nor shall it, I 
promise you, be my fault, good Mr. 
Touchit. But (you will forgive my 
curiosity. Sir!) the name your club 
has adopted, has at first a whimsical 
sound 3 but you had your reasons, no 
doubt. 

Touchit. The very best in the 
world, please your honour : From our 
strict union and brotherly kindness* 
we hang together 3 like the primitive 
Christians, too, we have all things in 
common. 




106 


March 1 , 1817. 

Touchit. Hush ! have a care what 


181 ] 

Mite. In common ? I don’t appre¬ 
hend you. 

Touchit. Why, please your honour, 
when THE BARGAIN is struck, 
and the deposit is made, as a proof 
that we love our neighbours as well 
as ourselves, we submit to an equal 
partition ; no man has a larger share 
than another. 

Mite. A most Christian -like dis¬ 
pensation ! 

Touchit. Yes 3 in our borough all 
is unanimity now : Formerly, we had 
nothing but discontents: each man 
jealous and afraid that his neigh¬ 
bour got more, and did better than him. 

Mite. Indeed ? 

Touchit. So, upon the whole, we 
thought it best to unite. 

Mite. Oh, much the best. Well, Sir, 
you may assure your principals that I 
shall take care properly to acknow¬ 
ledge the service they do me. 

Touchit. No doubt, no doubt. 
But—will your honour step a little 
this way ?—Though no question can 
be made of your honour’s keeping 
your word, yet it has always been the 
rule with our club to receive the pro¬ 
per acknowledgment before the ser¬ 
vice is done. 

Mite. Ay, but, Mr. Touchit, sup¬ 
pose the service should never be 
done ? 

Touchit. What then must become 
of our consciences r We are CHRIS¬ 
TIANS, your honour. 

Mite. True ; but, Mr. Touchit, 
you remember the proverb ? 

Touchit. What proverb, your ho¬ 
nour ? 

Mite. There are two bad pay-mas¬ 
ters ; those who pay before , and those 
who never pay. 

Touchit. True, your honour j but 
our club has always found, that those 
who don’t pay before, are sure never 
to pay. 

Mite. How ! impossible ! the man 
who breaks his word with such faith¬ 
ful and honest adherents deserves rich¬ 
ly a halter. Gentlemen, in my opi¬ 
nion, he deserves to be hanged ! 


you say. 

Mite. What is the matter ? 

Touchit. You see that fat man 
that is behind : he will be the return¬ 
ing officer at the election. 

■Mite. What then ? 

Touchit. On a gibbet at the end 
of our town, there hangs a smuggler, 
for robbing the custom-house. 

Mite. Well ? 

Touchit. The mayor’s own brother , 

r ' 

your honour : Now, perhaps, he may 
be jealous that you meant to throw 
some reflection on him, or his 
family. 

Mite. Not unlikely.—I say, gen¬ 
tlemen, whoever violates his promise 
to such faithful friends as you are, in 
my poor opinion, deserves to be 
damned! 

Touchit. That’s right! stick to that! 
for though the CHRISTIAN CLUB 
may have some fears of the gallows, 
they don't value DAMNATION of a- 
farthing! 

Mite. Why should they, as it may 
be so long before any thing of that 
kind may happen, you know ? 

Touchit. Good! good again! A r our 
honour takes us rightly, I see : I mak# 
no doubt, it won’t be long before we 
come to a good understanding. 

Mite. The sooner the better, good 
Master Touchit ; and, therefore, in 
one word, pray what are your terms ? 

Touchit. Do you mean for ONE, 
or would your honour bargain for 
BOTH } 

Mite. Both, both. 

Touchit. Why, we could not have 
afforded you one under 30001. at least - f 
but as your honour, as I may say, 
has a mind to deal in the gross, we 
shall charge you but five for both. 

Mite. Oh fie ; above the market, 
good Mr. Touchit ! 

Touchit. Dog-cheap 5 neck -beefj 
a penny -loaf for a halfpenny ! Why* 
we had partly agreed to bring in Ma¬ 
jor Match’em for the very same mo¬ 
ney.; but the major has been a little 
unlucky at Almack’s, and at present 




I 






183] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [184 


can’t deposit the nccdfol 3 but he says, 
however, if he should be successful at 
the next Newmarket meeting, he will 
faithfully abide by the bargain : But 
the turf, your honour knows, is but 
an uncertain estate 3 and so we can’t 
depend upon him. 

Mite. True. Well, Sir, as I may 
soon have occasion for all the friends 
I can make, I shall haggle no longer 3 
1 accept your proposals : in the next 
room we will settle the terms. 

Touchit. Your honour will always 
find the “ CHRISTIAN ” steady and 
firm—But, won’t your honour intro¬ 
duce us to his Worship, whilst we are 
here ? 

Mite. To his Worship? To whom ? 

Toucliit. To the gentleman in black. 

Mite. Worship? you are mad, Mr. 
Touchit! That is a SLAVE I brought 
from the Indies. 

Touchit. Good lack ! may be so ! 
I did not know but the gentleman 
might belong to the tribe, who, we 
are told by the papers, conferred those 
splendid titles upon your honour in 
India. 

Mite. Well, Master Touchit, what 
then ? 

Touchit. I thought it not unlikely, 
but, in return to that compliment, 
your honour might choose to make 
one of the family member for the 
corporation of Bribe’em ! 

Mite. Why you would not submit 
to accept of a NEGRO ? 

Touchit. Our present members, for 
ought rve know, may be of the same 
complexion, your honour ! for we have 
never set eyes on them yet. 

Mite. That’s strange ! But, after 
all, you could not think of electing 
a black. 

Touchit. That makes no difference 
to us: The CHRISTIAN CLUB 
has ever been persuaded that a good 
candidate, like a good horse, can’t be 
of a bad colour ! ! ! 

This Scene of Foote’s is ac¬ 
tually founded on FACT. Sir 
Matthew Mite is well known to 


have been drawn for General 
Smith, whose father was a cheese - 
monger; and the circumstances 
allude to a memorable disclo¬ 
sure relative to the borough of 
NEW SHOREHAM ( Bribe'em) 9 
which I shall relate in the words 
of Mr. Oldfield, from his Repre¬ 
sentative History. 

“ This borough has rendered itself 
more conspicuous than most others, 
by a remarkable scene of corruption, 
which was brought to light before a 
committee in the House of Commons, 
in the year 1*777. The returning 
officer had returned a candidate with 
only 37 votes, in prejudice to another 
who had 87 3 of which he had queried 
76, and made his return without ex¬ 
amining the validity of the votes he 
had so queried. 

It appeared from the defence 
made by the officer, that a majority 
of freemen of that borough had 
formed themselves into a society, 
under the name of the CHRISTIAN 
CLUB 5 the apparent ends of which 
institution were, to promote acts of 
charity and benevolence, and to an¬ 
swer such other purposes as were 
suitable to the import of its name. 
Under the sanction of piety and reli¬ 
gion, and the cover of occasional acts 
of charity, they profaned that sacred 
name, by making it a stale for carry¬ 
ing on the worst of purposes 3 making 
a traffic of their oaths and consciences, 
and setting their borough to sale to the 
highest bidder; while the rest of the 
freemen were deprived of every legal 
benefit from their votes. 

(t The members of this society were 
bound to secrecy, and to each other, 
by oath, writings, bonds with large 
penalties, and all the ties that could 
strengthen their compact j and car¬ 
ried on this traffic by means of a 
select committee, who, under pre¬ 
tence of scruples of conscience !!! never 
appeared or voted at any elections 
themselves 3 but, having notwith¬ 
standing sold the borough^ and re** 



185 ] 

ceived the stipulated price, they gave 
directions to the rest how to vote ; 
and by this complicated evasion, the 
employers and their agents, having 
fully satisfied their conscience, SHARED 
THE MONEY as soon as the election 
was over, without any scruple !!! 

“ The returning officer had belonged 
to this society ; and having taken 
some disgust to his associates, he quit¬ 
ted the party. The majority of legal 
voters which he objected to, was, he 
said, in part owing to his experimental 
knowledge of their corruption, and 
partly founded upon several improper 
acts which had come within his know¬ 
ledge as magistrate upon the late 
election ; particularly an affidavit of 
a very considerable sum of money 
which had been distributed among 
them. Upon these grounds, though 
they had the hardiness to take the oath 
against bribery and corruption, he 
looked upon them as disqualified; and 
having besides taken the opinion of 
counsel, which, it seems, coincided 
with his own, he returned the candi¬ 
date who had the smaller number of 
votes, as they were free from these 
objections. 

“ Upon these principles, and his 
not acting intentionally wrong, the 
officer rested his plea of justification 
for the illegality of his conduct. As 
the assumption of such an act of 
power by a returning officer, upon 
whatever principle it was founded, 
would, however, have been a prece¬ 
dent of the most dangerous tendency, 
he was accordingly taken into cus¬ 
tody ; but, in consideration of the 
circumstances in his favour, and of his 
bringing so infamous a combination to 
light, he was discharged, after re¬ 
ceiving a reprimand upon his knees 
from the Speaker, in the presence 
of the House. 

“ As this combination was of too 
flagrant a nature to be overlooked, 
and the select committee had not 
power to proceed any further in it, 
they reported the whole matter to the 
House, and moved, that they would 


[m 

make a further inquiry Into it. Though 
this met with an opposition from some 
of those who, having no good wishes 
for the late act for regulating the trial 
of controverted elections, were glad of 
so early an opportunity to point out 
its inefficacy, and depreciate its merits j 
yet the general excellency of that 
law, notwithstanding any of its pre¬ 
sent deficiencies, which every day’s 
experience would give new opportu¬ 
nities of supplying, carried with it 
such conviction as to be already well 
understood; and the motion for an 
inquiry was carried through without a 
division. 

“ The allegations made by the re¬ 
turning officer having been as fully 
proved, in the course of this inquiry, 
as the nature of the case would ad¬ 
mit, and entirely to the satisfaction of 
the House, a bill was at length 
brought in, to incapacitate 81 freemen 
of Shoreham by name, from voting at 
elections of members to serve in Par¬ 
liament, and for preventing bribery 
and corruption in that borough; and 
at the same time an address was or¬ 
dered for the Attorney-General to 
prosecute the five members of the 
Christian Club who composed the 
committee which transacted the bar¬ 
gain as to the sale of the borough at 
the last election. 

“ The different transactions, how¬ 
ever, consequent of this subject, ran 
through the whole session ; and it. 
was not till the last day of it that the 
bill received the royal assent. The 
members of the club were heard by 
counsel against it. Many doubts also 
arose as to the mode of punishment. 
It was proposed to disfranchise the 
borough ; this, however, was thought 
too dangerous a precedent: others 
thought that the culprits should be 
left to the punishment of the law; 
but, though there was a clear con¬ 
viction of their guilt, it was a matter 
of such a nature, as made the estab¬ 
lishment of legal evidence very dif¬ 
ficult ; and if they escaped without 
some signal mark of reprobation, it 


March 1 , 1817 . 



187 ] 

would be an encouragement to the 
most barefaced corruption, when the 
whole kingdom saw that it could 
be done with impunity. 

“ The 11th Geo. III. cap. 55, re¬ 
cites, in the preamble, that, ‘ Whereas 
a wicked and corrupt society, calling 
itself the CHRISTIAN SOCIETY, 
hath for several years subsisted in the 
borough of New Shoreham, in the 
countv of Sussex, and consisted of a 
great majority of persons having a 
light to vote at elections of members 
to serve in Parliament for the said 
borough j and whereas it appears that 
the chief end of the institution of the 
said society was for the purpose of 
selling, from time to time, the seat or 
scats in Parliament for the said bo¬ 
rough 5 and whereas [naming them] 
were members of the said society : 
in order, therefore, to prevent such 
unlawful practices for the future, and 
that the said borough from hence¬ 
forth be duly represented in Parlia¬ 
ment, be it enacted that the said par¬ 
ties shall he, and by virtue of this act 
are, from henceforth, incapacitated and 
disabled from giving any vote at any 
election for choosing a member or 
members to serve in Parliament.’ ” 

This was all the punishment inflict¬ 
ed on these good CHRISTIANS 5 
but by the same act, the right of 
election being extended to about 1200 
freeholders of the rape of Bramber, 
the arts of corruption have been de¬ 
feated, the borough has since been re¬ 
presented by independent country 
gentlemen, and eveiy election has 
been conducted with constitutional 
decorum. The practical experiment 
that has been tried here, and at Crick- 
lade and Aylesbury, of the advantages 
which would attend a Parliamentary 
Reform, or even a similar disfranchise¬ 
ment of the corrupt and decayed bo¬ 
roughs, is a complete refutation of 
every objection that has been urged 
against that important measure. 

I will ask whether any man in 
his senses, can wonder at indig¬ 
nation being excited in the Peo- 


[188 

pie by such scenes as this; not 
a solitary instance, for there are 
plenty of others, to produce to 
any who are really ignorant of 
their existence, as some appear 
to be. 

1 will further ask, whether 
a man who has mixed much in 
society, with his eyes and ears 
in good order, would have come 
to the same conclusion on the 
contents of the GREEN BAG, as 
the two Committees of Secresy ? 
1 do not mean to deny, that tho.se 
Committees have not proceeded 
upon the evidence before them, 
hut this I do most solemnly de¬ 
clare and insist upon, that such 
evidence is a partial and unfair 
representation of the general 
state of feeling'and disposition of 
THE PEOPLE of England. I 
affirm positively my ow n sincere 
belief to be, that the extent of 
disaffection, compared with the 
mass of quiet good sense in 
the country, is not so great as 
a little pimple, now on the back 
of my hand, is to the surface of 
my whole body; and I believe too, 
that with prompt application of 
the ordinary means, the existence 
of the disaffection w ould be of as 
short duration. Notwithstanding 
the eagerness with which it is 
attempted to hurry the Bill for 
the suspension of the Habeas 
Corpus Act through the House, 

I cannot persuade myself such 
measure w ill receive the Royal 
assent before this sheet is pub¬ 
lished, 1 implore Parliament 
therefore to consider whether 
the present laws are not fully 
competent to the arrest, imprison¬ 
ment, trial, and punishment of all 
persons who are or may be guilty 
ol treasonable practices ;—to re¬ 
collect that the Habeas Corpus 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 




189] March 

Act is the only security Englisli- 
men have from arrest as often, and 
imprisonment as long, a>s Minis¬ 
ters may choose to inflict both 
upon objects of their dislike or 
suspicion. Those who ask the 
House of Commons to suspend 
the Habeas Corpus Act without 
full evidence , impudently attempt 
a gross delusion of that House, 
which is the Grand Inquest of the 
nation, and which ought to de¬ 
termine, from evidence alone, whe¬ 
ther every man in the country is 
to be disgraced and degraded by 
being declared unfit to live un¬ 
der the present Laws. 

I should notice the mention in 
the Reports of the PARODIES 
entitled the Political Litany , &c. 
at some length; but as I pub¬ 
lished some of these, I shall not 
say so much as I intended. 1 
really believe that they would 
not have found their way into the 
Green Baa , had not certain gen- 
tlemen, from motives not neces¬ 
sary for me to talk of at this time, 
directed an unaccountable atten¬ 
tion of His Majesty’s Ministers to 
them. Certainly, prophaneness, 
as charged in the Report, was no 
more intended by me in publish¬ 
ing' them, than it was intended 
i-y the Attorney-General, in 
the Court of King’s Bench, on 
Saturday last, when, according 
to the Observer Newspaper, in 
speaking of some paintings, he 
said, they were “ collected God 
“ knows where, and painted by 
<( God knows whom! ” a phrase¬ 
ology not perhaps exactly con¬ 
formable to the third Command¬ 
ment. Parodies of the Church 
Service have been published as 
political squibs at different pe¬ 
riods for nearly a century; and 
the reader will perhaps excuse 


B 1817. [190 

me if I tell him how my acquaint¬ 
ance with parodies arose. In the 
year 1793, being very young and 
inexperienced—little more than 
12 years of age—I wrote and 
composed a small tract, in prose 
and verse, in praise of the British 
Constitution, which 1 caused to 
be printed, and enclosed a copy * 
thereof to the Chairman of the 
“ Society for preserving Liberty 
“ and Property against Republi- 
“ cans and Levellers, at the Crown 
“ and Anchor Tavern, in the 
“ Strand.” This tract furnished 
the design for a wood-cut or en¬ 
graving in the said Loyal Asso¬ 
ciation papers, and for the 
communication I received a let¬ 
ter from the Secretary of the As- 
sociation, as follows:— 

(COPY) 

“ Crown and Anchor, 
April 27th, 1793. 

" SIR, 

“ I received the favour of your 
letter, addressed to the Chairman, of 
the 25th instant; and am requested 
to make known to you the high opi¬ 
nion the Committee entertain of your 
abilities, and the good use you make 
of them. It is with peculiar pleasure 
they perceive a spirit of loyalty in a 
person so young as you represent 
yourself to be, and have no doubt but 
a continuance in the same sentiments 
will make you a valuable and useful 
member of the community. 

“ I have the honour to be. 

Your most obedient servant, 

- J. A. M’DOWALL, 
Secretary. 

“ Mr. W. Hone, 

“ Old North St., Red Lion Square.” 

Being then a purchaser and 
reader of all the Loyal Associa¬ 
tion Papers, which contained 
much varied matter, in a lively 
stvle, 1 went on buying and ad- 




191 ] Hone’s Reformists* Register* [192 


miring, until I had the curiosity 
to read some of the articles 
•which the Association Papers 
were answers to; when all on a 
sudden, in spite of my flatter¬ 
ing letter from Mr. Secretary 
M’Dowall, still in my possession, 
I began to perceive a rapid “ dis¬ 
continuance of the same senti¬ 
ments” praised by that gentle¬ 
man, which 1 could no more help, 
than the shining of the sun. But 
I very well recollect, that a Pa¬ 
rody of the Church Catechism 
was actually published in a penny 
Political Tract, at the expense 
of this “ Association for pre- 
“ serving Liberty and Property 
4< against Republicans and Le- 
“ vellerson the Committee of 
which Association was the cele¬ 
brated Mr. John Bowles, and 
John Reeves, Esq. was the 
Chairman; which John Reeves, 
Esq. is one of the Patentees of 
the Office of King’s Printer, and, 
under and by virtue of his Patent, 
is the Proprietor of a great num¬ 
ber of editions of the Common 
Prayer, edited by himself, in 
various forms and sizes, with In¬ 
troductions written by him in 
praise of them, and Dedications 
to the Queen; and all of them 
containing the Catechism, which 
he, as Chairman of the said Loyal 
Association, caused a Political 
Parody of to be published as 
aforesaid. This was the first 
Parody I ever saw; but, about 
the year 1796, a Parody on the 
third chapter of Daniel appeared 
in a daily Newspaper; since 


when I have seen many, published 
both before and afterwards, and I 
have the authority of Earl Grey, 
for saying that a Parody of the 
Litany was written even by a 
Dignitary of the Church ! So 
much for the Parodies , and no 
more—except that, on Saturday 
last, finding Parliament inclined 
to adopt the Reports of the Com¬ 
mittees, I instantly stopped the 
sale of them; and since then not 
a single copy has been parted 
with by me, either directly or in¬ 
directly. It will be seen, there¬ 
fore, that, though backed by pre¬ 
cedent , no pertinacity of mine has 
assisted in abridging the liberties 

O O 

of my country. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Friday, 28 th February, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year , have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume’s History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
be at one half the price; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year. 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which he 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested; and the contents of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pcncc a Week, 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil¬ 
lings. 

No. V. tvas published Saturday Feb. 22"; 
the leading Article of which is on “ APOS- 
TACY and CORRUPTION,” &c. &e. 


London •. Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican ; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67,Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
each, 12s, 6d. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 






Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 7.] Saturday, March 8, 1817. [Vol. I. 


REFORM; 

THE PARODIES; 

AND 

PR. SLOP’S GHOST ! 


Mr. WALTER FAWKES on Re¬ 
form—Final Suspension of the Ha¬ 
beas Corpus Act in the Lords — Mr. 
Grey Bennett's Attack on Lord Cas- 
tlereash—Presentation to the House 
of Commons, on Monday Night, of 
600 Petitions for Reform, signed by 
a Million of People—Who objected 
to them, and why—Loyal Westmin¬ 
ster Declarers, and who they are — 
Lord Botingbroke's Forebodings on 
the Corruptions of the House of Com¬ 
mons—Account of Parodies on the 
Common Prayer—A Parody on the 
Te Deum, printed verbatim—The 
Ajypearance of Dr. SLOP'S GHOST 
every Morning, in Crane Court, 
Fleet Street. 


When I sat down to write this 
Number, I intended it as a Let¬ 
ter to Walter Fawkes, Esq. of 
Famley Hall, near Otley, York¬ 
shire. Interruptions 'prevented 
me from connecting’ my intend¬ 
ed remarks, which 1 thus com¬ 
menced:—• 

Monday, March 3,1817. 
Sir, 

This morning I finished read¬ 
ing the excellent pamphlet you 
have just published, entitled, 
“ The Englishman*s Manual* or 
a Dialogue, between a Tory and 


a, Reformer and I have com¬ 
pleted the day by a visit to the 
two Houses of Parliament. That 
yon, whose name is dear to every 
one to whom the British Consti¬ 
tution is dear—that you, on whom 
the lovers of our liberties have 
long kept a steady eye of admi¬ 
ration and hope—that you are 
one of the few faithful amongst 
the faithless, fulfilling more than 
we have expected, and all that 
we have wished—keeping stea¬ 
dily to the great cause of Reform, 
and openly asserting and proving 
the right of the People to the 
practical benefits of their Consti¬ 
tution—is to me matter of great 
exultation. In thus publicly ex¬ 
pressing my humble thanks for 
the service the country will derive 
from your pamphlet, which I 
have no doubt will be widely cir¬ 
culated, I take the opportunity 
of recording certain facts and re¬ 
marks, for the use of the general 
reader. 

At the recollection of this day, 
every man, who deserves the 
name of Briton, will 

--“ raise the voice of sorrow, 

“ And bitterly complain.” 

The Bill for suspending the Ha - 
beas Corpus Act was finally 
passed at seven o’clock in the 
House of Peers. I was present 
at their Lordships’ bar, during 
the formality. Lords Darn- 
lev, Grosvenor, Rosslyn, Hol-» 
land, Lauderdale, and Giuer, 

















JO5] iIoNi;’s Reformists’ Register. £1.95 


protested against this precipita¬ 
tion in vain. Earl Rosslyn having 
urged as a reason for further 
consideration,that .Scotland would 
not have had equal justice under 
the Bill, but for the deliberate 
attention of the House of Com¬ 
mons, who to that end returned 
the Bill with an amendment,— 

The Lord Chancellor said, he 
considered himself, as fully responsible 
for the measure. He had, he said, 
been a irood deal concerned in the 
measures of 179a. He had at that 
time prosecuted lor High Treason, 
because he disdained to bring the 
•persons then under prosecution, be¬ 
fore a Jury for any other crime than 
that of which he was conscientiously 
satisfied they were guilty. The .Judges 
of the country, the Parliament of 
the countiy, had stated the crime 
to he Hicrb Treason. The Bill which 
was then introduced, was brought in 
by his advice, and of that Bill this 
was nearly a transcript. Lord Lough¬ 
borough then thought the Bill right, 
und lie thought it right 3 and lie still 
thought that this Bill was right, as it 
originally stood, with reference both 
to the English law' and the law of 
Scotland. As for the amendment, he 
considered the Bill as altered for the 
worse, with respect to the individual 
and the Magistrate, both in Scotland 
and England 3 and he voted for it only 
because he thought it necessary 
that the Bill should, though in a worse 
state than before, be passed without 
delay. 

Lord Holland observed, that the 
■Noble .Lord thought that the amend- 
Btient made the Bill worse 3 but 
the Commons, let it be recollected, 
hud thought that it made the Bill bet¬ 
ter: and yet the Noble Lord had 
never explained to their Lordships the 
grounds upon which he had proceed¬ 
ed, and on which his opinion rested, 
flood God, could it be expected, that 
they should be regarded with respect 
'Und reverence by the People,, 


they did their duty to that People ? 
When a Petitioner applied to their 
Lordships, and stated that he wa* 
ready by viva voce evidence at their 
Bar, to contradict one of the most 
material parts of the Report of their 
Lordships’ Committee, the Nobl* 
Lord had then insisted on the stand¬ 
ing orders of the House, and declared 
that he would not sit in it, unless 
its standing orders were supported 3 
and yet the Noble Lord was ready to 
surrender up the liberties of the People 
to the discretion of the Ministers of 
the Crown, without any explanation 
of the grounds of his opinion, or of 
that anxious attention which, as he 
said, he had applied to this measure. 
They who had talked loudest against 
any innovation in the constitution, 
were now the most eager to swallow 
down this bitter cup of the suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus Act, because 
it was necessary that Ministers should 
be armed with certain powers 3 and 
now they voted for an amendment 
which deprived them of part of the 
powers which they had declared to 
he necessary. He felt that sufficient 
opportunity had not been given to 
express one half of the objections- 
which existed to this measure. 

The Earl of Lauderdale said, 
that the state of the country, a 3 far 
as he could acquire a knowledge of it, 
from the most* diligent inquiries h« 
could make, was most incorrectly des¬ 
cribed in the Report, upon which the 
Bill, now before their Lordships, had 
been formed. Would any Noble 
Lord lay his hand on his heart, and 
say, he believed so general a conspi¬ 
racy, as that represented in the Re¬ 
port, can exist, and yet, that it must 
be dangerous to submit to Parliament 
any evidence respecting it. Parlia¬ 
ment was, however, called upon to 
do away the liberties of the People, 
upon the loose statements of a Report, 
which had been contradicted in ma¬ 
terial facts. If expressions, which 
might be the effect of distress, were 
to be taken as evidence of conspU 




197 ] March 8, 1817 . [108 


racy. Minis ten might find abundance 
of such proofs, daily, in the streets of 
London: but, as it has been said by a 
great political economist, that demand 
is of no value, without the means of 
supply; so it may be said, that a Plot 
is no Plot, without the means of exe¬ 
cuting it. 

Earl Grey said, the very gist of 
the Report was, that a society exist¬ 
ed in London, with affiliated branches 
in the country. This the secretary 
and members of the club, described 
as the parent society, offer to dis¬ 
prove. The Lord Mayor and Mr. 
Alderman Goodbeiisre, were ready 
to be examined at the bar, in contra¬ 
diction of the statement in the Report 
on this subject. But the Noble Lord 
says, this is not a matter of any mo¬ 
ment, and therefoie will not hear the 
evidence. In his opinion, however, 
it was one of the principal facts, or 
what somewhere else might be called 
a principal feature, from which the 
existence of danger had been inferred.” 

The Bill then passed, not Fifty 
Peers being present, and without even 
the poor ceremony of a division. I 
thought of Mr. W. Smith’s state¬ 
ment in the House of Commons, on 
Friday, that when recently in con¬ 
versation with a Frenchman of 
talents, he was condemning the 
measures against personal liberty in 
France, the Foreigner had retorted, 
that Englishman had no greater se¬ 
curity, when at any time a Minister 
might propose a suspension of the 
Habeas Corpus Act. He (Mr. Smith) 
mid, that without the feeling of the 
majority of the People in favour of 
the measure, it could never be pro¬ 
posed or listened to. ts I am mor¬ 
tified to find,” said the Honourable 
Member, “ that I knew less of the 
Minister and of Parliament than that 
Frenchman.” Indeed, the country 
was wholly unprepared for the pro¬ 
position of this hateful measure, and 
the most independent men in Par¬ 
liament wholly reprobated it. The 
tj \q Houses have legislated upon the 


mere Report of their Secret Com* 
mittees,without further evidence, and, 
from what motive I will not attempt 
to guess, utterly refusing to hear evi¬ 
dence tendered to them upon Peti¬ 
tion. 

One circumstance connected 
with the Suspension Bill should 
never be forgotten. On its first 
reading in the House of Com¬ 
mons,— 

The Hon. Grey Bennett imme¬ 
diately rose, and made one of the most 
impressive speeches ever delivered in 
Parliament. He said/* he would oppose 
in every stage this arbitrary, impoli¬ 
tic, and uncalled-for measure. After 
what had passed in the House to¬ 
night—after statements of various 
Members, and from various parts ot 
the country, he was surprised that the 
Noble Lord opposite should move the 
reading of this Bill as a matter of 
course. He was surprised that no 
defence was offered, that no expla¬ 
nation was given, that no facts were 
stated for the purpose of inducing the 
House to enact a measure which sus¬ 
pended all the benefits of the Consti- ' 
tution, which enslaved the country, 
and placed the liberty of every man 
in it at the disposal of Ministers. If 
it could be shown that nothing else 
would save us but the measures in 
contemplation—if it could be proved 
that the ultimate security of the na¬ 
tion demanded a temporary suspen¬ 
sion of its rights—if a case of strong 
and paramount necessity could be 
made, he would be the last man in 
the House, or the country, to oppose 
a concession of increased power to the 
Government. But, he would ask, 
had any such case been made out } 
had any danger demanding the pro¬ 
posed remedy been clearly substanti¬ 
ated ? He had a few observations to 
make on the Report, as laying the 
ground of the powers claimed by Mi¬ 
nisters, in which he was anxious not 
to be misunderstood. He would not 
discredit that Report, nor the Mwa* 




Hone’s Reformists* Register* 


W| 

hers who composed the Committee 
from which it originated, although he 
was surprised that his Right Hon. 
Friend [Mr. Ponsonbyj shook! have 
disgraced himself by accepting ot a 
place in it, and sitting in the same 
chamber with the Noble Lord oppo¬ 
site [Shouts of hear.'] Could bis 
Right lion. Friend think himself in 
safety with the Noble Lord? [Shouts 
of hear.] Hemieant no reflection on 
the private character, but alluded to the 
public conduct of the Noble Lord. Did 
his Right Hon. Friend not remember 
the Noble Lord’s conduct on a former 
occasion, when he induced his Right 
Hon. Friend to grant him his support ? 
The Noble Lord came down to the 
House at the beginning of the last 
war against the People of France, and 
by professing to have no designs 
against the People of that country, 
by declaring that there was no inten¬ 
tion in the Allies to force upon it a 
Government, by stating, distinctly 
that there was no wish entertained 
to restore the old abuses and the 
Bourbons, he procured the support 
of bis Right Hon. Friend. He paade 
all these professions, and produced 
these effects by them, at the very 
time that he had a declaration in his 
pocket that belied them : he declared 
there was no engagement to inter¬ 
fere with the choice of the French 
People, at the very time that he had 
made this country a party to an alli¬ 
ance for the restoration of the family 
they liad chased from the throne. 
[Hear.] Ilis Right Honourable Friend 
should have remembered these things, 
when he was nominated a Member of 
a Committee in which the Noble Lord 
sat. He was free to say, that had lie 
(Mr. B) been nominated a Member of 
that Committee, no inducement on 
£arth would have led him to risk his 
character by acting with the Noble 
Lord. [Mr. Bennett then remarked 
on various parts of the Report.] The 
whole People were in this Report li¬ 
belled and arraigned: they were tra¬ 
duced in their characters; and were to 


surrender tlieir freedom by such trash 
as this— " trash”, said the Hon. Gent. 
^ which I only think fit for trampling 
under my feet.” [Here Mr. Bennett 
threw the Report on the floor of the 
House.] Yet upon vague and absurd 
allegations, the invasion of the Con¬ 
stitution was justified, and measures 
were to be passed, (t by which I, ” 
said he, may be apprehended and 
imprisoned to-morrow, by tlie com¬ 
mand, and during the pleasure, of the 
Noble Lord ; who declares, that 3 and 
my friends are responsible to God 
and man for the encouragement we 
give to any plan for reducing bis 
power, or supporting the liberties of 
the People.” Parliament, on such 
trash, was called upon to suspend the 
Constitution, and to surrender the 
rights of the People into the hands of 
Ministers. <e Though those, ” said 
the Hon. Gentleman, “ in whom I 
have the greatest confidence were to 
require such, a sacrifice—though Mi¬ 
nisters, whose conduct I was convinced 
had always tended to promote the 
public good—though my own friends 
made the demand, 1 would oppose 
them, till they showed, in the neces¬ 
sity of the case, a justification of their 
proposals. 1 will never consent, 
therefore, to surrender the rights of' 
the People without such necessity in¬ 
to the hands of such Ministers as the 
Noble Lord; who would abuse the 
power intrusted to them, who had al¬ 
ready embrued their hands in the 
blood of their country, who had alrea¬ 
dy been guilty of the most criminal 
enmities. [Cries of order.] 

Lord Gasteereagh rose to order, 
and called upon the Hon. Gent, to 
retract his expressions, or to prove 
his charge. 

Mr. Bennett, after order was a lit¬ 
tle restored, proceeded. He charged 
the Ministers with criminal con¬ 
duct in abusing their trust under the 
late suspension of the Habeas Corpus 
Act, and obtaining a bill of indemnity 
to cover their delinquencies. 

Lord Castlereagh spok$ p^ain to 




201] M ARCH 

♦ 

order. Ttic Honourable Gentleman 
bad not explained or retracted the 
charge made against him of embruing 
his hands in the blood of his country. 
[Cries of hear, hear .] 

Lord Milton could not help re¬ 
calling to the Noble Lord’* recollec¬ 
tion, that the Hon. Member [Air. 
Bennett] had charged him with cri¬ 
minal conduct only in the sense of 
illegally requiring a bill of indemnity 
to protect him from consequences. 
[hear, hear.'] 

Lord Castlereagii said, that if the 
Honourable Gentleman meant to say 
that he had committed cruelties, had 
embrued his hands in blood, and been 
guilty of criminal actions, for which 
he required a bill of indemnity, he 
would reply, by using the phrase that 
the Honourable Gentleman employed 
in speaking of the Report, that lie 
uttered a gross falsehood [shouts of 
hear]. 

Air. Yorke said, that the act might 
be illegal, and not criminal. A bill 
of indemnity could protect against 
the consequences of the former, but 
not of the latter. If the Hon. Mem- 
ber adhered to the word criminal, his 
expression should be taken down, and 
made the subject of future delibera¬ 
tion : if he meant illegal only, he 
ought, to state so. If all that he in¬ 
tended to say was, that acts were 
done that were against law, and that 
were covered by a bill of indemnity, 
his wmrds might be passed over as 
Parliamentary, and allowable, [hear.] 

Mr. C. Wynn regretted the charge, 
but as it was made generally amongst 
the Ministers [hear, hear, and no, wo], 
and not personally against an indivi¬ 
dual, he thought the charge was allow¬ 
able in debate, or at least not dis¬ 
orderly. On that ground he thought 
the debate might go oil. He did not 
justify the expression, either as applied 
in one way or the other ; but applied 
generally, he did not think it dis¬ 
orderly. [hear, hear.] 

Mr. Brand was convinced from the 

use his Hon. Friend made of the ex- 

► • •» 


8, 1817. £202 

pressibn, and from the scope of his 
argument, that he must have meant 
to convey the charge, that during the 
last suspension of the Habeas Corpus 
Act, Ministers had ordered arrests for 
which they would have been actionable 
after the expiration of the suspension, 
had they not been protected by a bill 
of indemnity. This must have been 
the meaning of the word criminal; 
and while the occasion thus explained 
its import, it defined its extent. 

The Speaker submitted to the 
House, that the question was, whether 
the Hon. Gent, meant to charge the 
whole of the Ministers of the Crown, 
or only one individual, with being 
guilty—first, of sanguinary proceed* 
insrs : and secondly, of criminal acts. 
If the charge was directed against 
the whole administration, it was not 
disorderly to be made in the House j 
if it was a personal charge against an 
individual Alember of the House, it 
was certainly disorderly. The Hon. 
Gentleman was called upon to ex¬ 
plain. [Hear.] 

Mr. Bennett resumed.—He was 
the last man in the House to retract 
an expression that he had used, 
whether orderly or disorderly ; but he 
had no hesitation in declaring, upon 
the word of a gentleman and a man 
of honour, that he meant the charge 
to apply, not to one hand in the Mi¬ 
nistry, but the whole Ministry who 
acted under the former suspension 
bill ; during whose fatal reign, acts 
of such enormity took place in Ire¬ 
land. [hear.] If there was any cri¬ 
minal act, he was aware it could not 
be screened by a bill of indemnity 5 
the connexion of the words therefore 
proved that by criminal he meant 
illegal, and that not as directed 
against a member of the Government, 
but the whole Government. 

Lord Castlereagii declared, that 
he was satisfied that the Honourable 
Gentleman did not mean a personal 
charge. He could not, therefore., 
complain of what was said against 
the Government of which he was a 




203] 

In ember, but as a member of the Go¬ 
vernment. In his own name, how¬ 
ever, and that of his colleagues, and 
on public grounds, if a charge of 
cruelty was brought against them, 
and they were described as embruing 
their hands in the blood of the coun¬ 
try, he would use the words that the 
HonbUrable Gentleman applied to the 
Report of a Committee, of which his 
Right Honourable Friend (Mr. Pon- 
soney), was a Member, and say it 
was a direct falsehood. He could not 
deal out to the Honourable Gentle¬ 
man any other measure of justice than 
he himself dealt to his Right Honour¬ 
able Friend [hear hear /] 

Mr. Bennett resumed.—When 
he spoke of cruelties, they were 
impressed deeply on his mind; for 
they were cruelties perpetrated, not 
in remote regions, not beyond the 
bounds of our own country, not by 
a mandate to be executed at a dis¬ 
tance, but at home, under the eye of 
Government, in the Castle-yard. 

Ford Castlereagh rose again to 
order. If the Honourable Member 
meant to bring a direct charge against 
the Government of Ireland, he [Lord 
C.] was prepared to answer him ; but 
he did not think it orderly, and lie 
was afraid it might be mischievous, 
to make such accusations in the 
course of a debate which had no con¬ 
nexion with them, and vilify the cha¬ 
racter of men who would commit an 
irregularity in entering on their de¬ 
fence [hear /] 

Mr. Bennett avowed, that he did 
not mean to pursue the subject; but 
as the Noble Lord had met liis charge 
of cruelty with a negative, he thought 
himself called upon, to state some 
facts as justification ol his conduct in 
making it [hear]. He might have 
been betrayed into too great a warmth 
of feeling, and might have used violent 
expressions, which he was sure the 
House would excuse [shouts of hear ']. 
He meant to say, and he persisted 
in the declaration, that it would be 
fatal to public liberty to put the 


[204 

powers which the Bills before the 
House would convey, if they passed 
into Acts, into the hands of men vvhc 
had formerly possessed them, and vvhc 
had outraged the rights of the Peo¬ 
ple, and notoriously abused their trusl 
[hear, hear]. He therefore should 
feel it his duty to oppose this Bill in 
every stage [cries of hear]. 

The Hon. Mr. Bennett, is the 
eldest son of the Earl of Tanker- 
ville, and a gentleman of right 
old English breeding. He does 
not hold the notion, that the 
Members of the Hon. House are 
j to be walked over, like the door¬ 
mats in the lobby; which, when 
dirty enough on one side , are 
turned , and used on the other . I 
cannot help recollecting' a great 
hulking school-boy, of the upper 
forms, who, by mere pow er of 
face, fierce looks, and swagger, 
and being backed by the other 
big boys, actually compelled the 
rest of the school to do what he 
pleased; until, in spite of his 
tricks, a g*ame little fellow se¬ 
riously turned to, and completely 
thrashed him; and then all the 
rest wondered, as it w as so easily 
done, that lie had not been served 
so before. He still remained on 
the upper forms, to be sure— 
that could not be helped, for he 
was the master’s favourite—but 
he was never known to be impu¬ 
dent afterwards. This is as it 
should be: there would be no 
living on the earth, if there w ere 
no resistance to pretensions found¬ 
ed on the right divine of doing 
wrong* 

After the passing of the Bill 
for suspending the Habeas Cor¬ 
pus Act, I went into the gallery 
of the House of Commons; where 
I witnessed a most novel scene. 
Sir Francis Burdett was rising 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


i 




205] March 

to present Petitions for Reform, 
in conjunction with Lord Coch¬ 
rane, who sat to flte left of the 
Speaker’s Chair, on the backseat, 
with several bundles of parch¬ 
ment rolls. Sir Francis having 
moved that the Petitions be re¬ 
ceived, he was ordered to bring 
them up. He descended to the 
floor ef the House, on which they 
lay in bundles ; and first taking 
two or three singly, he after¬ 
wards took up several large 
bundles, each containing perhaps 
30 or 40. The floo r of the House 
teas liter ally covered with these 
Petitions for Reform, which 
formed a conical pile, as hiyh 
as the table . The Times, in its 
report of the proceedings, truly 
says, “ there appeared to he 
nearly a way yon load of Peti¬ 
tions: they lay in a heap, and 
almost covered the floor of the 
House.' 9 When the Speaker said, 
u Bring* them up,” there was a 
laugh throughout the House. Sir 
Francis stated that they were all 
to the same effect; hut it appear¬ 
ing that many of them were 
printed, the Speaker informed 
Sir Francis, he must take all 
such hack; and one, which was 
an Address to the Prince Re¬ 
gent, he said he presumed was 
designed to go elsewhere. Sir 
Francis and the Clerks were em¬ 
ployed upwards of a quarter of 
an hour unrolling these Petitions; 
the Clerks throwing under the 
table all that were not printed, 
and those that were printed being 
again thrown on the floor. Dur¬ 
ing this time, the House was un¬ 
employed. The Members on the 
Treasury bench amused them¬ 
selves with reading the contents 
of some of these Petitions. Lord 
Cocbr ane added several bundles, 


8,1817. [206* 

from a large heap beside him¬ 
self, to the pile on the floor; 
which diminishing very slowly, 
though Sir Francis and the Clerk 
unrolled as quickly as possible, 
at length— 

Mr. Manning rose from the 
Treasury Bench, and addressed 
the House. This Hon. Member 
is described in the Royal Kalen- 
dar as a Merchant of London, a 
Banker, a Bank Director, and as 
sitting for the borough of EVE¬ 
SHAM, in Worcestershire; which 
borough, Mr. Oldfield says, in 
his Representative History , ap¬ 
pears by the Returns to have 
been under the influence of the 
Rusiiout family, now barons of 
Northwick, ever since the year 
1722; and they have nominated 
one Member at every election 
from that period to the present; 
except in the year 17,%*, when 
Sir John Rusiiout lost his elec¬ 
tion, and was created a Peer, to 
console him for the disappoint¬ 
ment. The other Member is ge¬ 
nerally returned by a combina¬ 
tion of attornies. Mr. Manning, 
who represents this place, rose to 
order; and said, when the Hon. 
Baronet knew that he had six 
hundred Petitions to present, lie 
should have consulted the con¬ 
venience of the House, in ascer¬ 
taining whether tliey were print¬ 
ed or not, 

7die Speaker suggested the 
propriety of proceeding on the 
morrow, after the Worthy Ba¬ 
ronet had rejected those which 
were not printed; to which Sir 
Francis assented, intimating, 
however, that he should hereafter 
contend, that the House ought to 
receive printed Petitions. 

Mr. Sergeant Best then rose> 
to express hi$ disapprobation of 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



(lie language used in the Peti¬ 
tions. This gentleman is a King’s 
Sergeant at Law, Attorney-Gene¬ 
ral to the Prince of Wales, the 
Recorder of Guildford, and the 
representative of BRIDPORT, 
in Dorsetshire; which borough 
(says Mr. Oldfield), like all 
others, has a stated price , wh ich the 
voters call their birthright; and 
several candidates left them at 
the last election, in consequence 
of their demanding payment be¬ 
fore-hand —not choosing to let 
their representative go into the 
Honourable House upon honour ; 
that is, upon tick. Well, then, 
their present worthy representa¬ 
tive, the learned Serjeant, de¬ 
clared, that several of these Pe¬ 
titions actually stated, as others 
which were rejected had done 
before, that the House did not 
represent the People! and for this, 
which he related with great ear¬ 
nestness of tone, as a gross insult to 
the House, he contended that the 
Petitions ought not to be recei ved. 

The Hon. Edward Law also 
objected to the Petitions. This 
gentleman is son-in-law of the 
Marquis of Londonderry, brother- 
in-law of Lord Castlereagh and 
Lord Stewart, and eldest son of 
Lord Ellenborough, Lord Chief 
Justice of the King’s Bench, 
whose emoluments aTe unknown; 
find under whom he holds the 
office of Chief Clerk cn the Pleas 
side of the Court, with an income 
which I have not now the means 
of ascertaining. Mr. Law repre¬ 
sents ST. MICHAELS, in Corn¬ 
wall; which Mr. Oldfield calls a 
wretched borough, Avith eighteen 
voters, the joint property of Lord 
Falmouth and Sir Christopher 
Hawkins. He also objected to 
&e Petitions* 


Lord Binning, who is a Com¬ 
missioner for the Affair?of India, 
with a salary of £1500. per aim., 
and is ihe other representative 
for the “wretched borough” of 
ST. MICHAELS, objected to Sir 
Francis Burdett’s course of 
proceeding’, with respect to the 
Petitions. ^ 

Lord Palmerston, who is Se¬ 
cretary at War , with a salary of 
£2480. per annum, also opposed 
the Petitions. 

Lord Cochrane defended the 
Petitions, as to their language; of 
which he thought no rigid line 
should be drawn, when it was 
considered, that upwards of 200 
Members of that House were re¬ 
turned by about 00 Peers.— 

Lord Palmerston called tlie 
Noble Lord to order. 

Lord Cochrane said, be spoke 
in answer to observations (by 
Sergeant Best) on the other side. 
He contended that the language 
of the Petitions should not he 
scrutinized too nicely. His Lord- 
ship then proceeded to state, that 
in the borough of ILCHESTER 
100 houses had been pulled down 
by the proprietor, because the 
inhabitants voted against bis 
wishes, and had been sent by 
him with their families to a work- 
house, which be built for their 
reception. (See these particulars 
related in the Reqister , No. 5, 
p. 144.) 

Hie Speaker called the Noble 
Lord to order. In truth, neither 
Sir Francis Burdett, nor Lord 
Cochrane, had the pleasurable 
ear of the House; and the de¬ 
bate on the question for receiving 
the Petitions was adjourned until 
thq morrow.—The Petitions were 
left in the House all night, filling 
(up the area from the bar up to 




209] March 8, 1817. [*210 


the table of the House, beside 
those which had actually been 
received. Many of them were 
very bulky—thicker round than 
my arm ; each containing* thou¬ 
sands of signatures, on several 
skins of parchment. The PETI¬ 
TIONS FOR REFORM, pre¬ 
sented this night by Sir F. Bur- 
dett and Lord Cochrane, were 
signed by nearly A MILLION of 
persons! ! ! Whether accepted 
or not, they w ere all safely lodged 
in the House, and there I saw 
them left by Sir F. Burdett and 
Lord Cochrane, for the Hon. 
Members to dispose of as in their 
wisdom should seein meet. 

It is now no longer a question 
whether THE PEOPLE want 
Reform or not; but, whether the 
House is willing to reform itself, 
1 do not know how many Peti¬ 
tions for Reform have been 
presented during the present ses¬ 
sions; but if no other had been 
or will be sent up, than the six 
hundred Petitions for Reform , 

With A MILLION OF SIGNATURES, 

which were presented to the 
Commons at the very moment the 
Habeas Corpus SUSPENSION 
Bill was passing quietly in the 
Lords, I think even Lord Cas- 
tlereagh himself, even he , will 
not deny, that the sense of the 
country is against the House oj 
Commons remaining as it is, 

A MILLION of persons! Why 
this must be nearly the whole 
adult male population of England, 
Scotland, and Wales, it is non¬ 
sense to talk of this Petition not 
expressing the sense of this 
place, and that Petition of that 
jdace, and so on ; no man of com¬ 
mon sense will listen to such 
gabble I If a parish Petition, 
which nine tenths of the pa¬ 


rishioners have subscribed, be 
not signed by the Minister, the 
Churchwardens, the Overseers, 
die select Vestrymen, the Vestry 
Clerk, &c., oh, forsooth, it is not 
the sense of the parish—it is not 
signed by the respectable inhabi¬ 
tants in the parish ! And then 
a Counter-Petition or Address, 
or Declaration, or some such 
thing, is prepared, expressing 
the loyalty and attachment of the 
aforesaid privileged class; and 
if in addition to the Gentlemen 
of the Leet , the Tax Commission¬ 
ers affix their names, why then it 
is the sense of the most respecta¬ 
ble persons in the parish! 

The Westminster Petition, 
unanimously passed in Palace 
Yard, against the Habeas Corpus 
Suspension, has called forth a 
LOYAL Westminster and Wes¬ 
tern General Declaration, where¬ 
in the Declarers declare, that 
they notice, with the greatest ab¬ 
horrence , the insidious attempts 
wdiich have been practised to 
mislead the People ,and to aggra¬ 
vate their sufferings, by pretended 
remedies. And who, they say, 
rather than derive from the pre¬ 
sent calamity, pressing* on all 
classes, stronger motives to union 
and mutual good will, would 
teach others, meanly to set at 
nought their birth-right —the 
blessings of SOCIAL ORDER, 
and the PROPER PRIVILEGES 
of Britons!!! 

Fal de riddle lal! Fal de rid¬ 
dle la! &e. 

The great abhorrence will be 
easily accounted for, on looking 
at the abhorrers. The reader is 
now presented with the three 
names first signed to these defi¬ 
nite and delectable sentiments, 
I have taken the liberty of at- 





til] 

taching to each, what the Noble 
Signers omitted to add them¬ 
selves. Here they are: 

Rutland (Duke of), Lord Lieu¬ 
tenant and custos rotulorum 
of Leicestershire, Recorder of 
Cambridge and Scarborough.-- 
Parliamentary Influence , viz.— 
Joint-proprietor of the Borough 
of Bramber, Patron of Cam¬ 
bridge; Grantham, 1 Member, 
Cambridgeshire 1, and Scar¬ 
borough J. 

Athol (l)uke of), Lord Lieute¬ 
nant. of Perthshire, a Pension 
of 40501. per annum; beside 
family Pensions for Catherine 
Louisa Emilv, and Lady George 
Murray, amounting to 0851. 
per annum. 

Anglesea (Marquis of), Lieute¬ 
nant General in the Army, 
Colonel of the 7th Regiment 
of Dragoons, Lord Lieutenant 
custos rotulorum, and Vice- 
Admiral of the County of An¬ 
glesea, Ranger of Snowdon 
Forest.— Parliamentary influ- 
ence , Anglesea and Carnarvon, 
and 1 Member at Milbourn 
Port. His brother, the Honour¬ 
able Berkeley Paget, is a Lord 
of the Treasury, with 16001. 
per annum. The Honourable 
Sir Edward E. Paget, another 
brother, is a Lieutenant-Gene¬ 
ral, and Colonel of the 28th 
Regiment, and a Groom of the 
Bedchamber, with 5001. per 
annum ; Sir A. Paget, with a 
Pension of 17001. per annum ; 
and Lady Louisa Paget, with 
a Pension of 6001. per annum, 
are also relations of the Noble 
Marquis. 

These are the first three out of 
the first 24 names, published in 
the newspapers, signed to this 
loyal Westminster declaration; ( 


[212 

the whole of which *24 persons, 
or their relations, either have 
Pensions, Places, or Parliamen¬ 
tary influence ; and amongst the 
24 are two Bishops, The Decla¬ 
ration is also signed by Hawkks, 
Moseley, and Co. the great con- 
tractors for military caps and 
trappings ; by Greenwood, Cox, 
and Co. of Craig’s Court, Charing 
Cross, the Horse Guards’ Army 
Agents ; and in short, it is mostly 
signed by such kinds of lovers of 
SOCIAL ORDER and PRO¬ 
PER PRIVILEGES—bv down- 
right, thick and thin, back-bone, 
black in the face, lives and for¬ 
tunes men—men, who it will he 
seen, have MUCH to be thankful 
for, and are thankful accordingly, 
as in duty bound and obliged. 

I spare the reader from fur¬ 
ther occupation of his time on 
this topic, merely requesting 
him, however, to furnish me with 
the names of ALL these Loyal 
Westminster DECLARERS, 
who attend the WESTMINSTER 
MEETING, called by the High 
Bailiff, on Thursday , the 13th in¬ 
stant, in Palace Yard, for the 
purpose of agreeing* to an Ad¬ 
dress to the Prince Regent, be¬ 
seeching* him to remove from his 
Councils those Ministers who 
appear resolved to adopt no 
effectual measures of economy 
and retrenchment, but on the 
contrary, to persevere in mea¬ 
sures calculated to drive a suf¬ 
fering* People to despair. I 
pledge myself, that on receiving 
a complete list of the LOYAL 
DECLARERS, who attend and 
support that Meeting, to publish 
their names at length in the next 
Register, after I receive the list, 
with all the Places, Salaries, and 
Pensions, held or enjoyed by 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



213] March 

them, attached to their respective 
names; there to remain as memo¬ 
rials of their independence , § c . 


Wednesday, 5th March. 

Nearly eighty years ago, the 
great Lord Boling broke ven¬ 
tured to foretel, that certain con¬ 
sequences would result from the 
measures pursued in his time, 
under the influence of Sir Robert 
Walpole, who was then Mi¬ 
nister. It will not be pru¬ 
rient for me to say more to the 
reader, than that I request he 
will make himself thoroughly ac¬ 
quainted with his Lordship’s sen¬ 
timents in the following columns. 

y-j 

“ To suppose “ he says” fe a case 
within the bounds of possibility, let 
ns suppose our PARLIAMENTS, in 
some future generation, to grow so 
CORRUPT, and the CROWN SO 
RICH, that a PECUNIARY IN¬ 
FLUENCE constantly prevailing over 
the MAJORITY , they should assemble 
for little else than to ESTABLISH 
GRIEVANCES , instead of redressing 
them ; to approve the measures of the 
Court, without information ; to engage 
their country in alliances, in treaties, 
in wars, without examination; and to 
give money without account, and al¬ 
most without stint. The case would 
be deplorable. Our Constitution itself 
would become our grievances , whilst 
this Corruption prevailed; and if it pre¬ 
vailed long , our Constitution could not 
last long ,* because this slow progress 
would lead to the destruction of it as 
surely as the more concise method of 
giving it up at once. But , in this 
case, the CONSTITUTION would 
help itself and effectually too, unless 
the whole mass of tiie People 
was tainted, and the Electors were 
become no honester than the Elected. 
Much time would be required to beg¬ 
gar and enslave the nation, in this 
manner. It could scarce be the work 


8, 1817. [214 

of one Parliament; though Parliaments 
should continue to be septennial. It 
could not be the work of a triennial 
Parliament, most certainly; and the* 
People of Great Britain would have 
none to blame but themselves; be¬ 
cause, as the Constitution is a sure 
rule of act'on to those, whom they 
choose to act for them, so it is likewise 
a sure rule of judgment to them, in 
the choice of their trustees, and par¬ 
ticularly of such as have represented 
them already. In short, nothing can 
destroy the Constitution of Britain, 
but the People of Britain ; and when¬ 
ever the People of Britain become so 
degenerate and base, as to be induced 
by CORRUPTION to choose per¬ 
sons to represent them in Parliament, 
whom they have found by experience 
to be under an influence, arising from 
private interest, dependants on a 
Court, and the creatures of a Minister; 
or others, wlio are unknown to the 
People, that elect them, and bring no 
recommendation but that which they 
carry in their purses ; then may the 
enemies of our Constitution boast that 
they have got the better of it, and 
that it is no longer able to preserve 
itself, nor to defend liberty. Then 
will that trite, proverbial speech be 
verified in our case, that the corrup¬ 
tions of the best things are the worst; 
for then will that very change in the 
state of property and power, which im¬ 
proved our Constitution so much; 
contribute to the destruction of it; 
and w T e may even w r ish for those lit¬ 
tle tyrants, the great Lords and the 
great Prelates again, to oppose the en¬ 
croachments of the Crown. How 
preferable will subjection to those 
powerful landlords (whom the com¬ 
monalty were accustomed to serve; 
and by whom, if they suffered on one 
band, they had considerable advan¬ 
tages on the other), how preferable, 
indeed, will this subjection appear to 
them, when they shall see the whole 
nation oppressed by a few upstarts in 
power; often by the meanest, always 
by the w r orst of their fellow r -subject&£ 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register* 



[21C 


by men, who owe their elevation and 
riches neither to merit nor birth, but 
to the favour of weak princes, and to 
the spoils of their country, beggared 
by their rapine. Then will the fate 
of Rome be renewed, in some sort, 
in Britain. The grandeur of Rome 
Was the work of many centuries, the 
effect of much wisdom, and the price 
of much blood. She maintained her 
grandeur, whilst she preserved her 
virtue ; but when luxury grew up to 
favour corruption, and corruption to 
nourish luxury, then Rome grew 
venal j the election of her magistrates, 
the sentences of her judges, the de¬ 
crees of her senate, all was sold ; for 
her liberty was sold, when these were 
sold ; and her riches, her power, her 
glory, could not long survive her li¬ 
berty. She, who had been the envy, 
as well as the mistress of nations, fell 
to be an object of their scorn, or 
their pity. They had seen and felt, 
that she governed other people by will, 
and her own by law. They beheld 
her governed herself by will; by the 
abitrury will of the worst of her own 
citizens, of the worst of both sexes, 
of the worst of human kind; by Cali¬ 
gula, by Claudius, by Nero, by Mes- 
salina, by Agrippina, by Pomilea, by 
Narcissus, by Calistus, by Pallas ; 
by'princes, that were stupid, or mad; by 
women, that were abandoned to ambi¬ 
tion and to lust; by ministers that icere 
emancipated slaves, parasites and pan- 
dars, insolent and rapacious . In this 
miserable state, the few that retained 
some sparks of the old Roman spirit, 
had double cause to mourn in private ; 
for it Was not safe even to mourn in 
public. They mourned the loss of the 
‘liberty and grandeur of Rome; and 
they mourned that both should be sa¬ 
crificed to wretches, whose crimes 
would have been punished, and whose 
talents would scarce have recommend¬ 
ed them to the meanest offices, in 
the virtuous and prosperous ages of 
the Commonwealth. 1 nto such a state 

(the difference of times, and of other 
circumstances considered), at least. 


into a state as miserable as this, will 
the People of Britain both fall, and 
deserve to fall, if they suffer, under 
any pretence, or by any hands, that 
Constitution to be destroyed, which 
cannot be destroyed, unless they suf¬ 
fer it; unless they co-operate with 
the enemies of it, by electing those 
to represent them, who are hired 
to betray them ; or by submitting 
tamely, when the mask is taken offi> 
or falls off, and the attempt to bring 
beggary and slavery is avowed, or can 
be no longer concealed. If ever this 
happens, the FRIENDS OF LIBER¬ 
TY, should any such remain, will hF'e 
ONE option still left; and theynF l 
rather choose, no doubt, to DIE TEE 
LAST OF BRITISH FREEMEN , 
than bear to LIVE THE FIRST OF 
BRITISH SLAVES 

What does the reader say to 
the foreboding- of Lord Boling-* 
broke i Is he a true > or is he a 
tying prophet ? Have his appre¬ 
hensions been justified by events, 
or were they groundless I The 
reader will answer these ques¬ 
tions to himself, and make his 
own comments. 

All that has been said about 
the contents of the GREEN 
BAG, seems now to be of no 
consequence, because the said 
contents have answered their 
end—the Habeas Corpus Act is 
suspended.—Not a breath of the 
.said contents is known to any 
one but flic two Committees of 
Secrecy , whose REPORTS have 
at length dissolved into air—thin 
air. Even lire PARODIES are 
almost forgotten. But the Times 
of to day affirms, that Parodies 
have only appeared in these lat¬ 
ter days. If he means Parodies 
of* Portions f rom the Liturgy , I 
must, and do contradict him: 
entertaining also the charitable 
supposition, that he made such 





eirj March 

affirmation in ignorance-—and yet 
the Times ought to know, that in 
1736, “ The pretty Miss’s Ca¬ 
techism,” no very decent Parody 
on the Church Catechism, was 
published in a work on tlie shelves 
of every library in the kingdom— 
the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. vi. 
p. 463. In 1743, a Parody on 
the Athanasian Creed, appeared 
- in the j Foundling Hospital for 
nit, beginning thus, 44 Whosoever 
will be an Exciseman, before all 
things it is necessary that he 
learn the art of arithmetic; which 
art, unless he wholly understand, 
without doubt, he can be no Ex¬ 
ciseman,” &c. In the Gentle¬ 
man's Magazine, for 1757, vol. 
Xxvii. p. 271, a Parody on the 
same Creed begins thus 44 Who¬ 
soever will be a true Englishman, 
&c.” and, to mention no other, 
who that has read the Witticisms, 
printed during Sir Cecil Wray’s 
Election Scrutiny for Westmin¬ 
ster, can forget the celebrated 
“ Cross Gospels, fc." preserved 
in the Asylum for Fugitive Pieces, 
and still republishing, by Mr. 
JtiDGWAY, in every new edition 
of the Rolliad? 

In my last Register I men¬ 
tioned, that a Parody on the Cate¬ 
chism, was printed at the expense 
of 44 Mr. John Reeves’s Association 
for preserving Liberty and Pro¬ 
perty, against Republicans and 
Levellers:” I now judge it proper 
to give an entire Parody from the 
Common Prayer, which was pub¬ 
lished only four years ago, by 
Mr. J. M. Richardson, of Corn- 
till, Bookseller* 


a isit. im 

PARODY. 

(reprinted verbatim.) 

Zt Scum. 

Oh, Emperor of France! we curse 
thee. 

We acknowledge thee to be a Ty- 
rant. 

Thou murdering Infidel! all the 
world detest thee. 

To thee all nations cry aloud, 

Roney, Boney, Boney ! 

Thou art universally execrated ! 

Holland, Russia, Spain, and Por¬ 
tugal, are full of the measure of thy 
crimes. 

To thee, the infernal host of Hell; 

To thee, sycophantic, the tribe of 
Senators, 

And the whole army of Sinners 
and Devils, raise their hideous notes, 
crying, Thou art the Commander of 
the “ Legion of Horror .” 

The armies of Alexander and Fer¬ 
dinand contemn thee; the noble 
Cossacks of the Don despise thee, ex¬ 
claiming, Runaway, Runaway, Run¬ 
away ! 

The Pope excommunicates thee ; 
saying. Renegade ! No Concordat l 

For thou art the parent of infinite 
sin. 

Thy fictitious, and thy true name., 
are equally accursed. 

And thy black spirit maketh man¬ 
kind to shudder. 

Thou art the kernel of infamy, O 
Nappy ! 

Thou art the everlasting son of ty¬ 
ranny and avarice. 

Thou hast not scrupled to violate 
the laws of God, of nature, and of 
man. 

Having, unhappily, escaped the 
dangers that have awaited thee, thou, 
hast opened thy prison doors, to shut 
them again on the innocent. 

Thou shalt sit at tlie right hand of 
Lucifer, ornamented with thy impious 
‘spoils, where thou shalt judge ia 






219] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [220 


favour of those who shall most flatter 
thee. , 

Thou dost not believe that the day 
of judgment will eonie. 

\V e recommend thee to have mercy 
on tliose whom thou hast robbed of 
their peace and property. 

Let thy Ministers be numbered with 
thee in eternal damnation. 

May the “ Lads of Paris” guillo¬ 
tine thee, and thus spare the People 
whom thou oppressest with thy Cor¬ 
sica n yoke 3 and may thy heritage 
sud'er in a like way ! 

May they be not simply damned , but 
damned to all eternity . 

Day by day all nations reproach 
thee, and adjudge thy name to be 1 de¬ 
tested from generation to generation. 

Deign, O Nappy ! to leave the 
world in peace and quiet 3 and at least 
spare those who have put their trust 
in t.liee. 

Thou hast not scrupled to carry five 
and sword among the peaceful dwell¬ 
ings of the Russians. 

England, testifying her admiration 
for their glorious resistance to tyranny, 
her generous sons hasten cheerfully 
to dry up the tears of that homeless 
people. 

The torrent of thy crimes is stopped 3 
thou sickenest at the punishments that 
await thee. 

Frost, liail, rivers, and all the ele¬ 
ments, have waged war against thee, 
and thy fugitive followers. 

Russia has let loose her hardy and 
patriotic sons : thou, and thy boast¬ 
ing myrmidons, fipe 3 they “ bite the 
dust.” 

Arise betimes, ye inhabitants of the 
East and West, to curse the Tyrant. 

Curse the name of the Tyrant, at 
sun-set, ye inhabitants of the North, 
ye wives and children of the enraged 
Cossacks (his faithful pursuers) 3 
yea, rise in the night to curse him 
soundly. 

Let not. your curses, though last, 
be the least, ye inhabitants of the 
South. 

Ajovise, ye Sovereigns of A^tria, 


Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria 3 shake 
off the fetters which perfidy hath 
forged. 

Behold the day of settling is at 
hand 3 the just God of Armies will 
confound thy boasted foresight. 

Behold, now'is the appointed time; 
now is the oppressor sore smitten. 

Strike home, that he may fall 3 let 
the voice of liberty be heard among 
the nations, and the murders of 
Exgiiien, Palm, and Wright, be re¬ 
venged. 

At the news of thy drubbing and 
flight, hcarest thou not the rejoicing 
shouts of thy conquerors ? IJourra, 
Ilourra, Hourra ! 

Go, roaming tiger, and with a 
Russian hempen collar adorn thy 
neck. 

But first witli some false tale, thou 
Prince of Liars, thy German blue-eyed 
cara sposa’s dubious breast com¬ 
pose 3 and with sw eet beet-root sugar- 
plumbs, thy hopeful urchin’s palate 
please 3 cram well, and gull thy Pa¬ 
risian slaves with lies. 

W hen thou slialt have reached the 
Palais Royal en has, thy last and 
faithful Bulletin on earth send forth, 
signed by his Imperial Majesty, the 
Commander in Chief of the infernal 
hosts. 

In it thy health, thy Fontainbleau 
excursion, summers’ days, a smiling 
sky, and snug warm winter-quarters, 
praise 3 and let not thy obsequious-^ 
ness to the supreme commands of the 
Generalissimo be forgotten. 

Deign, O Beelzebub, to keep this 
arch-fiend treble-ironed 3 and let the 
elites de demons “ guard the avenues ** 
of his dungeon. 

Oh, Satan, give this “ precious des¬ 
pot ” a good warm corner in Hell, 
and take him into thy tender keep¬ 
ing, for he has been thy faithful ser¬ 
vant 3 and, as he has relied on thee, 
let him partake of thy torments, now, 
and for evermore. 

Thus, the Monster’s race being 
run, return, O blessed peace ! and 
heal oppressed Europe’s bleeding 




£21] March 8, 1817. [2225 


wounds ; come at length, long-wish¬ 
ed for j and plentifully bestow thy 
precious gifts. 

Long mayest thou dwell among 
thy cherished Britons ! ready to con- 
quor, or, in their country’s cause, to 
die. 

This Parody is quite in the 
tone and spirit wherein the 
Times was conducted when the 
above Parody was published ; 
and being printed for Mr. James 
Richardson, whose respecta¬ 
bility, as a bookseller, and w hose 
LOYALTY, are undoubted, it 
must give the Times satisfaction, 
to see the Parody again in print. 
Mr. Richardson, also, will not 
quarrel with me, perhaps, for 
giving more extensive publicity 
to his very orthodox Parody . 
That gentleman is a true Church¬ 
man, as well as a Loyalist, and 
the Parody is right Loyal , as 
well as orthodox. Mr. Richard¬ 
son reads the Tunes , too, and 
therefore, the Times and Mr. 
Richardson will not fall out. 

Now it seems, that to publish a 
Parody of any part of the Liturgy, 
is the height of wickedness in 
me —and doubtless, in any pub¬ 
lication whatever, to call for 
People to be 4 numbered together 
in eternal damnation /’ w ould 
have been wrong in me —to de¬ 
sire that a whole heritage might 
4 be, not simply damned , but , 
damned to all eternity /’ would 
have been wrong in me —to ask 
4 Satan] to provide 4 a good warm 
corner in hell ’ for any body, 
would have been wrong in me — 
and Vice Societies, and so forth, 
wpuld have been called on to 
prosecute me . But as to Mr. 
Richardson, why, lie’s another 
man— he publishes all this in a 
Parody of the Church Service— 


but he is another sort of man— 
Mr. Richardson does not write 
and publish Reformists’ Registers , 
not he —and that makes all the 
difference! Surely the TVw?eswill 
not fall out with me, for repub¬ 
lishing this Parody of the Church 
Service, as published by Mr. 
Richardson, which 1 shall ven¬ 
ture to call, without meaning 
particular offence, a very Legi¬ 
timate Parody: and I shall also 
venture to admire it; and to be 
pleased with it; and to say it is 
a pretty Parody; and perchance, 
if l am found fault with—aye, 
not merely perchance, but for 
certain, if I am found fault with— 
I shall publish something further 
concerning this Parody —show¬ 
ing WHO approved of it, IIOW 
they approved of it, what they 
SAID of it, what they DID with 
it, WHERE it went to, and 
various little pieces of curious 
information concerning this same 
LEGITIMATE Parody , which 
some People do not dream of. 

Now all this the Times will 
not blame me for; particularly if 
this Legitimate Parody should 
turn out to be a production of 
the redoubtable Dr. SLOP, who, 
I take to myself the merit of 
having’ killed off, to the entire 
satisfaction of the Times , whilst 
he was in that Office. A little bet¬ 
ter than a year ago, the DOC¬ 
TOR was in a violent fit of swear¬ 
ing, and I discharged a shilling 
■quib at him, entitled 4 Buona- 
parte-phoeia, or Cursing made 
easy to the meanest capacityJ* 
It fell on his vitals, and in three 
days he swore no more ! — Dr. 
SLOP’S GHOST, however, has 
lately appeared in Crane Court, 
where it walks 44 regularly at 
SIX O’CLOCK every morning''* 




m'] 

It talks strangely about “con¬ 
sistent and honourable princi¬ 
ple ! reputation! unbiassed can¬ 
dour and fairness! unjustifiable 
►calumny! the fight ot science, 
of liberty, and of the gospel!”■— 
Alas, poor GHOST!!! It mutters 
of “ proprietors, who have em¬ 
barked their funds! the good 
things that God has given us ! 
one, and one only directing mind! 
transplanted fresh and living! 
and calls the Constitution a thing 
of permanence! and himself a 
profession al Gentlem an —rather 
Unceremoniously dragged for¬ 
ward !”—Alas, poor GHOST!!! All 
these ‘more last words’ are as 
droll as Dr. SLOP’S sayings 
when alive. Ghost as he now 
is—an airy nothing—instead of 
being 4 alone as he says, he is 
all the while accompanied by 
certain persons , who know him to 
be as mischievous as the 4 Spirit 
of the Chapel,* and watch him 
narrow] y. A professional Gen tie- 
man?—Poor SLOP!—still hanker¬ 
ing, after death, for the GREEN 
BAG, and a legitimate Ernul- 
prius, which rendered his illus¬ 
trious prototype in Sterne, im¬ 
mortal. He has lately annoved 

¥ ¥ 

* 1 $ by his gibbering in Crane 


[224 

Court; but let his Chostship re¬ 
member his fate, when in the 
body, or I will put my little 
finger upon him, and sink him a 
hundred fathom deep, whilst 
every living soul within hearing, 
will laugh at his lasfcsqueal. 

WILLIAM HONE* 

Friday , 7th March, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year , have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume’s History of England, or Gibbon's 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
be at one half the price ; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year, 
T\vo Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which be 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested; and the contents of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a Week, 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil¬ 
lings. 

No. VI. was published Saturday, March 
1st; the leading Article of which was on 
“ THE SUSPENSION OF THE HA¬ 
BEAS CORPUS ACT.” 


Hone’s Reformists’ IIegister 


London •. Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at C7 ,Old Bailey, three doors from LudgateHill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(poet paid) should he addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Tmo-Pwiiimj 
ettfti, l'&. 6d. per Hundred, or Si. 10s, per Thousand. 





Pi •ice Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 8.] Saturday, March 15, 1817. [Vol. L 


A LETTER 

1 TO 

ALEX. MACONOCIIIE, ESQ. 

HIS MAJESTY’S 

LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTLAND. 


Plagues of Egypt, and the Political 
Situation of England — Execution 
of CASHMAN—Kent Meeting 

for Reform - Distress of the 

Country —200 Arrests at Man- 
< hester - EATIISG HORSE¬ 

FLESH—Sir R. Wilson on the 
present System—CERTAINTY 
OF A NEW WAR—Sir Mark 
Wood, and the Borough of Gatton 
— Lord Chatham and Mr . Burke 
on Corruption—Westminster Ad¬ 
dress for removing Ministers — 
Reasons for their Removal . 


Wednesday, March 12, 1817. 

MY LORD, 

There are moments in a 
man's life, when the doing' what 
he ought to do gives him less 
immediate pain than the sin of 
omission. To such a period your 
Lordship and myself have ar¬ 
rived. I t;uow r not hqw you feel, 
' my Lord. Your Lordship is from 
a . country where those causes 
have ceased to operate, which 
create such feelings in political 
men. Thanks to the wisdom of 
my English ancestors, Scotland 
has long been saved the trouble 


of care for her political constitu¬ 
tion. Public spirit is not wanted 
in your country, my Lord, to 
guard public freedom. There—* 
privilege kindly takes the place 
of right; there—patronage blooms 
as broad and as gaudy as a sum- 
flower ; and there—through pa - 
trons alone, are good and ill dis¬ 
pensed to those whose duty it is 
to be thankful, and who, not being 
permitted to choose or reject 
either, receive what the Lairds 
send of each, in silent submission 
to their will. It was in allusion 
to Scotland, perhaps, that Bishop 
Horsley said, 4 The People have 
nothing to do with the laws, but 
to obey them/ 

Your Lordship finds things a 
little otherwise in South Britain* 
Public virtue, however useless 
in Scotland, is a quality in de¬ 
mand here; and we shall be 
thankful to your Lordship for as 
much of it as you can spare. 
You have not had time to show 
it yet, my Lord ; but, as no doubt 
44 you have come here for all our 
goods,” the sooner we experience 
your Lordship's usefulness the 
better. The time is now gone by 
for compliment—it is not neces¬ 
sary for either party to stand 
upon ceremony. In return for 
our little rills of comforting in¬ 
fluence, we are willing to accept, 
from your Lordship, in the name 
and on the behalf of the People 
i of Scotland, a reflux of grati- 














227] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [228 


tiule, a full tide of independence 
and patriotism. 

% this time, my Lord, you 
understand me. But it may be 
as well to enlighten your Lord¬ 
ship a little to the political si¬ 
tuation of England. You come 
to us in a season of great and un¬ 
exampled distress. The plagues 
of Egypt typify our calamity. As 
Aaron’s rod, which became a ser¬ 
pent, swallowed up those of the 
Egyptian magicians ; so, by an 
arbitrary and daring system of 
ministerial mis-rule, all petty evil, 
all individual vice, all social 
wickedness, are drawn together, 
and combined, in one body of 
general and wide-wasting Cor¬ 
ruption. Most fitly the plagues 
of"bail and tire, running along 
the ground, and the turning of the 
rivers into blood, denote the de¬ 
solation and carnage of wars 
wantonly commenced, and only 
terminated after unparalleled 
waste of human life. The plagues 
of flies, lice, and frogs, that in¬ 
fested the Royal Bedchamber, 
are figurative of the vermin and 
creeping things that are about the 
Court, fill our public-offices, and 
devour our substance. What 
could more aptly denote, than the 
murrain of beasts, the tax¬ 
ation and ruin which deprive the 
poor husbandman of the live 
stock he can no longer keep ? 
Who is at a loss to discover the 
locusts covering the earth, and 
eating every herb, and every 
green thing? The destruction 
of our first-born may he nearer 
at hand than your Lordship and 
I can at this moment see. Men 
already meet each other in gloomy 
despondency, with scarcely a 
ray of hope for future welfare. 
Thick darkness is over the land ; 


even darkness which may be 
felt. 

This is our political state, of 
which your Lordship shall judge 
for yourself. Amid so much of 
gloom and despair, as the last 
month has generated, there is 
nothing that cheers me to pro¬ 
ceed ; but having taken your 
Lordship under my arm, we must 
go forward. A\ hen Christian and 
Faithful were walking together? 
after journeying through the 
valley of the Shadow of Death, 
they talked of the terrible sights 
they met with in their way:—your 
Lordship, having me for a com¬ 
panion, on a similar journey, 
must he content with like dis¬ 
course. 

An object of this appalling 
nature is at hand. John Cash- 
man, the wretched sailor, con¬ 
cerned in the riot of the 2nd of 
December, was hanged to day. 

“ After due deliberation,” says 
the Conner , “ it was considered 
imperative, however painful the 
duty, to consign this unfortunate 
man to the fate apportioned by 
law to his offence. This morning 
was fixed for his execution, and, 
in order that it might produce a 
more lasting impression,” he was 
hanged opposite Mr. Beckwith’s 
house, in Skinner Street, upon 
Newgate gallows, which had 
been removed there for that pur¬ 
pose. When he was told on Sa¬ 
turday, that he was to die, he 
exclaimed with calmness, “ Well, 
if it must be so, 1 am ready to 
die!” The Courier then relates 
other particulars, some of which 
I extract:— 

He was visited by several of his 
friends, to whom lie spoke in an un¬ 
concerned manner. Among others, 
an Irish gentleman, named Upton, 



229] 

who lian been on a former occasion 
the landlord of his father. To this 
gentleman, Cashman spoke unre¬ 
servedly of his affairs—he said he was 
entitled to 2001. wages and prize 
money, about the disposition of which 
he was very anxious. Mr. Upton 
prepared, under his directions, a will, 
by which he disposed of this property 
in various ways ; he mainly left it, 
however, to purchase a boat for a 
brother of his, who had been a fisher¬ 
man on the coast of Ireland; to his 
mother; and for the payment of his 
debts, about which he appeared par¬ 
ticularly solicitous. This will be 
signed, and Mr. Upton promised to 
do all in his power to see it executed. 

Mr. Devereux states, that he had 
received a letter from Miss Upton, 
the daughter of the gentleman who 
has undertaken to administer to the 
will of the unhappy man, stating, that 
previous to his leaving Ireland, he was 
in the greatest distress, and on em¬ 
barking in the packet for England, 
had but two ten-penny pieces in his 
pocket. She added, that he had 
borne an irreproachable character. 

The prospect of being dragged to 
the scaffold in a cart, most agitated 
his mind. He said, “ He did not like 
to be taken like a vagrant through 
the streets; if he had been a felon or 
a murderer, he should not mind it; 
but when he was neither, he thought 
it was too bad.” Mr. Cotton kindly 
promised him, with a view to calm 
his feelings, that he would get him 
removed in a coach. At eight o’clock 
yesterday evening, he was brought 
from his cell up stairs, to one ad¬ 
joining the press-yard, in which he 
was to pass the night. In alluding 
to his approaching death, he said, 
“ he had often faced the enemy amidst 
a shower of balls, and with the d—1 
before him, without shrinking, and 
did not now fear to face his God!”— 
As he passed through the press-yard, 
he exclaimed, with an oath, “ 1 wish 
a forty-four pounder would now come 
and cut me in two, rather than 1 


[230 

should go into the hands of Jack 
Ketch!” In his cell, he was joined 
by the Rev. Mr. Devereux. Oc¬ 
casionally he was serious, but he fre¬ 
quently launched forth into comments 
on the nature of his past life, and 
talked of his fears of “being dragged 
like a vagrant through the streets.” 
On being exhorted to abandon these 
thoughts, he said “ he had no fear 
of death,, he wished the moment was 
then come, for he was ready to drop, 
but he did not like to be exposed like 
a common robber.” Mr. Devereux 
entreated him. to offer himself meekly 
to his Maker, as an atonement for his 
sins—he exclaimed, “ I do die wil¬ 
lingly, and would go to the mast-head 
now to reeve a rope for my death, for 
I know that my next voyage must lie 
to Jack Ketch !” A gentleman named 
Boyle, a Catholic, accompanied by 
two friends, and Quinland, to whom 
Cashman seemed attached, entered 
his cell, and sat up with him the 
whole night. Every attempt was 
made to awaken him to a sense of his 
situation; but he still seemed bent 
on a repetition of his supposed wrongs 
and former adventures. 

At six o’clock one of these gentle¬ 
men quitted his cell. He stated that 
the wretched man, during the early 
part of the night, indulged himself in 
making a variety of observations on 
the hardship of his case, and the in¬ 
justice with which he had been treated 
by Government; but that latterly he 
had become somewhat more composed, 
having obtained two hours’ sound 
sleep. Mr. Cotton, the Ordinary of 
Newgate, soon after entered the eon- 
demned cell, and endeavoured to rouse 
in the unhappy man a religious sense 
of his situation ; but he was continu¬ 
ally adverting to his exploits while in 
his Majesty’s service, arid lamenting 
that he was not to die at his quarters, 
instead of being dragged to the place 
of execution in a cart, like a va¬ 
grant.” He asked if he might not 
have a glass of grog. This was re¬ 
fused ; but he partook of some tea and 


March 15, 1817. 







Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



bread and butter. During the wffoie ; 
of this time he was pacing up and 
down his cell, in a very agitated; 
manner. Quinland was the person, 
who seemed to have the most influ¬ 
ence over him. They were left toge¬ 
ther for a few minutes. On the door 
being opened, for the purpose of re-, 
moving Quinland, Cdshman shook’ 
hands with him, and said, “ G'obd 
by, Quinland; I suppose I shall riot 
see you again before I kick the 
bucket.” Quinland rernairied in the 
cell until the -approach of the fatal 
moment. Cashman shook hands also 
with Mr. Smart, the turnkey, and re¬ 
quested he would “ give his compli¬ 
ments to the other officers.” Clean 
linen bei ng brought to him, he changed 
bis shirt and drawers, put on a sailor’s 
blue jacket and white trowsers, and 
tied on a black silk handkerchief. He 
then expressed his readiness to die, 
and the door of his cell opening for 
the admission of some one, he stepped 
forward with great alacrity, saying, 
“ Am I to go now?” Being brought 
"out,, he stood with much unconcern 
while his fetters were knocked off, 
looking at and assisting in the opera¬ 
tion. 11 is hands were tied, and on 
his arms being bound behind him 
with a cord, he called out to the She¬ 
riffs officer, in the sea phraseology, 
“ haul it tought$” and again express¬ 
ed his regret that he could not die at 
bis quarters, like a man. Mr. Cotton 
and Mr. Devercux in vain attempted 
to administer religious consolation to 
him. He exclaimed, “ Don’t bother 
me—it’s of no use—I know nothing 
at all about the matter.” The sub¬ 
jects which at that awful instant 
seemed nearest his mind, were the 
mode of his death, and the disposition 
of his little property. On his express¬ 
ing his uneasiness on this last head, 
the Sheriffs very benevolently assured 
him, that measures should be taken 
to cany into effect his wishes with 
respect to it. This assurance ap¬ 
peared to be very satisfactory to him 5 
and he said, gratefully, “ thank you. 


gentlemen.” Every thing being in 
readiness, the loud toll of the prison 
bell gave the signal for the proces¬ 
sion to move. 

Of the ten or twelve individuals 
present, Cashman was probably the. 
only one unappalied by the melan¬ 
choly sound. He looked about him 
with the most obdurate expression of 
countenance; cried, as if involuntarily, 
“ God bless you all ! ” and marched 
firmly through the various passages of 
the prison, to the debtor’s door, pre¬ 
ceded by the Sheriffs, and accompa¬ 
nied by the Ordinary and Mr. De- 
vereux. 

It Was about ten minutes before 
eight o’clock, when the culprit quitted 
the prison, and took his seat in the 
much dreaded cart , which was pre¬ 
pared for his reception. The execu¬ 
tioner and his assistant sat on each 
side of him. His firmness was una¬ 
bated, and not a muscle of his coun¬ 
tenance betrayed the slightest appear¬ 
ance of fear. During the short time 
which elapsed, while the Sheriffs, ac¬ 
companied by the Rev. Mr. Cotton 
and the Rev. Mr. Deveieux, were 
getting into their carriages, a few 
persons collected about the cart shook 
hands with him. Looking toward? 
the prison door, at which one of the 
turnkeys stood, he said, in a laughing 
manner, “ Good by. Bishop—God 
bless you, my hearty : ” and then ad¬ 
dressing himself to the others, he ex- 
claimod, “this is not for Cowardice — 
1 am not brought to this for any rob¬ 
bery—I am going to die j but I shall 
not shrink. If I wms at my quarters, 
I would not be killed in the smoke. 
I’d be in the fire. I have done no¬ 
thing against my King and country j 
but fought for them.” 

As he passed along, he nodded to 
the crowd, and continued to inveigh, 
in loud language, against the injus¬ 
tice of his punishment, declaring, that 
he had done nothing but what he w*as 
driven to, and that he had been rob¬ 
bed by merchants, as well as Govern¬ 
ment, of his due. “ This,” said he. 



233] March 15, 1817. [034 


is what has brought me here ! I 
always fought for my King and coun¬ 
try, and this is my end ! ” 

As the procession advanced, the 
mob expressed the strongest feelings of 
indignation j groans and hisses burst 
from^all quarters, and Cashtnan join¬ 
ed his voice to the shouts, crying out, 
“ hurrah! my boys. I’ll die like a 
man ! ” On his quitting the cart, and 
mounting the scaffold, the groans 
were redoubled : he seemed to enter 
into the spirit of the spectators, and 
joined in their exclamations, with a 
terrific shout. He repeated his former 
remarks on the supposed hardship of 
his case. His face was placed to¬ 
wards Hoiborn-hill, but he turned his 
head on all sides, and greeted the mob 
with cries of “ hurrah, my hearties in 
the cause! success ! cheer up !” The 
liev. Mr. Cotton and Mr. Devereux, 
exhorted him, but he pushed them 
aside, exclaiming, “ Don’t bother 
me—it’s no use—X want no mercy, 
but from God ! ” 

The executioner then came forward, 
and put the rope round his neck. 
This operation excited new tumults, 
and fresh exclamations of disapproba¬ 
tion burst from the crowd. On the 
night-cap being put over his face, he 
said, “ For God’s sake let me see to 
the last, I want no cap.” Jn this he 
was indulged, and the cap was with¬ 
drawn. He now turned towards Mr. 
Beckwith’s house, in an angry man¬ 
ner, and shaking his head, said, “ I’ll 
be with you—there,” meaning, he 
would haunt the house after his death. 
Again turning to the People, he cried, 
“ I am the last of seven of them that 
fought for my King and country ; I 
could not get my own, and that has 
brought me here.” The executioner 
having quitted the platform, the un¬ 
fortunate wretch addressed the crowd 
nearest him and exclaimed, " Now 
you—giye me three cheers when I 
trip.**—" Hurra you—.” And then, 
calling to the executioner, he cried 
out, “ come Jacll, you —* let go the 

* The term Cash man is said to have 


jib boom.” The few remaining 
seconds of his existence he employed 
in similiar addresses, and was cheer¬ 
ing at the instant the fatal board fell 
from beneath his feet. The cap was 
then drawn over his face, and he died 
almost without a struggle. A dead 
silence instantly prevailed, which con¬ 
tinued for a few moments. 

The populace expressed disgust and 
indignation towards every person who 
had takeQ a part in the dreadful exhi¬ 
bition. Cries of “ Murder ! Murder !” 
were distinctly heard from innumera¬ 
ble mouths, followed by cries of 
“ Shame ! Sharne !” “ Where are 

the Conspirators ? [meaning Vaughan, 
Brock, Pelham, and others.] Why 
not hang them ?” &e. Groans and 
hisses accompanied these allusions. 

Cashman, from his own account, 
it appears, was horn at sea, and lived 
a considerable time in America. His 
mother now resides near Cork in 
Ireland ; and he said, he had two 
brothers living, who were in the King’s 
service, but where they were just pre¬ 
vious to his death, Ire had no know¬ 
ledge. Oil Monday he was visited 
by his aunt and a cousin, of whom he 
took his leave in an affectionate man¬ 
ner. 

The Morning Chronicle re¬ 
marks, that “ it w as expected and. 
“ generally wished , that this man, 
“ who has received several wounds 
“ in the service of his country, 
“ and particularly one in the 
“ head, which frequently affected 
“ his intellects, should become 
“ an object of Royal clemency” 

“ He appears,” says the Times , 
“ to have been a fearless, callous- 
hearted man; who may proba- 
“ bly have been ill-used, and suf- 
a fered much. Into these tw r o 
4< latter circumstances, of which, 

used, is of disgusting import .to polished 
ears, but is the usual phrase of salutation 
amongst sailors, and as applied hy them in 
comnion conversation, is of the same mean¬ 
ing as * comrade’, or * good fellow’. 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [236 


“ at least, there is a general sus- 
44 picion, we hope an exact in- 
44 quiry will be instituted ; either 
“ that their falsehood may be 
44 proved, for the general satis- 
44 faction; or that the same provo- 
* cation, which drove this man 
“ to unhappy courses, may not be 
44 applied to others.” 

It is a circumstance deserving 
particular observation, that, as 
appears by the statements of the 
Courier , the execution of Cash- 
man took place in open day, four 
days after it was publicly known 
that it would take place; and 
that he was carried from the 
prison by police officers, to the 
dace of execution, and there 
langed, in the presence of an 
immense multitude, without a 
single soldier being seen, or any 
other visible sign of authority, 
than the constable’s staves. The 
military were in waiting at a dis¬ 
tance, and ready to be called in by 
signal; but notwithstanding the 
expression of feeling in the po¬ 
pulace, no violence rendered that 
measure expedient—such is the 
respect of Englishmen for the 
law. 

Obedience to the law is one of 
the most excellent features in the 
conduct of the People, amidst all 
their distresses ; and they have 
a clear right not only to laws 
purely made, but adapted to the 
circumstances under which they 
live. For the laws, however, to be 
just and suitable, Parliament, 
which is the fountain of law, must 
be itself pure and well informed ; 
its Members must be well ac¬ 
quainted with the wants and 
wishes of the People, and its pro¬ 
ceedings be independent of all 
undue influence; particularly 
of all dictation by Ministers. 


Now, although I think the 
House of Commons is at this 
very moment legislating in ig¬ 
norance of facts which they 
ought to have before them; yet 
I will not here take upon me to 
state the language in which I 
think the House ought to be ad¬ 
dressed ; not that I have any 
doubt of being able to draw up a 
Petition to the House, fully ex¬ 
pressive of what / conceive from 
observation and experience to be 
the wants and wishes of the 
People, but that I would rather 
refer to the sentiments of two 
Members of the House itself, at 
the Kent County Meeting', con¬ 
vened by the High Sheriff, at 
Maidstone, on Thursday last, to 
address the Regent on the late 
insult to his person, and to peti¬ 
tion for Parliamentary Reform— 
both which objects were carried 
with great unanimity. On this oc¬ 
casion, Mr.W. P.Honeywood, who 
moved the Petition to the House 
of Commons, in commenting on 
its different points, observed, that 
as all Governments were consti¬ 
tuted for the good of the go¬ 
verned, the People, while they 
gave allegiance, had a right to 
expect protection. Sir William 
Geary, Member for the county, 
then said, “ He had now sat in 
the House of Commons for three 
Parliaments, and he was con¬ 
vinced, that the VOTES , mannert 
and mode of election , are totally 
SUBVERSIVE OF THE CONSTI¬ 
TUTION he was sent to protect.” 
Mr. Calcraft, Member for Ro¬ 
chester, said, that “ he daily wit¬ 
nessed in the House of Commons , 
what he considered to he a disre¬ 
gard and inattention to the DIS¬ 
TRESSES OF THE PEO¬ 
PLE!” 







337] . March 

. • 

Here, my Lord, is a pretty pro¬ 
tore of tlie conduct of the Hon. 
House, into which you have just 
entered, by two Members of that 
i Foiise. Now, lest your Lordship 
may suppose there are no dis¬ 
tresses to regard or attend to, I 
submit the following' statement. 

A Committee, appointed to 
consider the best means of re¬ 
lieving- the distressed poor, in 
the parish of Melksli am, in Wilt¬ 
shire,' lately visited the district, 
including Bowerhill, Red Stocks, 
forest, and Sand ridge Hill; and 
out of 160 families inspected, 
found 141 families requiring re¬ 
lief. These 141 families, con¬ 
sisting of 560 persons, earned 
only £51. 12$. Gd. per week ; but 
they received £7. 5 s. 2d. per 
week, parish pay, &c. making 
£58. l?s. 8 d. per week, or 2s. 1 \(1. 
per week, per head, or from 
to 3ld. per day; being' about the 
price of 11b. of bread, leaving 
nothing for other, or further sub¬ 
sistence, or for clothes, washing, 
fuel, candles, rent, See. —Now 
when it is considered, that from 
os. to 5 s. Gd. per week, is the 
lowest sum per head, whereon 
the parishes keep their paupers, 
it is quite plain, that the poor 
creatures in this district, of 
Melksham Parish, having scarcely 
more than one third of parish 
allowance, must be in a most 
lamentable state. But looking' 
nearer home, distress will be 
found of a most appalling nature, 
as the following circular testifies. 

" ST. MARY, ROTHERHITHE. 

“ 17th February, 1817. 

ce At a Vestry held this day at the 
Parish Church, to take into con¬ 
sideration the present extraordinary 
and pressing wants of the Poor,—it 


15, 1817. [238 

was resolved unanimously, that the 
Officers be requested to apply to the 
Inhabitants, to raise a voluntary Sub¬ 
scription, in aid of the fund now in 
hand, to relieve the wants and ne¬ 
cessities of the labouring Poor of this 
Parish. 

“The-unprecedented distress ot 
the labouring Classes of the Com¬ 
munity, arising solely from a stag¬ 
nation in Trade; and the high prices 
of the necessary articles of life, hav¬ 
ing reduced many honest and indus¬ 
trious families (who have hitherto sup¬ 
ported themselves with decency) tor the 
severest privations and distress, calls 
for immediate attention; and as many 
of them are now employed by the Over¬ 
seers, at the rate of One Shilling per 
Day; and many others making ap¬ 
plications to the same effect, who must 
unavoidably be rejected, from the low 
state of the funds; the Officers res¬ 
pectfully and confidently appeal to the 
liberality of the Parishioners j trust¬ 
ing they will come forward in aid of 
so benevolent a design, which may be 
the means of preventing the most de¬ 
plorable and afflicting result to the 
unhappy sufferers! 

“ The Officers will take an early 
opportunity of waiting upon the In¬ 
habitants, to receive such Subscrip¬ 
tions as they may severally think 
proper to contribute. 

“ By Order of the Churchwardens, 
&c. 

“ M. NOTTINGHAM, 
“ Vestry Clerk.” 

In St. Mary, Rotherhithe, your 
Lordship sees, that persons of 
honest and industrious families 
are employed by the overseers , 
at Is. per day; and that others 
of these persons, who have hitherto 
supported themselves in decency , 
cannot be employed, or in other 
words, cannot be fed by parish 
rates, which are as high in that 
parish as they can be. Looking 
still nearer home, an inhabitant 




Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [240 


of St. Martin’s parish, which, by 
the by, is the Prince Regent’s 
parish, and incitides a great 
many opulent inhabitants, writes 
me, on the 4th of March, that 
44 the united parishes of West- 
44 minster hare been for these 
44 6 weeks relieving 3470 fa- 
44 inilies! that the funds are now 
44 nearly exhausted, and the same 
“ misery remaining. What still 
44 makes a deeper impression on 
4 ‘ the minds of the humane sub- 
44 scribers,is, that notwithstanding 
44 this, it all requires doing over 
44 again —there is no likelihood 
44 of an extension of charity, this 
44 district not standing alone. 
44 What will be the consequence 
44 of this approaching wretched- 
44 ness, requires a greater phi- 
44 losopher than me to determine ; 
44 but I hope that REFORM will 
44 be pursued with the utmost 
44 vigour,” 

Having just cast your eye, my 
Lord, over these little intro¬ 
ductory notices, which are mere 
symptoms of the state of the 
country, I think yen can have 
no doubt of its languishing trade, 
its palsied industry, its half smo¬ 
thered deep distress. 44 We ad- 
4 * mit,” says a paper of yesterday, 
44 that in various parts of the 
kingdom, the labouring me- 
44 chanics have suffered, and are 
44 suffering, a pressure of distress 
44 most painful to contemplate. 
44 We have heard of a whole 
44 township , which in the course 
44 of last year, paid not a penny 
64 of rent; where the inhabitants 
64 had sold or pawned nearly all 
44 their furniture; even scarcely 
64 any of them more than half 
44 clothed; 7m A fedfrom one week’s 
44 end to another , on nothing but 
“ oatmeal and water l’ 9 Now this 


is a statement made by the Editor 
himself who is a red-hot minis¬ 
terialist, who if it were not true , 
dare as well eat his own flesh, as 
tell it. But your Lordship will 
ask, why does this man give in¬ 
formation to the Public, dis¬ 
agreeable to his Patrons? J will 
tell you my Lord :—-his Patrons 
can no longer keep it close; and 
such sort of men have their cue, 
to let a little of the bad news 
leak out to the public-^-to pre¬ 
pare them for a great deal more /— 
But come, my Lord, let us look at 
this afternoon’s Courier; which 
contains the account of C ash m an, 
and is, you know, what is called the 
Government paper. The leading 
article , headed in capital letters, 
begins thus^ 

“ IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE 
FROM MANCHESTER, &c. 

“ We announced yesterday, that 
four persons had been taken into 
custody at Manchester, on suspicion 
of treasonable practices, and that 
others were expected to be appre¬ 
hended. This morning we havfe fur¬ 
ther and MOST IMPORTANT 1XR 
FORMATION, which we subjoin, 
A MEETING was held at Man¬ 
chester, on Monday; previous to 
which, it was intimated, that the num¬ 
bers collected on that day, would 
proceed to London, to present a PE¬ 
TITION to the Prince Regent in 
person, for the purpose of ' UNDE¬ 
CEIVING HIM.’ Placards were 
stuck up, and hand-bills distributed. 
The people of Stockport were invited 
to join those of Manchester, on Lan¬ 
cashire Hill. Several emissaries were 
at work during the week, making 
every effort to inflame the public 
mind, and to engage a large mass to 
assemble on the day appointed. It 
was insinuated that 25,000 stand of 
arms at Birmingham might be se¬ 
cured. Information of these pror 






241] March 15, 1817. [212 


ceedmgs was sent to the Secretary of 
State’s Office, and reached town on 
Friday night. Immediate measures 
were adopted. A Magistrate and 
King’s Messenger were despatched 
with warrants, and, as we stated yes¬ 
terday, four were apprehended on 
Sunday. 

“ Meanwhile the active Com¬ 
mander of the District, Sir John 
Byng, and the Magistrates, had 
taken precautions. The Stockport 
troop had orders to meet; two troops 
from Macclesfield, and three from 
Knutsford, were also directed to be 
at Saleinoor (the usual spot for re¬ 
views, near Manchester), so as to be 
in readiness to act, in case-of emer¬ 
gency.” 

i( Manchester, Tuesday, March I i. 

“ We find it was among the notifica¬ 
tions at the Meeting on the 3d inst. 
near St. Peter’s Church, corroborated 
in the course of last week, by the de¬ 
clarations of individuals who have 
been actively engaged in promoting 
the late seditious Meetings, that the 
espousers of their doctrines should 
c ollect at the same place, the Monday 
following (yesterday), and proceed to 
the Metropolis, at 9 o’clock, to pre¬ 
sent a PETITION to the Prince 
Regent, that they might be enabled 
r to undeceive him* Aware of these 
intentions, and of the clangers which 
a?i immense influx of strangers, irri¬ 
tated by the inflammatory appeals of 
their factious leaders (who, under the 
pretence of promoting PARLIA¬ 
MENTARY REFORM, have been 
for a length of time past agitating the 
minds of the labouring class of so¬ 
ciety), portended, the conservators of 
the public tranquillity took every pre¬ 
caution adequate to the occasion. 

“ Yesterday morning, according to 
the expectations entertained, crowds 
of people flocked into town, from all 
directions, as early as 8 o’clock; and 
at about 9, the instigators appeared 
on their temporary stage, in a cart, 
and continued to harangue the mul¬ 
titude, till their vast increasing num¬ 


bers suggested the EXPEDIENCY 
of putting into practice the WELL- 
FORMED ARRANGEMENTS of 
the civil and military powers. Ae- 
jcordinglv, a party of the first regi- 
|mcnt of dragoons, under Colonel 
Teesdale, accompanied by the Ma¬ 
gistrates of the district, appeared 
amongst them : and, with an adroit¬ 
ness and decision almost electrical, 
i surrounded the erection, and imme¬ 
diately conveyed the entire group 
upon it to the New Bayley Prison : 
their attention was next directed to 
the concourse of auditors, w r ho v/eie 
forthwith dispersed, without the in¬ 
fliction of any severity. 

“ An arrest had taken place, early 
on Sunday morning, of Joiinston and 
Ogden, who had previously figured- 
at this place, and they Were secured in 
the New Bayley. Others were seized 
by the soldiers on their way to deliver 
their charge in Salford. The follow¬ 
ing are the names of prisoners 

“ Drummond, Bingley (the two 
orators). Handring, Grimshaw, Lin- 
guard, Quincy, Shaw, Wood, Har¬ 
graves, Lever, Shawcross, two Wil¬ 
liamses, Tucker, Whitworth, Odder, 
Bousfield, Kay, Letgar, Blackshaw, 
Simms, Thomason, Barlow, Cuth- 
bird, Lees, Hudson, and Higginbot- 
tom (the owner of the cart on which 
the stage was fixed). 

“ A considerable number of Peo¬ 
ple set out on their mission to London, 
taking the route of Stofckport, but 
about 40 of them were reconducted to 
Manchester , and added to their other 
unfortunate companions ; others were 
furnished secure accommodations in 
Stockport. Most, of them were pro¬ 
vided with knapsacks, &c. containing 
blankets, and Other articles. Upon 
the examination of some of these tra¬ 
velling equipages, two unusually large 
knives were discovered. 

tf Johnston, Ogden, &c. will be 
despatched, without loss of time, un¬ 
der escort, to the Secretary of State, 
in London. 

“ We shall desist from entering 






Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [244 


further, at. present, into the cases of 
these characters, as they will probably, 
hereafter, be the subject of high judi¬ 
cial inquiry. 

“ The military preparations were 
under the direction of Sir John Byng, 
the Commander of the District, who 
arrived in Manchester on Sunday. A 
party of the 54th Regiment of Foot, 
were present, to render their assist¬ 
ance. 

“ We may fairly presume, that at 
one period, there was an assemblage 
of at least 30,000 at the meeting; and 
we believe we do not over-rate the 
arrivals in the course of the day, at 
from 60 to 70,000 individuals. 

No particular act of outrage OR 
INTEMPERANCE, has yet reached 
our cars, and we cannot help feeling 
highly indebted to the judicious and 
salutary interposition of the respec¬ 
tive authorities, for the satisfactory re¬ 
sult of this day’s transactions! 

“ As we are closing this account, 
we have authority to state, that the 
apprehensions are nothing short of 
two hundred persons.”— Manchester 
Mercury. 

“ To the above account, we sub¬ 
join the following — 

“ Macclesfield Courier Office, March 10. 

“ On Sunday morning, the Magis¬ 
trates of Manchester, deeming it ne¬ 
cessary to strengthen the military 
force in that neighbourhood, in conse¬ 
quence of the declared intent of some 
thousands of the population, to proceed 
in person to Carlton-House, with a 
PETITION to the Regent, forwarded 
expresses to the several troops of the 
Prince Regent’s Regiment of Cheshire 
Yeomanry Cavalry, requiring their 
immediate aid. The same evening, 
five troops marched into Manchester, 
and the remaining three troops were 
disposed in Stockport and Maccles¬ 
field, to prevent the SUSPECTED 
PROGRESS of the Petitioners in that 
direction. 

Early on Monday morning, the 
streets of Manchester were crowded 


by thousands, of whom a great part 
were prepared with blankets and bun¬ 
dles, for the march to London : by the 
activity of, the Magistrates, however, 
and the military at their disposal, 
every one most active in haranguing 
the multitude, all who had the appear¬ 
ance and character of ringleaders, 
were arrested and imprisoned on the 
spot. This CAUTIONARY MEA¬ 
SURE, for the POSSIBILITY of 
which, we are indebted to the SUS¬ 
PENSION of the HABEAS COR¬ 
PUS ACT, disorganized the plans of 
the Petitioners to such an extent, that 
a few thousands only, who eluded, by 
obscure passages, the vigilance of the 
soldiers, succeeded in penetrating to 
the bridge of Stockport, and here they 
were encountered by a troop of the Life 
Guards, and a troop of the Maccles¬ 
field squadron of the Prince Regent’s 
Yeomanry. No attempt was made 
to force the bridge, but many threw 
themselves into the river, and crossed it 
wherever it teas fordable. This cir¬ 
cumstance, added to another, that the 
streets of Stockport ivere literally 
wedged full of the inhabitants of the 
vicinity, constrained the troops to 
withdraw from the bridge, over which, 
of course, the Petitioners had after¬ 
wards a free passage. In the thorough¬ 
fare of the town, however, all those 
who had prepared themselves with the 
necessaries of ci march (commonly com¬ 
prising a blanket, and a few days’ 
provision), were arrested, partly by the 
laudable activity of the Stockport, Po¬ 
lice, and partly by the alertness of 
the military force 3 and were in the 
course of the day, despatched, under 
escort, to the New Bayley Prison, at 
Manchester. The persons apprehend¬ 
ed, might be 200 in number 3 one indi¬ 
vidual was so severely wounded, that 
his life was despaired of. Not more 
than 500, out of the many thousands 
assembled in the morning, penetrated 
so far as Macclesfield, where a troop of 
the Yeomanry had remained to provide 
against such a contingency 3 and we 
have authority, 011 which we can rely. 




245] March 1 

tor positively stating, that no more 
than 20 persons proceeded from Mac¬ 
clesfield into the adjoining county of 
Staffordshire. 

“ Nothing could be more wretched 
and pitiable, than the appearance of 
the few who reached this town; some 
actually fainting from weariness; and 
all of them without baggage, or any 
apparent resourse, with which to pro¬ 
ceed 20 miles further toward London. 
It is now eleven o’clock, p. m. ; pa- 
troles of cavalry, and special consta¬ 
bles, are continually passing, but in 
other respects the town is as tranquil 
as usual. The behaviour of the Magis¬ 
trates, not only compassionate, but 
judicious, in permitting the DELU¬ 
DED WRETCHES to seek lodging 
without impediment, for this single 
night, will, in all probability, have the 
happy effect, of inducing them to re¬ 
turn home, without further alarm to 
the country, and what was most im¬ 
minent, ivithout further peril to the 
UNFORTUNATE VICTIMS them¬ 
selves .” 

From these statements, my 
Lord, it appears, that the People at 
Manchester are in very great dis¬ 
tress—that they met in a large 
body, to PETITION for Reform 
and Retrenchment—that they 
neither manifested emir aye or 
intemperance —that whilst quietly 
listening to the speeches from 
the hustings, they were broken 
in upon by soldiers—that this 
disturbance of the Meeting by 
troops was in consequence of 
previous arrangements between 
the civil and Ml LIT A R Ypowers 
—that the military surrounded 
the hustings , and carried off all 
the speakers to prison —that the 
military next entirely dispersed 
the Meeting, without the inflic¬ 
tion of any severity —that is, I 
suppose, they did not shoot the 
Petitioners, or cut them down 
—that the military seized a num- 


5, 1817. [24b 

her of the Petitioners, who were 
on the road to London, to present 
their Petitions, and sent them 
back to Manchester prison, or 
provided them, as the Manches¬ 
ter Herald says, ‘ with secure ac¬ 
commodations at Stockport *— 
and, finally, beside some minor 
particulars, we are told that this 
arrest of the Manchester Petiti¬ 
oners by the military, is A CAU¬ 
TIONARY MEASURE, for 
the POSSIBILI TY of which we 
are indebted to the SUSPEN¬ 
SION OF THE HABEAS 
CORPUS ACT. 

Entreating your Lordship to 
bear this in recollection, I wish 
your Lordship good night. 


Thursday, March 13. 

Recollecting that to the Habeas 
Corpus Suspension Bill is attri¬ 
buted the power of preventing 
the Meeting at Manchester from 
proceeding- with its Petitions, 
and that such Meeting was called 
under the pressure of severe dis¬ 
tress, 1 for one moment beg' your 
Lordship also to recollect, that 
though the Suspension Bill, en¬ 
forced by the military, is fully 
competent to disperse a petition¬ 
ing body of 30,000 men, it cannot 
alleviate the distress of one man— 
it cannot prevent his goods being- 
seized for taxes, or distrained for 
rent, or prevent him from being 
idle when he has no work, or 
j being put into jail when he has 
no money to pay his debts, or 
prevent his family from being 
hungry when they have nothing 
to eat, or save them from dying 
at the end of four or fiv e days, if 
thev go without food.that length 
of time : the Suspension Bill can- 
not prevent any of these things; 






$47] Hone’s Reformists Register* [248 


and therefore the remedy for 
such distress must be sought 
elsewhere. 

A person, calling- himself S. 
Gray, Esq., and apparently well 
disposed, has lately published a 
quarto volume, inti tied, 4 The 
Mappiness of Slates; in which, 
seeming' to imagine, that the 
country does not produce food 
equal to its consumption, he se¬ 
riously suggests that we should 
eat the horse. He says, that 
“ Great Britain alone, from not 
eating him, loses a quantity of 
subsistence, sufficient to feed an 
additional population of about 
500,000.” Now this may be all 
very true, and 1 think the don- 
kies may as well be calculated 
upon as the dobbins; but if it is 
really proposed that we shall 
eat either horse-flesh or ass-flesh, 
^ I hope the example will be set 
us by our betters; and as Mr. 
Gray is, I understand, in a Go¬ 
vernment Office, I would recom¬ 
mend my Lord Castlereagh to 
him, as his first customer. Be¬ 
fore I eat dogs-meat, I should 
particularly like my Lord Castle- 
reagh’s opinion of its flavour. 
We have lately heard of Minis¬ 
ters finding a mare’s nest; they 
may now turn nackermen. The 
dog’s-meat and cat’s-meat sellers 
should retire; and their ware 
f!eing' dignified by man’s use, be 
called by such names no more. 
A Board of Distribution, with 
Commissioners, at proper salaries, 
might be appointed, to sit in full 
costume , and superintend the 
venders, who should have state 
livery jackets, with sleeves, and 
aprons, agreeably to a new re¬ 
gulation. To bring the food into 
fashion, the chump-end of an old 
mare might be introduced as a 


novelty, at my Lady C—’s enter¬ 
tainment ; and a horse roasted 
whole, be a standing dish at the 
cabinet dinners. With what ex¬ 
pressive admiration my Lord 
Castlereagh would gaze on its 
fundamental features; and how 
eagerly his dearly and -well-be¬ 
loved brother Counsellor, Mr. 
Canning, would proke about for 
the merry-thought! 

I beg pardon, my Lord, for 
seeming lo trifle. These are not 
times when Mr. Gray or Mr. Any¬ 
body should hint at horse-Jtesh , 
either as a substitute or an addi¬ 
tion to human diet in England. 
We live in a period of over¬ 
whelming calamity. Every man 
is seeking to avert it from him¬ 
self; anil, in endeavouring to 
provide a remedy, naturally looks 
for the cause, and turns his eye 
upon Parliament, for relief from 
the system w hich has been pro¬ 
lific of the evil. Sir Robert 
Wilson well pourtrayed its con-? 
sequences,at the Maidstone Meet-* 
ing, in these words :— 

f< The consequences of this system 
are forty-six millions of permanent 
annual taxes, which, notwithstanding 
their intolerable exaction, are not 
adequate to the payment of the pub¬ 
lic creditors and the expenses of the 
State—eight millions of annual poor 
rates, which are not sufficient to feed 
and clothe the hungry and the naked ; 
such are the legacies left us by succes-? 
sive Parliaments, in which Ministers 
had such undue and absolute influence 
as to insure the approval of all their 
measures, except in one or two instant 
ces, where the individual interests of 
the Members constituting the Ma¬ 
jority, were immediately concerned. 
To that influence must be attributed 
the sanction of a system of policy, 
which, notwithstanding all our sacri¬ 
fices for Europe, has made us the 





249] March 

object of her‘general enmity—which 
lias arrayed against our character and 
interests the Italian, the German, the 
Belgian, the Foie, and the Norwegian, 
and has even given France a right to 
reproach England with the most fla¬ 
grant abuse of power and violation of 
good faith—a system which has 
overthrown the principles of our 
Constitution, (those principles for 
the maintenance of which, the 
House of Brunswick was placed on 
the throne of this kingdom,) by 
emptying a British army to guard 
the system of Legitimacy in France, 
in opposition to the wishes of a free 
People—a system, which, suffering as 
we now are, has given to us THE CER¬ 
TAINTY OF ANOTHER WAR 
(probably at no very distant period), 
in support of the succession of a hate¬ 
ful dynasty— [loud applause]— a 
system of policy which introduced 
torture into Ireland—that torture 
which I mvself witnessed, and whose 
dreadful images I never remember 
without shuddering—a torture where 
the innocent were not only confound¬ 
ed with the guilty by unsupported 
charges, but where the lash (as I de¬ 
clare to God, 1 saw it myself) was ap¬ 
plied promiscuously on the chance of 
extorting a confession, or obtaining 
an accusation—a system which has 
suspended the pride of your birthright 
and the shield of your liberties— 
[loud applause]— a system of policy 
which only requires the establishment 
of a censorship over the Press, to ac¬ 
complish all which it has been said 
by the scoffers of the Holy League, 
was proposed by that alliance j viz. 
“ To majee every man in Europe a 
slave in his person and a brute in his 
mind.” All this would not have hap¬ 
pened, if a constitutional union had 
existed between the People and their 
Representatives—if abuses had not 
existed, which proved sources of life 
to the power destroying your freedom 
and happiness.” 

I will now present to your 
Lordship's view, the present state 

of a BOROUGH, which I think 


15, 1817. [250 

was once represented by a gen¬ 
tleman, who executes the high 
official duties in England, which 
I believe your Lordship does 
in Scotland, I mean Sir Wil¬ 
liam Gar row, his Majesty's At - 
tomey General. 

BOROUGH OF GATTON, 

IN THE COUNTY OF SUKRY. 

According to Mr. Oldfield, in 
his Representative History, this 
borough, which sends TWO 
Members to Parliament, was the 
property of the late Sir George 
Colebrooke; he having failed, it 
was sold by his assignees to 
Sir W. Maine, who was soon 
afterwards created Lord New- 
haven, of the kingdom of Ire¬ 
land, for what reason is unknown; 
hut of course, not because he 
was a borough proprietor. After 
this, it was purchased upon specu - 
lotion , by Mr. Percy, a sugar 
baker, and a Mr, Graham, who 
sold it again, to the late Robert 
Ladbroke, Esq. the banker. In 
1795, it was purchased of Mr. 
Ladbroke, by John Petrie, Esq. 
for one hundred and ten thousand 
pounds ; of which sum, £50,000 
w as to be kept in hand by the 
purchaser, as w as understood, to 
answer a claim that Government 
had upon the effects of Sir George 
Colebrooke. The new proprietor, 
Mr. Petrie, failed, and his as¬ 
signees sold it to Mark Wood, 
Esq., who, since the purchase , has 
been created a Baronet —of 
course, as I said before, res¬ 
pecting Lord New haven, not be¬ 
cause he is a borough proprietor. 
This borough consists of only six 
houses ; and the right of election 
being in the freeholders , having 
such freeholds in their own oc¬ 
cupation, and in the inhabitants , 
paying scot and lot , Sir Mark 



351] 

Wood, being* proprietor of the 
whole borough, is the only free¬ 
holder. , and by possessing' the 
six houses, by occupying one 
himself, and by letting the other 
live by the week, for which he 
pays the taxes, he is the only 
Elector of its TWO Repre¬ 
sentatives! 

Sir Mark Wood thus unites 
in himself the functions of sole 
freeholder, or proprietor of the 
borough; its sole elector, and 
one of its representatives in Par¬ 
liament—its magistrate, church¬ 
warden* overseer, surveyor of 
highways, and collector of I 


[252 

taxes. The return of its Mem¬ 
bers is made at the court leet, 
where Sir Mark Wood sits by 
himself, in all the above capaci¬ 
ties, and composes by himself the 
whole court; and as such, ap¬ 
points the constable, who is the 
returning officer, to take the elec¬ 
tion ; and who may, if Sir Mark 
chooses himself, be himself the 
constable, to take the election of 
himself, by himself, and to make 
the return of himself, and his 
son Mark Wood, Esq. who is the 
other Hon. Member, representing 
the Borough!!! 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


RECAPITULATION, 

BOROUGH OF GATTON. 


Proprietors. 

Magistrates... 

Churchwardens. 

Overseers of the Poor. 

Vestrymen. 

Surveyors of the Highways. 

Collectors of the Taxes. 

Candidates at the last Ele< tion .. TWO. .,f 

Voters at the last Election. 

Representatives returned at theq r r r 
last Election.I ^ ^ O. 


What is this ? Is this Repre¬ 
sentation ? Is it not the freehold 
possession of a seat in the House 
of Commons in perpetuity. 

By the Statutes 1 of Henry IV. 
cap. iii. aud iv. and 39 Henry VI. 
cap i.— 

“ The Parliaments of the 21st of 
Richard II., at Westminster, and that 
oi the 38th of Henry VI., at Coven¬ 
try, arc adjudged and declared void , 
and no Parliament at all, but unlaw¬ 
ful ; yea, devilish assemblies and ordi- 


ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 
ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 
ONE.. . Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M.P. 
ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M.P. 
ONE.... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 
ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 
ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 

Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 

His Son, Mark! Wood, Esq. M. P. 
ONE... Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M. P. 

Sir Mark Wood, Bart. M.P. 

His Son, Mark Wood, Esq. M. P- 

nances ; because in the first of them, 
the Knights were not duly' elected by 
the Commons, according to law and 
custom, but by the Kings pleasure. — 
And because the latter of them was 
unduly summoned, by divers seditious 
and evil-disposed persons about the 
King—and a great part of the knights 
of divers counties of the realm—and 
many burgesses and citizens for divers 
boroughs and cities appearing in the 
same, were named and returned, and 
accepted without due and free elec¬ 
tion ) some of them without any elec- 













253 ] March 

tion, by means and labour of the said 
persons, against the course of the laws 
and liberties of the Commons of the 
realm.” 

IV hat would they who made 
these statutes have said to such 
a borough as Gattonf The great 
Lord Chatham observes, that a 
borough, which perhaps no 
man ever saw, is what is called the 
rotten part of the Constitution. 
It cannot continue a century; if 
it does not drop off, it must be 
amputated Who holds this 
true English language now ? 
Mr. Burke, who understood these 
matters well, affirms, that “ cor¬ 
rupt influence is itself the peren¬ 
nial source of all disorder, which 
loads us more than millions of 
debt, which takes away all vigour 
from our arms—all authority from 
our government—and all wisdom 
from our councils.*’ Lord Shel¬ 
burne, who was himself a Minis¬ 
ter, denounces to the House, “ the 
servile followers of the Minister, 
ready to obey every mandate he 
thinks proper to issue; totally im¬ 
mersed in the deepest and dirtiest 
ways of Corruption, and lost to 
every sense of their own duty, and 
Constitutional importance in the 
state.” And his Lordship de¬ 
clares, that “ before tin’s country, 
or its Constitution, is recovered , 
that CORRUPT HOUSE must 
be new modelled. It is at pre¬ 
sent fin 1778], the source of all 
CORRUPTION and misfortunes: 
and if all other means should 
fail, the people will probabltf rise , 
and drag their CORRUPT and 
VENAL’ REPRESENTATIVES 
from their seats.” 

I purposely abstain from ad¬ 
ding a word of my own to these 
high authorities, which are 
brought together and quoted, in 
Mr. Walter Fawkes’s English - 


5, 1817. [254 

mans Manual , from whence I 
have taken them. 

It is now time that 1 should 
assign my reasons for troubling 
His Majesty’s Loan Advocate 
of Scotland with a public letter, 
in a little fortnight after taking his 
seat in the House of Commons ; 
but I am obliged to defer my 
reason until the next No. in order 
to include the address of the 
Westminster Meeting, in Palace 
Yard, yesterday. 

ADDRESS • 

TO II. R. H. THE PRINCE REGENT. 

" The dutiful and loyal Address of 
the Citizens of Westminster, in 
public Meeting assembled. 

May it please your Royal Highness, 

“ We, his Majesty’s loyal subjects, 
the Citizens of Westminster, always 
unwilling to approach your Royal 
Highness with the expression of any 
sentiments other than those of affec¬ 
tion and gratitude, feel the deepest 
sorrow at being compelled, upon this 
occasion, to approach you with a re¬ 
cital of grievances and injuries, such 
as we firmly believe were wholly un¬ 
known to Englishmen in any former 
age. 

“ After a war of twenty-five years’ 
duration—after sacrifices of blood and 
treasure unparalleled in the history of 
the world—after seeing ourselves be¬ 
reft of fathers, brothers, sons, and 
friends without number, in this long 
and bloody struggle—we expected, 
and we were led to expect, as the re¬ 
ward of all our sacrifices and exer¬ 
tions, that real peace, and that lasting 
happiness and security, which, as we 
were told, it was impossible for us t© 
enjoy, without those sacrifices and ex¬ 
ertions. 

“ But, alas ! instead of real peace, 
we see established an immense stand¬ 
ing army, the persons belonging to 
which arc now to be separated Wholly 
from the People, by a law, which, on 
the vague charge of attempting to so-* 




*255] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [£36 


Jucc them from their duty, makes 
any communication with them at¬ 
tended with the danger of an igno¬ 
minious death ; and which law, by 
being made perpetual, but too plainly 
avows the intention of making a 
standing army a settled and integral 
part of the Government of our coun¬ 
try, in which standing armies have 
always heretofore been held in such 
abhorrence. Instead of that happi¬ 
ness, which w r e were so repeatedly 
promised, we find ourselves plunged 
into misery unspeakable 5 and while 
distress, bankruptcy, and ruin, are 
sweeping before them the middle class 
of society, the labouring classes are 
actually perishing under the various 
and indescribable sufferings of a state 
bordering on absolute starvation. In- 
stead of that security, which was to 
be the great prize of all our warlike 
achievements, every man of us now 
feels that he sits in that house, which 
the ancient law called his castle, at 
the mere mercy of a Secretary of 
State; that he has no security for any 
one moment of his life ; that he walks 
at large and breathes the open air, 
solely at the will of another j and, of 
course, that he is a slave, and a slave 
too the more degraded, because his 
forefathers were free. 

“ Such, may it please your Royal 
Highness, is the reward which we 
have received for twenty-five years of 
toil and bloodshed j such is the balm for 
the hearts of the widows and orphans 
made by the war; such is the result of 
a deadly contest for f social order;’ 
such is the wretched and shameful 
stale' to which England has at last 
been reduced by the measures of those 
Ministers, who, as the only answer to 
our repeated and humble supplications 
for the lightening of our burdens, and 
for the restoration of our undoubted 
and unalienable rights, have shaken 
the halter in our faces, and have rat¬ 
tled in our ears the keys of the dun¬ 


geon ; and whom we, therefore, most, 
humbly, but most earnestly, implore 
your Royal Highness to remove from 
your Councils and confidence for ever, 
as the first step necessary to prevent 
England, once so happy, so mighty, 
and renowmed, from becoming a heap 
of mins, a by-word and a reproach 
amongst the nations of the earth.” 

During* the administration of 
these ministers, not a single advan¬ 
tage for constitutional freedom has 
been obtained; not a restriction 
upon it loosened; yet the endea¬ 
vours for both have been earnest 
and incessant. Pursuing an unde- 
viating* and successful career of 
shameless profligacy, they have 
added to our burdens, and have be¬ 
come as daring’ as they are wicked. 
Setting the sense of the whole na¬ 
tion at defiance, the strength of the 
whole nation is required to assail 
them. Every man throughout the 
country should sign Petitions to 
the Throne for their removal. 
Petition by counties—Petition by 
cities—Petition by boroughs—■ 
Petition by corporations—Peti¬ 
tion by tow ns—Petition by parishes 
—Petition collectively—Petition 
singly—Petition by every possi¬ 
ble means. The ear of the Prince 
Regent being* once obtained—the 
sense of the country being once 
universally expressed to him, his 
Royal Highness cannot, will not, 
refuse to dismiss these odious 
men from his councils for ever! 

This, my Lord, is my belief, 
and the course I recommend to my 
countrymen. I have the honour 
to he, my Lord, your Lordship’s 
obedient Servant, 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Friday, 1 4th March, 1817. 


London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludcate Hill ; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should be addressed; and sold at f»f», Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
each, 12s. 6d. per Hundred, or 51. IOs. per Thousand, 






I _ _ 

Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 9.] 


Saturday, March 22, 1817. 


[Vol. i. 


A SECOND LETTER 

TO 

A. MACONOCHiE, ESQ. M. P. 

ins majesty’s 

LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTLAND. 


Mr. Cobbett s Horsewhipping, the 
Morning Post Account, and the true 
Account—Specimens of Representa¬ 
tion—Edinburgh City and County — 
Borough of Yarmouth, and Mr. Ma- 
■ conochie — Mr. Douglas, his Burghs, 
end his Wiser People of Scotland — 
Plympton Earle, and Mr. Boswell — 
Anecdote of Dr. Johnson — Mr. Ma- 
conochie, and the Tin Kettle tied, 
&c .—Scottish Anti-Reformists—Sen¬ 
timent of Napoleon, from his Life, 
written by himself—Lord Chester¬ 
field—Lord Carteret — Mr. Fawkes 
—Earl Grosvenor—Lord Boling- 
broke on the Consequences of Uni¬ 
versal Corruption in England—An 
almost incredible Anecdote of the 
present Parliament. 


Thursday, March 20, 1817. 

MY LORD, 

I beg 1 one minute’s attention 
to tlie following- article from the 
MORNING POST Newspaper, of 
Tuesday the 18th instant; it 
richly deserves preservation. 

(COPY). 

“ COB BE XT CHASTISED. 

(F Worn a Correspondent.) 

“ In one instance, at least, tins hec- 
ce toring bully has met with.his de- 
“■ serts. Understanding that he passed 
“ the night of Sunday at Mr. Timo- 
“ thy Bs own’s, at Peckham, Mr. 


(C LOCKHART repaired thither, 
“ early yesterday morning, with the 
<e intention of CHASTISING the 
“ Reformer, for his insolence at Win- 
e< Chester. Before Mr. LOCKHART 
“ had reached the Bricklayer’s Arms, 
“ he met Mr. COBBETT returning 
“ to town, and,being furnished with a 
“ TREMENDOUS HORSEWHIP, 
he applied it sans ceremonie to the 
“ broad and well adapted shoulders of 
his antagonist. COBBETT ES- 
“ GAPED into the shop of Mr. 
“ Jones, the apothecary, where he 
“ remained two hours. Ilis sconce 
“ appears to have suffered considerable 
<( damage, as he was seen to leave the 
“ apothecary’s shop with an ENOll- 
“ MOUS PLASTER over his left 
“ eye.” 

Now the particulars of this article 
from the Morning Post, which are 
not true, I will enumerate, and will 
state lastly, w hat is true. 

1st, It is not true, that Mr. Cobbett 
had AN ENORMOUS PLASTER 
over his left eye. 

2ndly, It is not true, that he was seen 
to leave the apothecary’s shop. 

3dly, It is not true, that he has suf¬ 
fered considerable damage. 

4thly, It is not true, that he remained 
in the shop of Mr. Jones, the apo¬ 
thecary, two hours. 

5thly, It is not true, that Mr. Corbett 
ESCAPED into Mr. Jones’s shop. 
Gthly, It is nut true, that Mr. Lock¬ 
hart was furnished with a TRE¬ 
MENDOUS HORSEWHIP. 
7thly, It is not true, that before Mr. 
Lockiiart had reached the Brick¬ 
layer’s Arms, he met Mr. Cobbett 
returning to lown. 

gthly, and lastly. It is not true, tfeat 
















2*5$1 Hone's Reformists 1 Register* pGO 


Mr. Lockhart cither met or beat 
Mr. CointKTT, at all. But 
THE TRUTH IS, that the entire 
article is, from beginning to end, 
wholly fabricated t — entirely a gross 
falsehood,—a LIE— 

-An odious DAMNED LIE; 

Upon my soul A LIE ; a WICKED LIE.” 

Shakspf.are. 

Though, by half an hour’s walk to 
the Bricklayer s Arms, which begins 
the High Kent Road, every person in 
London, who chose to go, ascertained 
this article of the MORNING POST 
to be a barefaced fabrication, wholly 
destitute of a shadow of truth ; yet 
the TRAVELLER Evening News¬ 
paper, and the SUN Evening News¬ 
paper, afterwards inserted THE LIE 
verbatim; and neither the TRA- 
V ELLER, the SUN, nor the 
MORNING POST, have to this day 
contradicted THE LIE they have 
propagated in the country , though 
known to themselves, and every man 
in London, to be A LIE ; but on the' 
contrary, THE SUN of last night, in 
Ol der to encourage the belief of THE 
LIE, as far as its miserable circula¬ 
tion extends, actually published the 
fallowing doggerel : 

“ LOCKHART versus CORBETT. 

That to the peace Lockhart’s not bound. 
Was prov’d by the HORSEWHIPPING 
sound 

He gave to COBBETT t’other day— 

What ! whip a man in open day ! ! 

Lid COBBETT STAND IT ?—Tell us 
prav— 

OH, NO !-He wisely RAN AWAY! 
March 18, 1817- TARTAR. 

The puny efforts of the sinking 
SUN, and the lingering half-alive 
T RAVELLER, to give currency to 
this LIE, may be accounted for, by 
any man who understands how, and 
to wLat end these papers are manufac¬ 
tured j but the MORNING POST, 
by its unblushing shameless impu¬ 
dence, seems to be ambitious to be 
called, as long as it exists, by its old, 
well-earned, well-known name, the 
LYING POST ! therefore, let it 
be called, the “ LYING POST ! ” 
for ever. 


I now proceed, my Lord, to 
the immediate object of the pre¬ 
sent letter.— 

On Feb. 22, the London Ga¬ 
zette announced your Lordship 
as being* returned to serve in 
Parliament for the borough of 
Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, 
in the room of Richard Welles¬ 
ley, Esq. who had accepted the 
Chi Item Hundreds; and on the 
27th, your Lordship made your 
maiden speech in the House, on 
the firs f t reading of the Habeas 
Corpus Suspension Bill, which 
you concluded, by imploring the 
House to pass that Bill without 
delay, because you venerated the 
principles of' the Revolution of 
1688 ! Now, unless your Lord- 
ship’s veneration for those prin¬ 
ciples be imaginary, which is 
very possible, considering how 
you have shown that veneration, 
you will be glad to be reminded, 
that one of the principles of the 
Revolution, one of the ten condi¬ 
tions for continuing the succes¬ 
sion to the throne in the present 
line, is, “ That no person who has 
“ any office under the King, or 
“ receives a pension from the 
“ Crown, shall be capable of 
“ serving as a Member of the 
“ House of Commons;” and in 
conformity to that principle, you 
will, as you are serving in the 
House of Commons, resign your 
office of Lord Advocate of Scot¬ 
land, or immediately vacate your 
seat, and go back to Scotland. 

That your Lordship might not 
be without other reasons for va¬ 
cating your seat in the House 
of Commons, I gave in the last 
Register , as a specimen of the 
representation of the People in 
that House, an account of the re¬ 
presentation of the borough of 





' 261] March 

Gatton , in the county of Surry; 
tind now,iny Lord, lest your legal, 
studies should have interfered 
with your Parliamentary inqui¬ 
ries, 1 will furnish you with some 
account of the representation for 
the city and county of EDIN¬ 
BURGH ; from which city, leav¬ 
ing' your duty as a Crown Law¬ 
yer, you come to try your hand 
with us, as a practising Legis¬ 
lator. 

EDINBURGH CITY. 

The Corporation is as follows :— 


The Provost ..*1 

The Baillies.4 * 

The Dean of Guild.1 

The Treasurer.1 

The old Provost.1 

The old Baillies.4 

The old Dean of Guild .... 1 

The old Treasurer .1 


The Merchant Counsellors . . 3 
The Trades Counsellors ... 2 
The ordinary Council Deacons 6 
The extraordinary Ditto ... 8 

These are the Voters 33 

There are two persons called 
patrons , or MANAGERS of this 
city, namely, the D the of Buc- 
CLEUCH, and Mr. Duxdas, of Ar- 
niston; and these two patrons, and 
the 33 persons abov e mentioned 
as the corporation, manage to 
elect a representative for the sixty- 
seven thousand iu'o hundred and 
eighty-eight inhabitants, whom 
the said inhabitants have no more 
v o ce in electing, than they have 
in electing the Pope of Rome. 
1 fie Member who has the honour 
! to be the choice of the 33 free 
and independent Members of the 
j Corporation of Edinburgh, is the 
Right Hon. W. Dux d as, cousin 
of Lord Viscount Melville, and 


22, 1817. [262 

Keeper of the Signet in Scot¬ 
land ! 

EDINBURGH COUNTY 

Sends one Member to Parlia¬ 
ment. The population of the 
county is one hundred and twenty- 
two thousand nine hundred and 
fifty-four persons, of whom, thirty- 
four, only, are voters; the county 
is under the patronage of the 
Duke of Buccleugii. 

There appears to be some 
weight in an insinuation of the 
Morning Chronicle, that the Scots 
Members were unwilling to va¬ 
cate, for a sinecure to which ns 
salary is attached, in favour of 
your Lordship; you take your seat 
for the following borough:— 

YARMOUTH (Isle of Wight.) 
According- to Mr. Oldfield’s 
Representative History, this bo¬ 
rough, which has 343 inhabitants, 
which contains only* 72 houses, 
cottages included, and sends two 
Members to Parliament,has never, 
for more than half a century, had 
more than one solitary voter resi¬ 
dent in the place. It has a Cor¬ 
poration, consisting of a Mayor, 
and 12 capital Burgesses, who 
hav e power to make any number 
of free burgesses, and who hav e 
altogether the choice of the two 
Members, the Mayor being the 
returning officer. The influence 
over this Corporation was for 
many years contested between 
the late Lord Holmes, and the late 
Jervolse Clarke Jervoise, Esq. 
and the Leigh family, of North 
Court, in the Isle of Wight, to 
whom Mr. Jervoise’s lady was. 
related. At last, a compromise 
took place, by which it was 
agreed, that a great number of 
free burgesses should be disfran¬ 
chised, which was accordingly 













2 68] 


[204 


done; that cgc.A party should 
thenceforth name one Member; 
and to keep the interests even , 
whenever a capital burgess 
should die, the side to which he 
belonged should immediately 
nominate another person to be a 
free burgess, and then make him 
capital. This compromise conti¬ 


nued till the last general elec¬ 


tion ; and after the death of Mr. 
Jervoisk, each party returned a 
Member. The late Sir Henry 
Worsley Holmes is said to have 
purchased the interest of his suc¬ 
cessor, and his son now nomi¬ 
nates both Members. Since the 
Corporation has fallen under the 
CONTROUL of a sin ale pa tron , 
k has become the policy to have 
the number of electors as low as 
possible, and for that purpose, 
to make no more free burgesses : 
so that the electors of the TWO 
Members are now reduced to 
thirteen. 

The show of election in such a 
place as this—the show of elec¬ 
tion in Edinburgh city by 33 
electors, and in Edinburgh county 


Hone's Reformists’ Register. 

an honest man, without deep in¬ 
dignation. The city of Edin¬ 
burgh sends us the ►Scottish 
Keeper ol the Signet; whilst the 
borough of Yarmouth sends us 
the Scottish Lord Advocate, and 
the Irish Advocate General; for 
your Lordship, and John Leslie 
Foster, Esq. King’s Advocate 
General in Ireland, are worthily 
associated, as Members for the 
same place ; which place, if what 
is stated be correct, would, upon 
the nomination of its patron, as 
freely and independently return 
the INDIAN JUGGLERS to re¬ 
present them, as Mr. Leslie 
Foster, and your Lordship. 

To understand how, and also 
why your Lordship came into 
Parliament, is very easy ; and 
it is as easy lo see that you will 
not quit it till you have com¬ 
pleted vour work them Your 
tirst speaking in the House was 
with the first reading of the Ha- 
beas Suspension Bill , and your 
next upon its filial reading, when 
you strenuously supported a 
clause against the liberty of the 


1 


5jr 34 electors, is whimsical [subject in Scotland, because, u in 
enough; but the consequences of I 1715, 1722, and 1745, the Law 
siocty^seven thousand two hundred \ Officers who then sat in that 


and eighty-eight inhabitants of! House, meant to put the People 
first city in Scotland, being j of Scotland out of the pale of the 


tine 


represented by a man sent to Par- ! law as much as the People of 
Lament by 33 men, only, and that i England but which clause the 


under the patronage of a peer, j House of ( ommons, even the 
ami another person; and the ! House of Commons as it is now 


iOnscquencesof the 343 beggarly | constituted, rejected, and sent the 


inhabitants of the rotten borough i Bill back to the Lords without 


of 1 armouth , being represented 
by TWO Members, sent to Par- 
Lament, elected by 13 men, upon 

ouch 13 men being ordered so to 

.1 


it. 




<io by their patron., Sir Leonard 


Trougiiear Worsley Holmes; 
the consequences of such prac¬ 
tices cannot be thought on, by 


When X heard your Lordship's 
support of the Habeas Suspension 
Bill , 1 involuntarily exclaimed, 
whilst looking at you from the 
gallery of the House, “ for this 
lie was ordained,” Was 1 mis¬ 
taken, ynty Lord 'l 
On the 10th cf March, 1 find 







March 22, 1817. 


altera- 


2i!5] 

>our Lordship stating it to he 
v ‘ your firm conviction, that of the 
" '‘lasses of the' People or *SV?o#- 
*• /<,W capable of forming a cor- 
reel judgment on the subject, 

“ nine-tenths did not wish for 
44 any change in the representation 
44 of that country in Parliament. 

44 In evidence of this was the 
“ fact, that no Petition had come 
“ to that House from the landed 
“ interest , from any corporate 
“ nod?/, from the Commissioners of 
“ Supply , or from any meeting of 
44 freeholders —that you thought 
“ Scotland satisfactorily ropre- 
44 sented in that House—you had 
44 heard nothing to shake your 
** opinion—that the r'epresenta- 
44 lion was satisfactory —that the 
“ number of electors had increased 
44 in some counties, and that the 
44 number was very SERIOUS- 
44 LY increasing! '* j of 44 the WISER part of the Peo - 

Mr. BOSWELL observed that! pie of Scotland,” in this country, 
"there had not been a .single I who have not hailed Reform in 
ition presented in favour of i the representation of Scotland, as 
brm from the landholders lone of the greatest blessings that 


44 liament aqainst any 
44 tion!" 

I beg your Lordship’s excuse 
for five words which I am about 
to say— I do not believe Mr, 
Douglas, I believe it possible 
that some foolish men in Scot¬ 
land may be stimulated to peti¬ 
tion against Reform ; I believe ft 
possible that some knavish men 
in Scotland may do so; but 1 
believe it unlikely that even 
knaves or fools will do it very 
readily; and I am certain, not 
only that 44 the WISER part of 
the People of Scotland ” wifi 
never do it; but that they never 
had, nor ev er will have, 44 serious 
thoughts” respecting Reform hi 
the Representation of Scotland, 
except for the purpose of pro¬ 
moting it with all their power. 
I have never conversed with any 


44 Pei 
44 Refer 


44 of Scotland, all of whom who jean be extended to her; but 1 
44 were freeholders voted for the : have seldom talked at all upon 
44 counties. They had expressed • Reform to any Scotsman, who I 
44 no dissatisfaction at the present j suspected to have an itching 
%4 mode of representation. Several I after the good things in the gift 
“ Petitions from insignificant j of Ministers, or their underlings ; 
places in Scotland, praying for j knowing well that the least in- 


“ Reform, had wandered up to 
44 London like foundlings , and 
“ had got into the hands of 
44 certain Noble and Honourable 


clination thitherward would ob¬ 
struct all right feeling towards 
the true interests of nis country. 
Mr. Douglas represents the 


44 Members, who did not know j five Royal boroughs of ANLN*AK\ 
“ one of their subscribers.” t *>_ 


Dumfries , Kircudbright , Loch- 
Mr. DOUGLAS maintained that j maben 9 and Scmquehar, in Scofc- 
44 the WISER part of the People j land. The number of voters who 

return him is FIVE ! The Mar¬ 
quis of Queensbury is patron of 
the five! Mr. Douglas is his 
brother! 1 do not wonder that 
Mr. Douglas is contented : he, l 
lare affirm, will never be a dis- 


44 of Scotland were so apprehen- 
44 sive of the dangers which might 
44 result from meddling with the 
44 existing system of representa- 
44 fion, that thev had serious 
44 thoughts of petitioning Par- 


/ 









2t>7] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [268 


contented man —it may be pretty 
well guessed who the ‘ WISER’ 
sort of People are in Scotland, 
that have thoughts of petitioning 
against Reform; but it should 
not be forgotten, that, only five 
days before Mr. Douglas made 
this wise speech, the Morning 
Chronicle says, “ Mr. Douglas 
Ci Stewart presented a petition 
i{ from the Burgesses and other 
“ inhabitants of the Royal bo- 
“ rough of Annan , for Parlia- 
i; mentary Reform. The Petition 
“ was very numerously signed , and 
“ the signatures were very re- 
“ special)led' —this is from one of 
the five boroughs Mr. Douglas 
represents. 

The ‘ reiser' part of the People 
of Scotland, indeed ! Who can 
help estimating, Mr. Douglas, at 
a moderate rate ? I have a desire 
to know by what rule Mr, Doug¬ 
las w ould class fy Ins country¬ 
men : property and rank, I pre¬ 
sume, constitute his 4 measure of 
value/ Were I to produce to 
him a man who, by gradually 
subverting individual prejudice, 
and loosening leading* interests, 
would narrow the sources of want 
nnd suffering, and w hose percep¬ 
tions and usefulness, not limiting 
improvement to one nation, or 
the present generation, would 
provide happiness for all; such 
a man, placed by the side of a 
Noble Lord in office, w ith a blue 
ribbon, would obtain little more 
of Mr. Douglas’s regard, I pre¬ 
sume, than the said Lord's foot¬ 
man. And should it so happen, 
that the Noble Lord might do 
himself the lion our to take Mr. 
Douglas’s opinion upon the most 
effectual mode of extending mi¬ 
nisterial influence, and for ever 
preventing Reform in Scotland ; 


and if the first described person 
stood in the way of the intended 
measure, and there should be a 
necessity for one of them being a 
candidate for the merciful consi¬ 
deration of the RECORDER of 
London, can there be a doubt 
which of the two it ought to be; 
or, if left to Air. Douglas, or 
your Lordship, which of the two 
it would be? 

Mr. Alexander Boswell, the 
Gentleman who talked of Peti¬ 
tions having wandered up from 
Scotland like foundlings, repre¬ 
sents the following borough:— 
PLYMPTON EARLE (De¬ 
vonshire). The number of voters 
are about 40; and Mr. Oldfield, 
in his Representative History , 
affirms, that they are created by 
0 men,all non-residents; and w ho 
have no more concern with the 
borough than they have w ith the 
city of Constantinople! Ihe pa¬ 
trons are the Earl of Mount 
Edgecumjbe, and Paul Treby 
Treby, Esq. The Aldermen, or 
freemen-makers, are the 2 pa¬ 
trons; their 2 attornies; a rela¬ 
tion to Mr. Treby, living at Cor- 
wood; the Mayor, resident in 
Cornw all; a Clergyman resident 
in Cornwall; and the Receiver- 
General of the Land-Tax for 
Cornwall. One is vacant. 

Really, my Lord, it is uncom- 
monly amusing for Mr. Bosw ell 
to talk against Reform—for Mr. 
Boswell, with the 40 electors 
clapped upon his back, like so 
many leeches « by the 9 freemen- 
makers of Plympton, “ who have 
“ no more concern with the bo- 
“ rough, than with the city of 
“ Constantinople ”—his speaking 
against Reform, is as edifying as 
some of the stories his father has 
told against himself[ in his Life 




March 22 , 1817 . 



of Dr. Johnson; and of whom 
one anecdote is related to this 
effect.— Johnson’s roughness oc¬ 
casioned him to be compared to 
a mastiff. Boswell, who was 
Johnson’s spaniel, heard this, 
and carried it to him. “ Doctor, 
they say you are a great dog /” 
“ Aye, aye,” growled Johnson. 
44 Do you know what they say of 
} iou , Bozzy ?”—“ No, Doctor?’— 


8 Why, they say that you are a 
tin kettle tied to my tail! ” Your 
Lordship does not fly out less 
than the Doctor, You are to the 
full as great a mastiff against the 
People; and a man cannot be 
hanged for calling young Bozzy 
a tin canister tied to vour Lord- 
ship's tail. 

But your Lordship is surprised 
that Petitions for Reform do not 
come from corporate bodies ! from 
Commissioners of Supply ! from 
respectable inhabitants ! No, no, 
my Lord ; you are not surprised; 
you know that these are wnat the 
Marquis of Queensbury’s bro¬ 
ther, mistaking property for res¬ 
pectability, and grey-headed 
abuse for wisdom, would call, 
“ the wiser part of the People— 
having serious thoughts of peti¬ 
tioning against Reform ; ” these 
are the gentlemen, who, the mo¬ 
ment Reform looked a little seri¬ 
ous, would cry out, with the 
shrine makers, 44 the craft is in 
danoer:” these men—Pike Mr. 
Douglas, with his five chartered 
votes—are very well contented; 
they want no such change, as we 
would give them; they would 
petition against Reform , as the 
commissioners, and assessors, and 
surveyors, and clerks, and col¬ 
lectors of the Property Tax, pe¬ 
titioned against the repeal of that 
Tax; they prefer riding their 


countrymen, to walking with 
them ; their policy is grounded 
on the vulgar saying of, “ 1 don't 
care who goes a foot, so that lam 
drawn in a coach and four. 5 ' Why, 
my Lord,/A?s shuffling can last but 
a little while ; a system founded 
on trickery, and pure selfishness, 
and decaying the faster for every 
new shift, is nearly out, by extinc¬ 
tion of time. Your Lordship, the 
representative of the rotten bo¬ 
rough of Yarmouth ; Mr. Doug¬ 
las* and his five royal burghs 
of Scotland; and Mr. Boswkli, 
and his nine freemen-mahers of 
Plympton, 44 who have no more 
concern with Plympton, than with 
Constantinople,; 55 you three gen¬ 
tlemen, I recommend to learn by 
heart a sentiment from an extra¬ 
ordinary work, published this 
week, in French, purporting to 
be Memoirs of the Political Life 
of Napoleon, written by himself. 
44 Nothing,” says the author, 44 pro- 
“ ceeds rightly in a political sys- 
44 tern, in which words disagree 
44 with things. The government 
44 is degraded by the daily dupli- 
44 city it practises. It falls into 
44 that contempt which awaits 
44 every thing false; because 
44 whatever is false, is feeble. It 
44 is besides no longer possible to 
44 play double in politics ; nations 
44 have been too long acquainted 
44 with public affairs , and the 
44 newspapers tell them too much , 
44 for that now to be doner This 
man, whether ruling Europe 
from an imperial throne, or hurled 
as from the crater of a volcano, 
upon a barren rock, in the midst 
of the sea, seems destined to be 
the means of teaching counsel¬ 
lors wisdom, and directing na¬ 
tions how to live. It is said, that 
experience makes fooJs wise ; I 






Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



do not believe it. Once a fool, 
and a fool for ever. The wise, 
only, will profit by instruction 
and example; and the evidence 
of wisdom in your Lordship and 
your colleagues, will be, your at 
o ice dismissing all duplicity, and 
acknowledging that the science 
of government is as well under¬ 
stood by the governed, as the 
governors . But i must leave Na¬ 
poleon and the fresh gales from 
St. Helena, for closer communi- 
cation d ith your Lordship and 
tlie stagnating Corruption of our 
system at home. 

So long ago as the year 174*2, 
Lord Chesterfield, speaking' of 
the rotten Boroughs, said “ Many 


of them are now so much the 
creatures of the crown, that 
they are generally called court- 
boroughs, and very properly they 
are called so. For our Ministers 
for the time being have always 
the nomination of their represen¬ 
tatives, and make such an arbi¬ 
trary use of it, that they often 
order them to choose gentlemen 
whom they never saw, nor heard 
of, perhaps, till they saw their 
names on the Minister’s order for 
choosing'them. These orders they 
ahvays punctually obey, and 
would, I suppose, obey them, were 
the person named in them the 
Minister’s footman, then actually 
wearing his livery. For they have, 
we know', chosen men, w ho have 
but very lately thrown the livery 
off from their backs; but never 
can throw it off from their minds/' 
Such w as the languageof Lord 
Chesterfield, with regard to 


borough representation, 7(1 years 
ago; about which period Lord 
Carteret, remarking on the fre¬ 
quent votes of credit, and appli¬ 
cations to Parliament, to pay off 


debts on the Civil List, said, in 
his place in the House of Lords, 

“ Our pretences to liberty will, 

I fear, in a short time, become as 
much the ridicule of foreigners as 
our late conduct has already ren- 
dered our pretences to the hold¬ 
ing of the balance of power in 
Europe. I w as confirmed in this 
opinion by a question lately put 
to me by a French Nobleman. 
He was a man of good sense, and 
yet he one day seriously asked 
me, what difference there was 
between the Parliament of Eng¬ 
land, and the Parliaments they 
have in France? I readily answer- 
ed. and 1 hone I had some ground 
for saying, that in France the 
King makes their laws or edicts, 
and their Parliaments must com¬ 
ply with whatever the King* de¬ 
sires; but in England, our laws 
arc made by King- and Parliament, 
and our Parliaments may refuse 
to comply with whatever the King 
desires. To which he as readily 
replied : In your iate history, we 
read of several extraordinary 
messages or demands sent by 
your King to his Parliament, no 
one oj * which was ever refused; 
and pray, where is the difference 
between an edict made by the 
King, and an edict made by King 
and Parliament, if the Parliament 
never refuses what the king is 
pleased to demand? for our Par¬ 
liaments claim the privilege of 
refusing as well as yours; and if 
a trial w ere to be made, such a 
refusal might perhaps he found 
as insignificant in England, as it 
now appears to be m France, 
i his I am apt to believe,my Lords, 
is the way of thinking in other 
countries, as well as France.” 

Against the causes and conse¬ 
quences cf the present system., 





March 22, 1817. 



the Petitions of the People have 
been directed, and must still be 
directed. If, as Sir Robert Wil¬ 
son affirms to be probable, a NEW 
WAR takes place (See last Re¬ 
gister, p. 249), then is retribution 
heavy upon us, for our national 
misdeeds :—we are likely to be 
lost as a country. Nothing' can 
avert the calamity of national 
degradation,but PARLIAMENT¬ 
ARY REFORM, and no lan¬ 
guage or argument used out of 
or in the House of Commons, 
can be honest or true, which 
would persuade that House not 
to reform itself, or which would 
induce the People to relax in 
petitioning for Reform. 

The Members of the House of 
Commons, when proceeding to 
extremities, formerly had the 
truth forced upon them, and were 
compelled t© hear the voice of 
the People. In 1701, the House 
having proceeded against the sense 
of the People , a Petition from 
Kent was presented, lamenting- 
the divisions in the kingdom; 
and, amongst other things, re¬ 
commending- to the Hon. House 
attention to the sense of the Peo¬ 
ple. Instead of this, the House 
voted the Petition scandalous, 
insolent, and seditious; and or¬ 
dered the gentlemen presenting 
it to be taken into custody: 
whereupon, a letter was sent to 
the Speaker, which began thus:— 

“ Gentlemen, it were to be wished 
you were men of that temper, and 
possessed of so much honour, as 
to bear with the truth, though it be 
against you, especially from us, who 
have so much right to tell it to you : 
Rut since even Petitions to you from 
your masters (for such are the People 
who choose you) are so haughtily 
received as with the committing the 


authors to illegal custody ; you must 
give us leave to give you this fail- 
notice of your misbehaviour. If you 
think fit to rectify your errors, you 
will do well, and possibly may hear 
no more of us ; but if not, assure 
yourselves the nation will not long 
hide their resentments.. And though, 
there are no stated proceedings to 
bring you to your duty, yet the great 
law of reason says, and all nations 
allow, that whatever power is above 
law, is burdensome and tyrannical, and 
may be reduced by extra-judicial 
methods,” &c. 

In this language, my Lord, the 
House of Commons was address¬ 
ed 117 years ago, as your Lord¬ 
ship will had, on referring to the 
Debates ; and the practice of RE¬ 
MONSTRATING, when Ministers 


or Parliament proceed in igno¬ 
rance, or against the sense of the 
People, is both just and necessary. 
It was well and truly said by 
Mr. Pitt, in the year 1741, that 
“ Gentlemen who are in office sel¬ 
dom converse with any but such 
as are in office, and such men, 

let them think what they will. 

•/ 

always, applaud the conduct of 
their superiors; consequently, 
gentlemen who are in the admi¬ 
nistration, or in any office under 
it, can rarely know what is the 
voice of the People. The voice 
of this House was formerly, I 
shall grant, and always ought to 
be, the voice of the People. If 
new Parliaments were more fre¬ 
quent, and few placemen, and no 
pensioners, admitted, it would be 
so still; but if long Parliaments 
be continued, and a corrupt in¬ 
fluence should prevail, not only 
at elections, but in this House, 
the voice of the House will ge¬ 
nerally he very different, nay, 
often directly contary to the voice 
of the People.” 



275] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. / [276 


Mr. Walter Fawkes, my Lord, 
in his Englishman's Manual, ably 
combats the notion, that Parlia¬ 
mentary Corruption is essential 
to the welfare of the Crown. 
He says,— 

1. If William III., who had not 
influence sufficient in Parlia¬ 
ment to carry his own personal 
measures ; 

2. If he, who was ten years in 
getting a civil list settled upon 
him for life ; 

3. If he, who was compelled to 
revoke a grant, made to his fa¬ 
vourite, Bentirick : and to send 
away a regiment of Dutchmen, 
“ the companions of his victo¬ 
ries,” whom he more than once 
importuned the House of Com¬ 
mons to suffer him to retain ; 

4. If he who was not always 
soothed by flattery, but much 
oftener mortified by the lan¬ 
guage of expostulation and re- 
monstrance ; 

5. If he, who devoid of all prior 
claim, had the diadem placed 
upon his brow, upon certain 
terms imposed by his People ; 

If he, if William III. with all 

these disadvantages, sat securely 
on his throne, I say you insult 
your first Magistrate, by sending 
abroad an idea, that undue influ¬ 
ence is now necessary ; by main¬ 
taining that he cannot exercise the 
high prerogatives with which the 
Constitution has invested him, 
without bribing and corrupting 
the Representatives of the People. 

“ It has been the invariable 
policy of a certain party in this 
country,” Mr. Fawkes observes, 
“ to represent the French llevo- 
lution, and all the mischievous 
effects resulting from it, as the 
consequences of attempts at Re¬ 
form. It is, however, a truth 


that cannot be too deeply im¬ 
pressed on the minds of sove¬ 
reigns and nations, that the 
French Revolution itself had its 
origin in the want of a timely 
Reform, in the delay of Reform, 
till it came with a vengeance .— 
There is danger, great and immi¬ 
nent danger, in rulers of a nation 
hearing the call for Reform with 
averted ears. That stubborn 
selfishness, which relies on the 
strong arm of power, to bear out 
its hateful usurpations, may en¬ 
danger the peace and happiness 
of a country. But the affections 
of the human heart must be in¬ 
verted, before concessions irritate, 
or a redress of public grievances 
excite public discontent. If salu¬ 
tary truths be scorned on the one 
hand, extravagant projects will 
be indulged on the other.” 

The excellent Lerd Grosve- 
nor, in the House of Lords (11th 
March), agreeing- with the senti¬ 
ments expressed by Mr. Walter 
Fawkes, observed, that “ it was 
in vain to say that the French 
Revolution was brought about 
by clubs and societies, like those 
against which the Suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act was in¬ 
tended to operate; or to talk 
about the high and palmy state 
of the French monarchy. The 
fact w as, that the Revolution was 
brought about by the general 
dissoluteness of manners in that 
country, and by the despotism of 
the Government!” 

“ Early Reformations,” says 
Burke, “ are amicable arrange¬ 
ments w ith a friend in power ; 
late Reformations, are terms im¬ 
posed upon a conquered enemy. 
Early Reformations are made in 
cold blood; late Reformations are 
made in a state of inflammation. 




March 22, 1817. 



In that state of tilings, the Peo¬ 
ple see nothing in Government 
that is respectable. They see the 
abuse, but they will see nothing 
else. They fall into the temper 
of a furious populace, provoked 
at the disorder of a House of ill- 
fame—they never attempt to cor¬ 
rect—they go to work the 

shortest way-they abate the 

nuisance; but they null down the 

Houser 

Lord Boling broke, a great 
statesman, an authority of much 
weight on the constitution of the 
two Houses of Parliament, and 
the Corruption of the House of 
Commons , I had occasion to quote 
before (See Register, No. 7. p. 
213); yet I must once more re¬ 
cur to that eminent person’s sen¬ 
timents, committed to writing 80 
years ago. Your Lordship’s re¬ 
collection will be refreshed, and 
Lord Bolingbroke’s opinions 
rendered familiar to persons for 
whom the perusal of this Letter is 
also designed, and who will be 
likely to remember them better 
than your Lordship. 1 earnestly 
entreat patience in reading the 
ensuing columns, and bespeak 
serious and undivided reflection 
upon .them afterwards:— . 

Lord Bolingbroke observes, that 
at the Revolution (in 1638), 
pleased that the open attacks on our 
Constitution were defeated and pre¬ 
vented, men entertained no thought 
of the secret attacks that might be 
carried on against the independency of 
Parliaments; as if our dangers could 
be but of one land, and could arise 
but from one family . Soon after tbe 
Revolution, indeed, men of all sides, 
and of all denominations (for it was 
not a party-cause, though it was en¬ 
deavoured to be made such), began 
to perceive not only that nothing eflec- 
tual had been done to hinder the undue 


influence of the Crown in elections, and 
an over-balance of the creatures ot 
the Court in Parliament ; but that 

4 ' 

the means of exercising such an influ¬ 
ence, at the will of ihe Crown, were un¬ 
awares and insensibly increased, and 
every day increasing. In a word, they 
began to see that ihe foundations were 
laid of giving as great power to the 
Crown indirectly, as the prerogative, 
which they had formerly dreaded so 
much, could give directly; and of 
ESTABLISHING UN IVERSAL 
CORRUPTION! Whenever this 
happens (says his Lordship), when¬ 
ever ihe independency of the two Houses 
of PARLIAMENT, and the uninflu¬ 
enced and uninfluenceable FREEDOM 
of ELECTIONS, are once effectually 
secured against the dangers that may 
arise possibly hereafter from the 
growth of CORRUPTION; then 
will all our future Kings be reduced 
to the agreeable necessity of establish¬ 
ing their thrones, as we are obliged to 
acknowledge that the throne is now 
established, not on tbe narrow and 
sandy foundations of Court-craft, and 
unconstitutional expedients, but on 
the popularity cf the prince, and the 
universal affection of the subjects ; 
foundations of the kingly authority 50 
evidently supposed by our Constitu¬ 
tion, that a King, who will add weight 
to his sceptre, must govern by them, 
or govern against this Constitution, 
against the very rule of his govern¬ 
ment. 

Ilis Lordship inquires. What a 
Prince can desire more, than to be 
placed at the head of an united 
People ; among whom he may have 
as many friends as he pleases, and 
can have no enemies, unless he creates 
them, by supposing them to be such, 
and by treating them accordingly 
If the designs of a Prince, in foment¬ 
ing the division^, are to invade the 
liberties of his People, his designs are 
laid in the utmost iniquity; and if 
these are not his designs, they must 
be laid in the utmost folly. When a 
People submits quietly to government. 




270] 

ami is willin' to obev on the terms on 
wliicli alone their Prince hath a right 
to command, how extravagant must his 
demands be, and how unaccountable 
his conduct, to divide such a People.! 
Shall he expect, for instance, that ALL 
his People should think like HIM and 
HIS COUNCIL, about every occur¬ 
rence, about every measure he takes, 
and every man he employs; and since 
this is too much to ask of FRRU¬ 
MEN, nay, of slaves, if bis expecta¬ 
tion be not answered, shall he form a 
lasting division upon such transient 
motives ? Shall he proscribe every 
man, as an enemy to his Government, 
who dislikes the administration of it r 
Proscriptions are abominable, and in¬ 
human, when they are backed by a 
fulness of arbitrary power. But to 
bang up the tables of proscription, 
without the power of sending centu¬ 
rions to cut off every head that wears 
a face disliked at Court, would be 
madness in a Prince. Such a con¬ 
duct cannot suit his interest, however 
it may bis passions, in any circum- 
stan ce whatever. 

It is certain (hisLordship observes), 
that if ever such men as call them- 
%c\ves, friends to the Government, but 
are real enemies of the Constitution, 
prevail, they will make it a capital 
point of their wicked policy to keep 
up a STANDING ARMY. False 
appearances of reason for it will never 
be wanting. But nothing can be 
proved more manifestly by experience 
than these two propositions 3 that 
Britain is enabled, by her situation, 
to support her-Government, when the 
bulk of her People are for it, without 
employing any means inconsistent 
with her Constitution 3 and that the 
bulk of the People are not only always 
for the Government, when the Go¬ 
vernment supports the Constitution, 
but are ever hard, and slow to be de¬ 
tached from it, when the Government 
attacks or undermines the Constitution, 
and when they are by consequence both 
justified, in resisting, and real obliged 
in conscience to resist the Government. 


£280 

Notwithstanding what- hath been 
said, I (says Lord BoLiNonnoku) do 
not imagine that an army would oe 
employed by these men, directly and 
at first,, against the nat ion, and na¬ 
tional liberty. To destroy British 
liberty with an army of Britons, is 
not a measure so sure of success, as 
some people may believe. To corrupt 
the Parliament is a slower, but might 
prove a more effectual method, and 
2 or 300 mercenaries in the two 
Houses, if they could be listed there, 
would be more fatal to the Constitu¬ 
tion, than ten times as many thou¬ 
sands in red and blue out of than. 
Parliaments are the true guardians of 
liberty. For this principally they 
were instituted ; and this is the prin¬ 
cipal article of that great and noble 
trust which the collective body of the 
People of Britain reposes in the re¬ 
presentative. But then no slavery can 
be so effectually brought and fired upon 
us, as PARLIAMENTARY SLA¬ 
VERY. By the CORRUPTION 
of PARLIAMENT, and the absolute 
influence of a King, or his Minister, 
on the two Houses, we return into that 
state, to deliver or secure, us from 
which Parliaments were instituted, 
and are really governed by the arbi¬ 
trary will of one man. Our whole 
Constitution is at once dissolved. Many 
securities to liberty are provided 3 but 
the integrity which depends on the 
freedom and the independency of Par¬ 
liament, is the keystone that keeps 
the whole together. If this he shaken, 
our Constitution totters. If it be quite 
removed, our Constitution falls into 
ruin. That noble fabric, the pride 
of Britain, the envy of her neighbours, 
raised by the labour of so many cen¬ 
turies, repaired at the expense of so 
many millions, and cemented by such 
a profusion of blood 3 that noble fa¬ 
bric, I say, which was able to resist 
the united efforts of so many races of 
gianfs, may be demolished by a race 
of pigmies. The INTEGRITY OF 
PARLIAMENT is a kind of palla¬ 
dium, a tutelary goddess, who pro- 


IIone’s Reformists’ Register 




March 22 , 1817 . 



tects our State. When she is once 
removed, we may become the prey of 
any enemies, lint 1 need not dwell 
any longer on this subject. There is 
n« man, who thinks at all, can fail to 
see the several fatal consequences 
which will necessarily flow from this 
one source, whenever it shall be 
-opened. If the reason of the thing 
does not strike him enough, expe¬ 
rience must. The single reign of 
Henry VIII. will serve to show that 
no tyranny can be more severe than 
that which is exercised by a concert 
with Parliament; that arbitarv will 
may be made the sole rule of Go¬ 
vernment, even whilst the names and 
forms of a free Constitution are pre¬ 
served 3 that for a Prince, or his Mi¬ 
nister, to become our tyrant, there is 
no need to abolish Parliaments 3 there 
is no need that he, who is master 
of one part of the legislature, should 
endeavour to abolish the other two, 
when he can use, upon every occa¬ 
sion, the united strength of the whole 3 
there is no need that he should be a 
tyrant in the gross, when he can be 
so in detail, nor in name, when he 
can be so in effect 3 that for Par¬ 
liaments to establish tyranny, there is 
no need therefore to repeal Magna 
Charta, or any other of the great 
supports of our liberty. It is enough 
if they put themselves corruptly and 
servilely under the influence of such 
a Prince, or such a Minister. In the 
possible case here supposed, the first 
and 'principal object will be TO DE¬ 
STROY THE CONSTITUTION, 
under pretence of preserving the Go - 
vernvient, by CORRUPTING OUR 
PARLI AMENTS. I am the better 
founded in concluding that this may 
happen in some future age, by what we 
may observe in our own. There is 
surely but too much reason to suspect 
that the enemies of our Constitution 
may attempt hereafter to govern BY 
CORRUPTION, when we hear and 
see the friends and advocates of our 
present most incorrupt Minister [Sir 
Robert Walpole] harangue and 


scribble in favour of corruption 3 
when it is pleaded for and recom¬ 
mended, as a necessary expedient of 
Government, by some men, of ail 
ranks, and orders 3 not only by pro¬ 
fessed hirelings, who write that they 
may cat 3 but by men who have 
talked and written themselves already 
out of their native obscurity and pe¬ 
nury, by affecting zeal in the cause of 
liberty 3 not only by such as these, 
but by men whose birth, education, 
and fortune, aggravate their crime 
and their folly 3 by men whom ho¬ 
nour at least should restrain from fa¬ 
vouring so dishonourable a cause 5 and 
by men whose peculiar obligations to 
preach up morality should restrain 
them at least from being the preachers 
of an immorality, above all others, 
abominable in its nature, and perni¬ 
cious in its effects. 

Lord Boli ngbuoke, writing as 
though he lived in our days, says, 
that some men are ready to tell us 
that the INFLUENCE they plead 
for, is necessary to strengthen the hands 
of those who govern ; that CORRUP¬ 
TION serves to OIL the wheels of Go¬ 
vernment, and to render the adminis¬ 
tration more smooth and easy 5 and 
that it can never be of dangerous con¬ 
sequence under the present father of 
our country. Absurd and wicked 
triflers ! According to them, our ex¬ 
cellent Constitution is no better than 
a jumble of incompatible powers, 
which would separate and fall to 
pieces of themselves, unless restrained 
and upheld by such honourable me¬ 
thods as those of BRIBERY and 
CORRUPTION. 

With the sentiment of a true Pa¬ 
triot, Lord Bolcngbroke exclaims. 
Whatever happens in the various 
course of human contingencies, what¬ 


ever be the fate'of particular persons, 
>f houses, or familes, let the liberties 
E Great Britain be immortal! They 
vill be so, if that Constitution, whose 
genuine effects they are, be maintain¬ 
’d in purity and vigour. A perpetual 
Attention to this great point, is there- 



2831 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. „ [284 


tore the interest and duty of every 
man in Britain ; and there is scarce 
any man, who may not contribute to 
the advancement of it in some degree. 
The old may inform ‘the young, and 
the young may animate the old. Even 
they, who are most retired from the 
scene of business, may be useful in 
tins cause, to those who arc in it j to 
those who are heated by the action, 
distracted by the cares, or dissipated 
by the pleasures of the world* I say, 
they may be useful; and I add, that 
they ought to be so to the utmost that 
their situation allows. Government is 
the business of those who are ap¬ 
pointed to govern, and of those who 
are appointed to control them. But 
the British Constitution is the business 
of every Briton. 

The Peers of the Realm, he ob¬ 
serves, can, the Commons cannot, as¬ 
semble in their collective body, with¬ 
out exceeding those numbers, amongst 
whom, the quiet, order, decency, and 
solemnity of a senate may be pre¬ 
served. The Peers therefore sit in 
Parliament in their collective, the 
Commons in their representative 
bodv. The Peers have an inherent, 
the Commons a delegated right. The 
Peers are therefore accountable for 
their conduct, as all other men are, 
to God, to their own consciences, to 
the tribunal of public fame, and to no 
other. But the Commons are account¬ 
able to another tribunal, as well as 
to these 5 to that of their Constituents, 
before which they must frequently 
appear, according to the true intent of 
our Constitution ; to have a censure, 
or approbation, passed on their con¬ 
duct, by the refusal or grant of new 
powers to the particular Members. 
Thus the collective body of the Peo¬ 
ple of Great Britain DELEGATE* 


but do not give up,-— TRUST, but do 
not alienate their RIGHT and their 
ROWER, and cannot be undone, by 
having beggary or slavery brought 
upon them, unless they co-operate to 
their own undoing, and in one word 
betray themselves. 

We cannot therefore subscribe to 
those two sayings of my Lord Bacon, 
which are quoted to this effect ; that 
England can never be undone, unless 
by Parliaments ,• and that there is no¬ 
thing which a Parliament cannot do. 
Great Britain, according to our pre¬ 
sent, Constitution, cannot be undone 
by Parliaments j for there is something 
ivhich a Parliament cannot do. A 
Parliament cannot annul the Consti¬ 
tution ; and whilst that is preserved, 
though our condition may be bad, it 
cannot be irretrievably so. The Le¬ 
gislative is a supreme, and may be 
called, in one sense, an absolute, but 
in none, an arbitrary pow T er. It is 
limited to the public good of the so¬ 
ciety. It is a power, that hath no 
other end but preservation, and there¬ 
fore can never have a right to destroy, 
enslave, or designedly to impoverish 
the subject •, for the obligations of 
the law of nature cease not in so¬ 
ciety, See. (See Locke, on Govern¬ 
ment.) If you therefore put so ex¬ 
travagant a case, as to suppose the 
two Houses of Parliament concurring 
to make at once a formal cession of 
their own rights and privileges, and 
of those of the whole nation, to the 
Crown, and ask who hath the right, 
and the means, to resist the supreme 
legislative power; 1 answer, THE 
WHOLE NATION hath the RIGHT; 
tnd a People, who deserve to enjoy li¬ 
berty, will find the MEANS An at¬ 
tempt of this kind would break the 
BARGAIN between the King and the 




285] March 22, 1817. ' [28G 


Nation, between the representative 
and collective body of THE PEO¬ 
PLE, and would dissolve the Con¬ 
stitution. From hence it follows, 
that the nation, which hath a right to 
'preserve this Constitution, hath a 
right to resist an attempt, that leaves 
7w other means of preserving it, but 
those of RESISTANCE. From 
hence it follows, that if the Consti¬ 
tution was actually dissolved, as it 
icould be, by such an attempt of the 
three estates, THE PEOPLE would 
return to their ORIGINAL, their 
NATURAL right, the right of RE¬ 
STORING THE SAME CONSTI¬ 
TUTION, or o/MAKING A NEW 
ONE. No power on earth could claim 
any right of imposing a Constitution 
upon them; and less than any, that 
King ,those Lords, and those Com¬ 
mons, who, having been intrusted 
to preserve, have destroyed tiie 

FORMER ! 

REFORM MUST COME, my 
Lord.77/aff CORRUPTION, which 
the vicious and the dissolute sup¬ 
port—which bad men cling to— 
which temporising men palliate 
—which good men condemn— 
which honest men execrate—and 
which all wise men would abo¬ 
lish—it requires nothing-but cou¬ 
rage and perseverance to sub¬ 
vert ; and therefore I say, my 
Lord, Reform must come, and 
CORRUPTION will fall. 

There is no safety for this na¬ 
tion, whilst ignorant and bad men 
bear the rule—for they under¬ 
mine our liberties. There is no 
safety for the Sovereign—for they 


endanger his throne, which is 
founded on our liberties. Arbitrary 
and unfeeling, they reject all 
proposals for Reform— all legis¬ 
lative measures for abolishing 
either sinecures or 7tseless places. 
In the insolence of their power, 
they oppress us with severe sta¬ 
tutes—in the wantonness of im¬ 
punity, they answer our suppli¬ 
cations for relief, by taking aw ay 
the only security of our persons 
from imprisonment, when they 
choose to throw us into dungeons. 
And, as if rioting in the very 
contemplation of being able to 
render the life of a victim, mise¬ 
rable from his helplessness, still 
more miserable, by a knowledge 
of the sufferings he may endure 
during his helplessness, they re¬ 
fused to enact, on the proposition 
of Sir Francis Bitrdett, that the 
w ife or children of their prisoner 
should be permitted, hy an order 
of the Secretary of State , to see 
him!—they refused to enact on 
behalf of such prisoner, that he 
should not be deprived of the 
means of petitioning' the King, or 
either House of Parliament!— 
they refused to enact that lie 
should not be loaded with irons! 

—they refused to enact that he 
•/ 

should not be shut up in any 
damp unwholesome place !—and 
they refused to enact that he 
should have air, warmth, and excr- 




Hone's Reformists’ Register. [288 

• ^ 


rise necessary for the preserva¬ 
tion of his life 1 

This, my Lord, you know to be 
true. You were in the House of 
Commons on the night the clause 
was tendered and rejected—-it 
wasi on the finai passing of the 
Bill. 1 have a blush of shame 
for humanity on my cheek, my 
Lord, which will rekindle and 
burn, if 1 ever suffer the foul dis¬ 
grace of hearing one creature, 
who sanctioned the rejection of 
that clause, called by the name 
of man —if called Briton , and so 
recognized by Britons—then, to 
such of my countrymen I say— 

• . - - “ your breath L hate 

As reek o' the rotten fens, your loves I 
prize 

As the dead carcases of anhuried men, 
That do corrupt my air.’' 

Such anticipations overwhelm 
the heart. 

I am, my Lord, See. 
WILLIAM IIONE. 
Friday, 21st March, 1817. 

TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

1 have alongarrear of Acknowledgments 
to Correspondents, which 1 cannot now 
individually mention ; generally, however, 
1 must say, that information duly authen¬ 
ticated I shall be glad to receive; but that 
which is not authenticated, or which I am 
not furnished w ith easy means of authenti¬ 
cating, it is not in my power to use in the 
Register, 


I entreat Mr. Catel Lofpt’s indul¬ 
gence, until my next or following Number. 

Justus, with whom I have had the plea¬ 
sure of communicating, I am constrained, 
against my wish, to defer for one week—• 
and no longer. 

I am much obliged by Gentlemen who 
have kindly transmitted me Country News¬ 
papers, and return them my thanks. 

I beg to inform Country Inquirers, who 
desire to have the Reformists’ Register , 
that they should give their orders for it to 
Country Booksellers, most of whom have 
usually a parcel of various publications 
every week from their agents in town, and 
these town agents will procure and for¬ 
ward the Register , in their weekly parcels, 
regularly; but Booksellers, and persons in 
the country, who take the Reformists’ Re¬ 
gister to sell again, may have them for* 
warded in any way they point out, by re¬ 
mitting with the order, or appointing pay¬ 
ment by some person in London, at stated 
periods. W. H. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year, have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume’s History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
w ill contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
lie at one half the price ; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year, 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which be 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested ; and the contents of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a fVeeh, 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will he equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil¬ 
lings. 


London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, 4 0, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; whene COMMUNICATION^ 
(po.vt paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Puice 
tack, Pis. 6d. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 









Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 10.] Saturday, March 29, 1817. 


YORKSHIRE & CORNWALL 

MEETINGS; 

AND 

MR. CAPEL LOFFT ON REFORM. 


Mr. WALTER FAWKES , and the 
YORKSHIRE MEETING—The 
Gag Committee—The 12 Noble Men 
of Yorkshire—Yorkshire Addressers, 
a Century ago—Letter from a York¬ 
shire Bookseller - CORlSH r ALL 

MEE TING—-Mr. RASHL EIGH' S 
admirable Speech, verbatim—Lord 
Cochrane going to South America — 
Alleged Departure of Mr. COR¬ 
BETT, for America . 


Yorkshire is, at this time, the 
scene of manly independence, 
and honest patriotism, struggling 
against notorious corruption, and 
narrow-hearted selfishness. 

Mr. Walter Fawkes, who, in 
these times of defection amongst 
the leaders wof the People, and in 
the county of York in particular, 
stands as a high land-mark, 
pointing the right way to the 
bewildered—whose name 1 never 
write, or hear mentioned, without 
feelings of respect for his daunt¬ 
less public virtue ; which, though 


[VOL. 1. 


no effort of mine can equally im¬ 
press upon those to whom I 
write, I cannot help expressing— 
this gentleman, whose expansive 
mind, stored with the old laws, 
and resting upon the principles 
of the Constitution, is employed 
but for his country’s welfare— 
this excellent man has been 
amongst the most active of 
the independent gentlemen of 
Yorkshire, in endeavouring to 
obtain a meeting of that great 
and important county, to express 
its sense to Parliament on the 
present state of public affairs. 

But the implicit confidence of 
noble minds, is a helpless, and 
almost pernicious quality, when 
the luke-warm and the half¬ 
hearted sit down with it in coun¬ 
cil. This the independent gen¬ 
tlemen of Yorkshire have already 
experienced. They now know 
that names are not worth having 
on the roll, if the men they be¬ 
long to run away on the eve of 
battle; and that though there is 
some difference between simple 
cowardice, and the crime of 
going over to the enemy, yet a 
deserter is three parts a traitor. 

A nefarious delusion has been 
practised in Yorkshire, the effect 
of which, hitherto, has been to 
prevent the comity from peti¬ 
tioning for relief. A requisition, 
with about eighty names, was 
presented by Mr. Walter. 
Fawkes, to the High Sheriff, for 























2911 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [292 


such meeting’. As soon as it was 
understood that the requisition 
was preparing, the Court party, 
well knowing what the, sense of 
the county is, was instantly in 
motion to keep down the county.. 
Regular clubs and combinations 
were formed, for the especial pur¬ 
pose of preventing the meeting 
from being held. The well- 
known arts of patronage and 
corruption w r ere used, to ren¬ 
der silent and inactive those 
who w r ere at all likely to take 
part in the proceedings. The 
People themselves, whose hearts 
and good wishes were for the 
meeting, laughed the doings of 
their enemies to scorn, in the 
hope that they would be over¬ 
come ; and they called them, the. 
keeper-downs , and their central 
committee, the GAG COMMIT¬ 
TEE. This Gag Committee “had 
“ branch Committees , correspond- 
“ iim with it, and affiliated to it.” 
It is not w onderful, therefore, that 
such an extensive and regular 
organization of illicit force 
should for a season prevail. By 
threatening and cajoling, and 
overawing and coaxing, some 
were terrified, and others, who 
had mixed with the leaders of 
the People, w heedled out of their 
good intention. 

Common minds are hardly 
equal to withstand the half-car- 
nest insinuation from a dinner- 
table friend, of, “ If you do so and 
so, w r e must cut;” or the shocking 
refresher to the memory, that a re¬ 
lation who is in the Church, or 
that another in Place, or that one 
who wants to be in, or their 
wives, or cousins, will be eter¬ 
nally disobliged; and then comes 
in the old clencher, of its “ dis- 
“ turbing the peace of the family, 


“ and doing no good besides 
Such manoeuvring, dexterously 
shaped, and fortified by solemn 
stories, about a four-wheeled 
waggon, a tri-coloured flag, an 
old stocking,,with a ha’porth of 
gunpowder, and three bullets and 
a half in the foot of it; how the 
tow er was summoned, though the 
Lord Mayor says it w as not—for the 
fellow that did it, hid himself be¬ 
hind a watch-box, and spoke in a 
low voice; how there certainly is 
something that’s not yet found 
out, and perhaps never will be ; 
and that its proper the hands of 
Government should be strength¬ 
ened ;—this sort of stuff, related 
with important gravity, duly am¬ 
plified, and illustrated by refe¬ 
rence to doubtful facts, and false 
consequences, drawn from the 
French Revolution, the very men¬ 
tion of which, alone, is enough 
to frighten the mind of a poor 
country gentleman from its pro¬ 
priety ; this kind of conversation, 
with the offer of “ mg advice ,” im¬ 
mediately given, w ithout waiting 
for, actually prevailed over some 
of the persons w ho had committed 
themselves with the requisitionists 
for a county meeting in York¬ 
shire; and it was thought expe¬ 
dient to withdraw the requisition 
from the High Sheriff, after it 
w as presented. 

The Reformists in Yorkshire 
have been deceived by hollow 
associates, by whom they will be 
deceived again, if they trust them 
again. Men, who conceive their 
interests to differ from the inte^ 
rest of the great mass of the 
People; w ho are fettered by 
connexion; wdio are liable to 
be terrified by groundless alarms; 
who are small about the heart, 
weak about the head* and 





293] 


March 29, 1817 


strong nowhere but in their pro¬ 
perty ; such men never can be 
Reformists, never can be relied 
on by Reformists. Their pre¬ 
sence is dangerous, their advice 
is useless, and their fears para- 
lize; they are the halt anti the 
lame which encumber the march, 
and must go with the women and 
children amongst the baggage 
and lumber. 

But, if in the outset, the gen¬ 
tlemen of Yorkshire have been 
out-flanked by the enemy, and 
betrayed by some in their own 
camp, they may yet accomplish 
their purpose to a great extent. 
There is a brave and gallant 
band still remaining, who are 
heart and hand with the People, 
and who, if supported by the 
People, will at least obtain a 
meeting of the West Riding of 
Yorkshire. I perceive the fol¬ 
lowing names mentioned in the 
Leeds JHercury, as amongst the 
stout-hearted. They are a goodly 
dozen; and I cannot refuse my 
readers the pleasure of seeing 
them placed alphabetically on 
this page. 

NOBLE MEN OF YORKSHIRE. 

Sir George Calev, of Brumpton. 
Col. Cooke, of Wheatley. 

Rookes Crompton, Esq. of Esholt. 
B. Dealtry, Esq. of Loftus. 
Walter Fawkes, Esq. of Farnley. 
F. J. Foljambe, Esq. 

B. Heywood, Esq. of Stanley. 

F. Maude, Esq. of Wakefield. 

Sir W. Pilkincton. 

Daniel Sykes, Esq. of Ray well. 

G. Tasbrough, Esq. of Burgwallis. 
Thomas WYBERGH,Esq. of Linton 

Spring. 

In the History of Addresses 
attributed to Daniel De Foe, but 


[294 

which was written by John Old- 
mixon,* the historian of the Stu¬ 
arts, are some curious specimens 
of addresses from Yorkshire, all in 
favour of the ruling powers, whe¬ 
ther Jacobites or Constitutional¬ 
ists; and in particular in 1710, the 
High Sheriff, Deputy Lieutenants, 
Justices of the Peace, Clergy, and 
Gentry, met at the assizes, at the 
city of York, together with the 
Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, and 
several principal Inhabitants of 
the said city, and prepared an Ad¬ 
dress to Queen ANNE, commen¬ 
cing with, “ We, your Majesty’s 
“ most dutiful and lawful sub- 

jects, in opposition to all your 
u enemies,beg leave in this public 
“ manner to declare before God 
“ and the world, that your Ma- 
“ jesty is by hereditary Right , as 
“ well as by legal establishment, 
“ our lawful and rightful Queen, 
“ and only supreme governor in 
“ all causes, over all persons and 
“ estates, spiritual and temporal; 
“ and that it is not lawful, on 
“ any pretence whatsoever, to 
“ resist your Majesty.” By such 
silly fulsomeness, the addressers 
declared their assent to the stupid 
doctrines of passive obedience 
and non-resistance, long ago hap- 
P‘!y exploded in theory, in all 
ages preached, but in no age or 
country observed, when contrary 
usage rendered resistance neces¬ 
sary; and these addressers further 

* The History of Addresses; by one very 
near a-kin to the Author of the Tale ofaTub t 
8vo. London, vo). J, 170y, vol. 2, 1711. Mr. 
Alex. Chalmers, in the last edition ot the 
Biographical Dictionary , 24 vol. 8vo. Art. 
De Foe, says that Df. Foe was the Author 
of this ingenious work—an error which he 
fell into when he published De Foe’s Life 
separately. Oldmixon affirms that the 
History of Addresses was written by him¬ 
self. See his Memoirs of the Press , 8vo. 
17-13,1*. 7. 



295] Hone’s Reformists* Register. [2.% 


declared* what,iii their highflying 
loyalty they actually forgot was 
not true, namely, that Anne was 
an hereditary Queen; whereas,the 
Chevalier St. George, called the 
Pretender, was, in a right line, 
the heir to the throne, and actu¬ 
ally put aside to make way for 
her; which said Pretender, the 
predecessors of the said address¬ 
ers, “ moved by the most ardent 
“ affection, profoundest duty, and 
44 truest interest, congratulatedHis 
44 Sacred Majesty King James II. 
“ and the three kingdoms’ happi- 
“ ness in the birth of!” This style 
of addressing has been practised 
in Yorkshire, with similar grace 
and consistency, to the present 
period ; ,so that it is surely 
time for Yorkshire men to break 
the usage altogether, and to 
manifest that intellectual supe¬ 
riority in public affairs, which 
they are well known to exercise 
in private. I know that there are 
numerous obstacles to this; be¬ 
cause, to mention no other, in 
many of the towns in Yorkshire, 
the inhabitants live in grievous 
bondage, as to their political 

liberty. ‘ 

" «/ 

I have a letter before me,which 
I received a few weeks ago, from 
a respectable bookseller, in a 
large town in Yorkshire, exem¬ 
plifying a state of dependency, to 
live under which,scarcely.daring 
to whisper my own thoughts, I 
. had “rather be a kitten, and cry 
mew ! ” He writes to me thus :— 
44 I wish well to the cause, and I 
“ may say the justness of it, being 
44 fully convinced of the necessity 
“ of a Reform in the representa- 
“ tion, which I think, as it now 
44 stands, is little better than 
44 mockery. The Petitions have 
44 already done some good , but I 


44 fear the GREAT ROOT of all 
44 evil :iciU be suffered to remain. 
44 WHIGS, as well as Tories , are 
44 BOROtJGH-MONGERS ; and 
44 it appears they are determined 
44 to remain so. There is hardly 
44 a more violent man in the 
44 House, against Reformers, than 
44 what Lord Milton is, one of the 
44 representatives of this great 
44 and opulent county. Such is 
44 the high tone that our CORPO- 
44 RATION possesses , that it is 
44 highly dangerous , with regard 
44 to a tradesman , to hold opposite 
44 opinions. I have by no means 
44 hid my opinions under a bushel, 
44 but have espoused them upon 
4 the plan of a moderate Reform, 
44 such as triennial parliaments, 
44 &c. &c. As almost every man 
44 in large towns is a politician, 
44 so I give my opinion with 
44 others.—Say, when you send 
44 Lord Byron’s Poems, if you 
44 have any other publication 
44 that lias a speedy sale, that is 
“ not political, as it would be very 
44 injurious to me to offer any 
“ thing on that subject , except it 
“ supported Corruption J” 

1 pity this poor gentleman, 
from my heart. He will recog¬ 
nize his own letter in print, and 
will not be sorry, that having 
omitted his name and place of 
residence, I have let him relate 
his thraldom in his own words, 
to all the world. He points out 
the cause of it— the Borough - 
mongering. This is, as he says, 
the root, of the evil; and hence it 
is, that WHIGS as well as Tories, 
being Borough-mongers , have in¬ 
terests in direct opposition to any 
Reform that will essentially be- 
nefit the People. 

But even if the requisition for 
the Yorkshire Meeting had been 







297] March 29, 1817. [298 


Kit with the Hi oh Sheriff', it is 
Rot certain that tie would have 
called a meeting of the county. 
Ma yors and Sheriff's sometimes 
exercise their poiccr as if it con¬ 
ferred on them a right to do 
wrong*. One of these Official 
Gentlemen, the High Sheriff of 
Cornwall, has just “ damned 
himself to everlasting fame.” Let 
others follow his example, who 
envy him his feelings. A requi¬ 
sition was sent to this most im¬ 
portant personage, for a meeting* 
o I the freeholders a n d in h a bit ant a 
ol ttie county: which meeting 

. * 7 . O 

he refused to call, because he 
was required to summon the in¬ 
habitants os well as the free¬ 
holders. Such refusal, however, 
was of no consequence whatever; 
it was wholly immaterial whether 
the Chair was taken by the said 
Sheriff, or by some sensible gen¬ 
tleman appointed by the Meet¬ 
ing; and, above all, as the inde¬ 
pendent freeholders and inhabit¬ 
ants would as readily attend a 
meeting summoned by some of 
themselves, as if it were sum¬ 
moned by the Sheriff, a requisi¬ 
tion, signed by eight Magistrates, 
and other gentlemen of the 
county, requested the freeholders 
and inhabitants to meet at ttad¬ 
min, on Tuesday, the 11th insf .; 
when a most respectable meet¬ 
ing was held, and Edward IV. 
Wynne Pendarves, Esq. a Ma¬ 
gistrate, one of the requisition- 
ists, being voted in the Chair, 
an Address to the Iiegeut, on his 
escape ; a Petition to the House 
of Commons, for Retrenchment 
and Reform ; and thanks to Earl 
Grosyenor, Lord Erskine, Sir 
F. Burdett, Mr. Brand, and Sir 
W. Lemon, and “ to the virtuous 
“ Minorities in both Houses of 


“ Parliament, who refused to libel 
“ the character, and invade the 
“ rights of the People ’ (by sus¬ 
pending the Habeas Corpus Act), 
were unanimously carried. There 
was much excellent speaking at 
this Meeting ; but the best speech 
was made by J. C. Easmleigh, 
Esq. a Magistrate, who signed 

» C_y ' O 

the Requisition, it: gives so wide 
and clear a view of our recent 
and present circumstances, that 1 
should be ashamed of imposing 
on rny readers, by presuming to 
offer any thing of my own in¬ 
stead of it. I give it as it is re¬ 
ported at length, in a Supplement 
to the Went Hi it on, and Ccrmcall 
Advertiser. 

Mr. Rashleigii spoke as ill- 
I ows:— 

Mr. Chairman , and Gentlemen. Often 
as it lias been n.y lot to address the 
county on subjects of great and essen¬ 
tial importance to the public welfare, 
I never before came forward to the 
performance of this arduous duty, 
with feelings of such deep anxiety as 
those I now experience. Gentlemen, 
1 think it a high mark of distinction 
and favour, to be permitted to second 
the Resolutions, which you have just 
heard read, and to identify myself 
with my Honourable Friend, (Mr. 
Glynn,) who has elucidated the sub¬ 
jects embraced by them, in a speech 
so able, so luminous, and so elo¬ 
quent.—It has been said, by one of 
our ablest writers, that there could 
hardly occur a case involving the in¬ 
terests of his country, in which a 
good citizen could remain neuter; 
and the most enlightened and polish¬ 
ed state of the ancient world, made 
it criminal for its citizens to refuse 
taking a part in matters that com¬ 
promised the public welfare. If this 
maxim holds true in ordinary occa¬ 
sions, how much more justly will it 
apply to occurrences so momentous as 
those which have now called us tuge- 








299] 

1 her.—It is a duty which, as English¬ 
men, we owe to our country, to our¬ 
selves, and particularly to this county, 
to appear here this day, and, not 
being conscious of guilt, and disdain¬ 
ing the appearance of fear or of 
shame, manfully to declare our deter¬ 
mination to persevere to the last, in 
our endeavours to preserve every 
branch of the Constitution from vio¬ 
lation 3 to repair its dilapidations, 
and, if need be, at the hazard of our 
lives, to maintain and uphold the do¬ 
minion of the laws.—Gentlemen, the 
peaceable and orderly conduct that 
the county of Cornwall has mani¬ 
fested on all occasions, is the best re¬ 
futation of the calumnies with which 
our enemies assail us.—Whatever 
may be said through libellous news- 
papers,we should not be prevented from 
coming forward in that mode consti¬ 
tutional usage has made most proper, 
to exercise our undoubted privileges, 
assert our birth-rights.—-It is a 
duty we owe to ourselves, to our pos¬ 
terity, and to the memory of our an¬ 
cestor^, not to suffer the glorious pre¬ 
rogatives of rational and immortal 
man-—those sacred liberties trans¬ 
mitted to ns by our forefathers—-that 
Constitution which is our dearest in¬ 
heritance, bought by their struggles, 
and scaled by their blood, to be 
wholly torn from us, without one 
legal struggle for its preservation.— 
Gentlemen, besides these, the princi¬ 
pal reasons which we conceive render 
it our bounden duty to appear here 
this day, in times such as these, 
when the shield of the law has been 
If ted from our heads, and we stand 
bare to the arm of power, it behoves 
us to be careful of what may be said 
of us 3—we should be anxious not to 
allow our enemies any advantage over 
us. It is, indeed, difficult to guard 
against moral assassination 3 to de¬ 
fend ourselves against ‘ the arrow that 
hies by day, or the pestilence’ of 
slander, f that walketh in darkness.’* 

* These passages are quoted from that 
matchless piece, the Form of Prayer and 


[300 

There is but one way in which honest 
men should, in such times, conduct 
themselves p and that is, by bearing 
an open front of integrity, and man¬ 
fully avowing those sentiments, that 
in days of peace and safety, they 
professed.— \_Applause.~] —'This alone 
is the conduct that will enable us to 
defy the weapons of calumny. Gen¬ 
tlemen, there is a time for all things j 
—in ordinary circumstances, it may be 
well to disregard the malignity of 
the slanderer, and to treat his efforts 
with silent contempt 3—but there is 
also a time when things are out of joint 3 
when all that is coo'rupi and putrid • 
all that stinks and rots at the bottom of 
the state, rises to the surface, token it 
may be proper to act in the spirit of a 
less fastidious taste. When calumny 
walks abroad, it becomes us to appear 
in the open day, to challenge inquiry, 
to lay each of us his hand on his 
breast, and to say, Ubi lapsus, quid 
feci ? 

I trust I may be permitted to illus- 
trate these observations by a case per¬ 
sonal to myself j but which, from its 
ccntemptibiiity, I should not, in ordi¬ 
nary times, deem worthy of a moment’s 
consideration. I learnt, in the course 
of last week, that a report has been 
industriously circulated, that my Rev. 
Friend opposite, and myself, had lite¬ 
rally prostituted the parish church of 
Luxillion, for political purposes 3 and 
that such Psalms were chosen for Di¬ 
vine Service, as were calculated to ex¬ 
cite the People to insurrection against 
the Government.— [Laughter.']-- Gen¬ 
tlemen, we may well laugh at such 
a report, on its own account, as an 
idle tale of slander. I am sure, 
neither my Rev. Friend nor myself 
feel any wish to trace it 3 but I be¬ 
lieve it owes its origin to the neigh¬ 
bourhood of IIELSTON ; that choice 
borough, whose corruption, which 
had not even the miserable plea of 

Thanksgiving, for the Regnt’s Escape, ap¬ 
pointed to be read in all churches and 
chapels throughout England arid Wales, 
and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed. 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 




301] March 2,9 1817. [302 


poverty to extenuate its enormity, 
stands recorded on the Journals of the 
House of Commons ; and to disfran¬ 
chise whose electors, a bill passed that 
House, though it was rejected by the 
House of Lords.—Yet, Gentlemen, 
these same electors of Helston, get 
into the moral chair, and judge us. 
Reformers, worthy of their high and 
virtuous reprehension.--- [Hear ! and 
laughter."]— But, contemptible as this 
slander nray appear, the man that 
could invent it, would not scruple to 
bear a tale to the ears of Govern¬ 
ment, that, if believed, would deprive 
us of our liberty.—Slanders, that in 
other times would excite only con¬ 
tempt, may become dangerous at pre¬ 
sent ; and, therefore, we ought to 
stand forward, to show that we are 
not what we are represented to be ; 
that our f righteousness may be as 
the light, and our just dealing as 
the noon-day.’—So much. Gentlemen, 
for reports and aspersions, which 
carry with them their own refuta¬ 
tion :—other matters, of more serious 
moment, now call for our attention. 

My Honourable Friend, in the 
Chair, has read to you the answer 
which the High Sheriff thought tit to 
return to the requisition addressed to 
him for calling you together. This 
answer affords a most admirable text 
for commenting on the topics em¬ 
braced by the Resolutions which I 
have the honour to second. The 
High Sheriff says : f Had I received a 
requisition to convene a meeting of 
the freeholders of this county, for 
the purpose of congratulating His 
Royal Highness the Prince Regent , on 
his late providential escape from the 
most treasonable and atrocious at¬ 
tempt that could have been devised 
upon the life of His Royal Righness, 
I should have experienced (hehighest 
possible gratification in calling it.’ 

I should have been highly gratified 
to have seen any good reason why the 
worthy Magistrate would be gratified 
to see the freeholders assembled to ex¬ 
press their loyalty, which would not 


apply to the inhabitants of the county 
at large.—I should be glad to know 
why the inhabitants have not an in¬ 
terest in supporting the dignity of 
the Crown; the splendour of the 
Throne the dominion of the laws, 
and every part of the Constitution, 
as great as that of the freeholders.—- 
Does the worthy Magistrate mean to 
deduce the rule he has laid down, 
from the feudal system, so long ex¬ 
ploded ■ under which .two-thirds of 
the inhabitants of this country were 
villains, in a state of absolute sla¬ 
very }—The Sheriff proceeds to say 
f Rut when I perceive that the requi¬ 
sition now before me requires that I 
should call a meeting of the free¬ 
holders and “ inhabitants ” of this 
county, who are to question, under 
my presidency, the wisdom of Parlia¬ 
ment, and the propriety of imposing 
restraint on the seditious, although the 
inadequacy of the existing laws has 
of late been too sufficiently proved ; 

I feel it a duty which I owe to the 
public, and to myself, as having un¬ 
dertaken the office of chief Magistrate 
for this county, firmly to declare that 
1 cannot comply with the request of 
the requisitionists—or give the 
slightest sanction to proceedings, of 
which the probable result will be the 
overthrow of the existing Govern¬ 
ment of this Kingdom, and the total 
subversion of our inestimable Con¬ 
stitution.’—Now, in the first place, 1 
should be glad to know what is here 
meant by questioning the wisdom of 
Parliament ? Does the Sheriff mean 
to contend that, in no case, are the 
People of this country to question 
the propriety of any measure which 
is in progress through Parliament; 
or on which Parliament has decided ? , 
If this be the mea-iing of the worthy 
Magistrate, who ha: so kindly con¬ 
descended to read us a lecture cm the 
Constitution, i can .or ly o.'.y, t 
such a ..proposition has not' been 
broached in this. country, since the 
days of Mr. Justice Alybone., 'the 
Papist Judge, who figured at the trial 





SORT Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [304 


of the seven Bishops, in the reign of 
James the second.-— If we have no right 
to question what takes place in Parlia- 
me.it, the term PETITION should be 
obliterated from our statute books; as 
we can only assemble to vote adukitory 
addresses to the Throne. 

But though an utter repugnance 
appears to prevail in certain quarters, 
to the exercise of this invaluable pri¬ 
vilege of the People, the right of Peti¬ 
tion, even when it has questioned the 
wisdom of Parliament, has been pro¬ 
ductive of more salutary effects to the 
Constitution, than any other enjoyed 
by them. What put an end to Gene¬ 
ral Search-Warrants?—the Petitions, 
of the People.—What terminated the 
American War ?—-the Petitions of the 
People.-—What put a period to that 
inhuman and damnable traffic, the 
Slave-trade ?—the Petitions of the 
People.—What preserved the Tolera¬ 
tion Act from being tampered with ?—- 
the Petitions of the People.—What 
induced the House of Commons to 
reject, the Property-tax ?—the Petiti¬ 
ons of the People.—What produced 
even those meagre measures of econo¬ 
mical Reform, which, from time to 
time, have been adopted by Parlia¬ 
ment?—the Petitions of thePcople.-— 
Yet wc are gravely told by the High- 
Sheriff, that, we are to forego the right of 
Petition, because, truly, it is not 
allowed us to question the wisdom of 
Parliament.— [ Thunders of applause .] 

We now come to the reason as'- 
signed by the Sheriff for refusing, as 
far as he has power to do so, to uihnv 
the Inhabitants of Cornwall to exer¬ 
cise their constitutional right of Peti¬ 
tion. He says, ( he cannot comply 
with the Requisitionists, or give the 
slightest sanction to proceedings, of 
which the probable result will be, the 
overthrow of the existing Government 
of this kingdom, and the total subver¬ 
sion of our inestimable Constitution.’ 
With all the attention which I could 
give to this passage, I confess I am 
not sure that I comprehend the mean¬ 
ing of the worthy Magistrate 5 and I 


should be sorry to comment on what 
I do not understand. I really do not 
know what proceedings he has in 
view j whether he alludes to the Spa- 
fields riots, or intends to insinuate, 
that the probable consequences of 
y«ur meeting here this day, will be 
the overthrow” of our excellent Con¬ 
stitution [laughter] .---To assign any 
rational meaning to the words, I must 
suppose he intends to inform us, that 
the right of Petition should not be 
allowed to large assemblies of the 
People, but be committed to a chosen 
few, who shall exercise it almost 
like conspirators, with all the stillness 
of a secret committee. But on this 
system, how are the People to exer¬ 
cise the right of Petition at all ?— 
however aggrieved, can they, from 
their cots and hamlets, state either 
their wishes or their grievances ?—- 
Wc are taunted with indulging in 
Utopian theories, and told that the 
People are incompetent to decide on 
complicated questions of law and 
policy : but how are their judgments to 
be informed, or their ideas enlarged, if 
they are not allowed io attend public 
meetings, where men of education, ta¬ 
lents, and experience, may instruct 
them what to avoid, and what to pur-: 
sue; and where they might decide on 
their own dearest interests, as they 
can alone safely decide, when under 
the guidance of superior authority, or 
of superior mind ? In the political 
homily the Sheriff has so kindly ad¬ 
dressed to us, he has given us much 
good advice, which 1 should be sorry 
to see fall on barren ground j but I 
cannot help observing, that instead of 
convening the county to inquire into 
the matters stated in our requisition, 
he has taken for granted questions 
which, if he had presided here, he 
would have heard discussed, and have 
learned w hether there was any foun¬ 
dation for his assertion, that we ques¬ 
tion the propriety of imposing re¬ 
straints on the seditious j and whe¬ 
ther the existing laws were adeemate 
to the preservation of the public peace. 




305] March 29 , 1817. [300 


If what has been stated in the Re¬ 
ports' of the Committees of Secrecy 
he true,—if a conspiracy exists, hav¬ 
ing; for its object the extinction of all 
morality, the destruction of all law, 
and the plunder of all property, who 
is so insane or so wicked, as to refuse 
to sanction any restraints that may be 
necessary to avert so horrible a catas¬ 
trophe? Certainly no man on our 
side would for a moment refuse to do 
so. We would only ask, that before 
these restraints were imposed, the ne¬ 
cessity for their imposition should be 
proved. And is this too much for 
Englishmen to require, when the 
measures proposed go to the length of 
absolutely suspending the liberties of 
the country, by taking away the 
whole of that Constitution, which we 
have been taught to value, above every 
other earthly possession™which has 
been our boast, our glory, and our se¬ 
curity-forming a proud distinction 
between us and tlie rest of the world? 

In order to form a correct judgment 
on this subject, 1 shall state, as briefly 
as possible, what are the nature and 
character of the end proposed to be 
accomplished, and what are the nature 
and character of themeans proposed for 
its accomplishment. When I have put 
yoii in possession of what the Habeas 
Corpus Act was intended to effect, 
wheft was the state of the People be¬ 
fore it passed, and what is iikeiy to be 
the consequence of its suspension, I 
think that you will agree with me in 
opinion, that the anxiety of the Sheriff 
U) prevent the demolition of the Consti¬ 
tution, is rather curious, and somewhat 
resembles that of the good man who 
eagerly sought for a lock for his stable 
door, after the steed teas stolen [ap¬ 
plause.] 

Gentlemen, I will not presume on 
rny own information, in giving you 
the history of the Act of Habeas 
Corpus ; but will State it to you in 
the words of Mr. De Lojlme, of whom 
Mr. Bentham says, that he thought 
on the Constitution, whilst Black- 
stone had only written. He says : — 


“ But the most useful method of se¬ 
curing the personal safety of the subject, 
and which even, by being most general and 
certain, has tacitly abolished all the others, 
is the writ of Habeas Corpus, so called, be¬ 
cause it begins with the words Habeas cor¬ 
pus ad subjiciendum. This writ being a 
a writ ol high prerogative,'must issue drum 
the Court of King’s Bench : its effects ex¬ 
tend equally to every county; and the 
King by it requires, or is understood to 
require, the person who holds one of his 
subjects in custody, to carry him before 
the judge, with the date of the con tint- 
ment, and the cause of it, in order to die¬ 
t-barge him, or continue to detain him, 
according as the judge shall decree. 

“ But tins writ, which might be a re¬ 
source in cases of violent imprisonment 
effected by individuals; or granted at their 
request, was but a feeble one, nr rather 
was no resource at all against the preroga¬ 
tive of the Prince, especially under the sway 
of the Tudors, and in the beginning of that 
of the Stewarts. And even in the first 
years of Charles the First, the judges of the 
King’s Bench, who, in consequence of the 
spirit of the times, and of their holding 
their places durante bene jdac'tto , were con¬ 
stantly devottd to the Court, declared; 
'that they could not upon a Ifnbeus ( orpus 
‘ either bail or deliver a prisoner, though 
‘ committed without any cause assigned, in 
‘case he Was committed by the special 
‘ command of the King, or by the Lords of 
‘ the privy council.’ 

“ Those principles, and the mode of 
procedure which resulted from them, drew 
the attention of Parlimeitt; and in the Bill 
called the Petitioned' Right, passed in the 
third year of the reign of Charles the First, 
it was enacted, that no person should he 
kept in custody, in consequence of such 
imprisonments. 

“ But the judges knew how to evade 
the intention of this act : they indeed did 
not refuse to discharge a man imprisoned 
without a cause; but they used so much 
delay in the examination of the causes, 
that they obtained the full effect of an 
open denial of justice. 

“ The legislature again interposed, and 
in the act passed in the sixteeth year of 
the reign of Charles the First, the same in 
which the Star-chamber was suppressed, ft 
was enacted, that ‘ that if any person he 
‘ be committed by the King himself in pdr- 
‘ son, or by his privy council, or by any of 
‘ the members thereof, he shall have 
4 granted unto him, without delay upon 
‘ any pretence whatever, a writ of flabeas 
‘ Corpus; and that the judge shall there- 
‘ upon, within three court-days after the 








o07j , IIonl’s Reformists’ Register. [308 


* return is made, examine and determine 
‘ the, legality of {Such imprisonment.’ 

“ This act seemed to preclude every 
possibility of future evasion: yet it was 
evaded still; and' by the connivance of the 
judges, the person who detained tl\t> pri¬ 
soner could,, without danger, wait for a 
second, and a, third writ, called an alias 
and a pluries, before he produced him, 

“ All these different artifices gave at 
length birth to the famous act of Habeas 
Corpus (passed in the thirty first year of 
the reign of Charles the Second), which is 
considered in England as a second Great 
Charter, and has extinguished all the re¬ 
sources of oppression.” 

The Clause of this Act which is af¬ 
fected by the present measure of sus¬ 
pension, enacts, that,— 

“ Every person committed for traason 
or felony, shall, if he require it, in the 
first week of the next term, or the first 
day of the next session, be indicted in that 
term or session, or else admitted to bail, 
uidess it should be proved upon oath, that 
the King's witnesses cifnnot be produced 
at that time : and if not indicted and tried 
in the second term or session, he shall be 
discharged of his imprisonment for such 
imputed offence.” 

This is the history of the Act of 
Habeas Corpus j an act which gives 
no new rights to the People of Eng¬ 
land, but merely provides for the se¬ 
cure enjoyment of those they already 
possessed by Magna Charta, which 
declares that no man shall be impri¬ 
soned or punished, but by due pro¬ 
cess of law. The immediate cause, 
which led to the passing of the Peti¬ 
tion of Right, in the early part of the 
reign of Charles the First, was the 
arbitrary imprisonment of several 
independent Members of Parliament: 
two of whom, to. the immortal ho¬ 
nour of this county, were Cornish- 
men—-Sir John Elliot and Mr. Cor- 
ryton, for resisting illegal loans to 
the Government. Sir John Elliot, 
who was accused of using seditious 
language in Parliament, was impri¬ 
soned for 13 years in a dungeon, 
where he perished j and it was to re¬ 
medy such cases of grievance, that 
the Act of Habeas Corpus was passed 
[hear]. Nor are cases nearly similar 


to that of Sir John Elliot unknown 
in our times : whilst the Habeas Cor¬ 
pus Act continues suspended, we are 
exposed to a similar fate. A petition, 
lately presented to the House of Com¬ 
mons, by a person named Evans, now 
in custody, of whose case I know no¬ 
thing but what has appeared in the 
public papers, states, that during the 
suspension of the Act of Habeas Cor¬ 
pus which took place in 1794 , he was 
confined in a dungeon for three years, 
denied the use of books or paper, and 
prevented from seing his friends: — 
at the end of this time he was dis¬ 
missed without trial [hear, hear]. I 
myself know a gentleman of educa¬ 
tion, and a man of fortune and of ex¬ 
cellent character,'who was thrown 
into the Tower, where he was con¬ 
fined for two years * and then, broken 
in mind, health, and faculties, released 
by the expiration of the Act of Sus¬ 
pension, without ever being able to 
discover the cause of this heavy pu¬ 
nishment being inflicted on him, ex¬ 
cept that he had the misfortune of 
being an Irishman [hear]. I state 
this fact on my honour. Such, Gen¬ 
tlemen, is the character of this mear 
sure of suspension. What is the al¬ 
leged necessity on which it is resorted 
to ? The Committees of Secrecy say, 
that a treasonable conspiracy exists 
in the heart of the kingdom, which 
embraces vast numbers of the People, 
whose object is the extinction of law, 
morality, and religion $ and who, by 
open force and direct levying of war, 
were preparing to carry their designs 
into execution. Now, I put it to you 
to say, if such a conspiracy had per¬ 
vaded in nearly the whole of this 
kingdom, must ndt the symptoms 
have broken out at some of the nu¬ 
merous public meetings that have 
been convened in all parts of the 
country'? Where have these dragons 
teeth been buried 5 where has this 
flame been smothered, that was on a 
sudden to burst forth and consume 
us ? Where have any such symptoms 
been manifested and how, if any 




A09j , March 29, 1817. [310 


such a conspiracy existed, was it pos¬ 
sible for the People to still the pulses 
of their hearts, under the pressure of 
the acute and protracted distress that 
every where prevails ? Were any 
such symptoms exhibited at the public 
meetings at Glasgow, at Paisley, at 
Westminster, at Southwark, at Bristol, 
at Manchester, at Liverpool, at Bir¬ 
mingham, at Leeds, at Sheffield, in 
Hampshire, in Berkshire, or in this 
county ? At none of these places 
have any such symptoms appeared. 
The presumption then is, that the 
People are innocent. I speak not of 
individuals : some there may be, who 
entertain the insane views described 
by the Committees, but these are few 
and insignificant—the common law of 
the land is quite a match for them 3 
but as for the great body of the Peo¬ 
ple, they are untainted. At Spa-fields, 
it is true, some hundreds of persons 
were so foolish and so wicked, as to 
break out into acts of violence and in¬ 
surrection j yet hear what the Lord 
Mayor says on the subject. He was 
sorry the Committees did not think 
proper to examine him,who had the best 
means of knowing the extent of the 
conspiracy ; for suppressing which, he 
said, he deserved no thanks, as he 
merely had to jump from his carriage, 
and seize the ring-leader. This was 
the only overt act of treason that had 
taken place3 and is it on this that 
the liberties of the People have been 
suspended ? Gentlemen, if these are 
the facts, is not the presumption in 
favour of the People ? 

Let us now consider the presump¬ 
tions on the other side. What is the 
history of this deprecated measure. 
The Lord Mayor sends all the letters 
he receives, after the Spa-fields’ riot, 
from different parts of the kingdom, 
to the Secretary of State; many of 
these, his Lordship says, were written 
in a feigned hand 3 and many by per¬ 
sons who wished to see the Act of 
Habeas Corpus suspended; from 
these and other papers Ministers 
make a selection, which they put in a 


green bag, and carry to a Com¬ 
mittee, chosen by ballot 3 that is, 
every Member writes the names of those 
he wishes to be on the Committee, on a 
slip of paper, which he puts in a glass : 
the Ministers have a majority in the 
House, and all their friends put in the 
same names ; so that Mr. Brougham 
told the House, they need not take the 
trouble of going through the farce, for 
he would read, the names which would 
compose the Committee , before the 
glasses were examined ; and this he ac¬ 
tually did * What reply do you think 
did my Lord Castlereagh make to 
this ?—he said it was an old jolce, for 
Mr. Sheridan had played it off many 
years ago 3—that is, the abuse was 
sanctioned by long practice, and, 
therefore, should be continued.— 
[ Hear .3---Gentlemen, let us look at 
the composition of the Committee 3— 
the majority consisted of persons not o¬ 
rious forabiasin favour of Ministers 3— 
I need say no more on the subject.' 
But had Ministers no interest in 
getting up a plot ?—I need not tell 
you the state of the country .—From 
Caithness to Cornwall, the cry of the 
People, suffering the greatest priva¬ 
tions, was for a redress of grievances, 
and a dimunition of the burthen of 
taxation, which was pressing all 
classes to the earth.—The first efforts 
were made ^against the Property-tax, 
and, as I think, on very narrow 
grounds, for whilst a great regard was 
shown for property, very little was 
manifested for liberty.—The relief 
afforded by the repeal of the Pro¬ 
perty-tax being found to be compara¬ 
tively trivial 3 the#People began to 
Petition for econmony and retrench¬ 
ment in every department of Go¬ 
vernment. In these Petitions little 
was said respecting Parliamentary 
Reform. At length, however, they 
began to look beyond mere effects, 
to reason up to their causes, and 
from complaints of the Administra¬ 
tion, to inquire into the perverted 
state of the frame of the Govern- 
* See Reforests’ Register, p. C6. 




31 i] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [312 


mcnt. Then some appearances of 
reduction became necessary, and the 
army is, therefore, to be reduced 
from 1 . 00 , 000 , to J 23,000 men, and 
the navy from 33 , 000 , to J.8,QOO. 
The whole amount of the retrench¬ 
ments made by Ministers, amounts 
to no more than six millions.—Lord 
Castlereaeli has not thought it ne- 
cessary to deny what is the real cause 
of the difference between the navy 
and army. The chief reduction of 
the army has taken place in the colo¬ 
nies ? 81,000 men are said to be ne¬ 
cessary for the maintenance of trail- 

J 

quillity at home, in time of profound 
peace.-—Already the People see that 
a real and effective system of econo- 
mical Reform can only be obtained 
through the medium of a Refoim in 
Parliament, and Petitions from all 
parts of the country, containing 
1200,000 signatures, have already 
been uresented to the House of 

x 

Commons, in favour of the measure. 
— -Ministers perceived that if some 
means were not resorted to, it was 
probable that some system of Re¬ 
form must speedily take place 
this it is obviously their interest to 
prevent. Is it too much, therefore, 
to say, that when the plot has been 
brought forward by such hands, the 
presumption on the one hand out¬ 
weighs the presumption on the other r 
Gentlemen, when the Habeas Cor¬ 
pus Act is suspended, every other 
constitutional right is suspended with 
it.—What are those rights on which 
an Englishman would set his finger, 
if called on to point out in what con¬ 
sisted the Constitution ? They are, 
the right of personal safety j the right 
of Petition j the right to consent to 
the laws wbhh bound his life, his 
liberty, and his property, and the 
freedom of the press.—On these rights 
depend the whole of civil liberty.—I 
ask, then, which of these rights re¬ 
main, when the security of personal 
liberty is destroyed ? Can a man 
come forward to Petition against the 
acts of Ministers, or go to the poll 


to vote for a candidate obnoxious to 
them, with the same confidence he 
would, in ordinary times, whilst he 
feels that these Ministers holds his 
personal liberty in their power ? 
Many, 1 hope, would prefer chains 
or death to a base surrender of their 
freedom j—but 1 calculate on human 
nature in its ordinary operations. Is 
the press free, whilst the Minister 
can, at pleasure, lock up the man 
who censures his conduct, in a dun¬ 
geon ? The liberty of the press is, 
therefore, virtually suspended. 1 rial 
by jury, for political offences, ceased 
with the Habeas Corpus Act ; and 
any man may be accused of political 
offences.—In fact, when the personal 
liberty of the subject is suspended at 
the pleasure of the Ministers of the 
Crown, however their discretion may 
be exercised, the People are reduced to 
a state of absolute slavery. 

Gentlemen, I have trespassed on 
your patience.—-T he views which I 
entertain may be erroneous ; 1 may 
be a mistaken man but I know 1 am 
not a corrupt one.—i have been desi¬ 
rous of proving' that under a system of 
terror, I possess the same feelings that- 
animated me in the■ days of freedom, 
and was determined to speak out as 
boldly as when my head was covered 
by the shield of the law.— Anxious to 
place before you the state of our coun¬ 
try ; and to show that there is no real 
ground for aspersing the People of 
England, or suspending the palladium 
of their liberties, I have, fearlessly, 
endeavoured to do my duty 5—I regret 
that my efforts are not more power¬ 
ful j but however weak the advocate 
may be, his heart, is strongly inclined 
to the service ; the People may easily 
find an abler advocate, but not one 
more honest. 

Gentlemen, it is no wonder that 
gloom overspreads the land : that the 
firm are appalled, and the brave dis- 
heartned. But in the page of history, 
so often blackened by the crimes, the 
follies, and the miseries of mankind, 
there arc passages on which philan- 




3131 ' March 29, 1817, [814 


tli ropy delights to dwell. If you feel 
disposed to persevere in constitutional 
efforts for the recovery of your liberties, 
cast your eyes on the history of your 
forefathers'; took to the close of the 
reign of the profligate and tyrannical 
Stuart , who had succeeded in binding 
chains noon his country. At that time, 
it is said, the best patriots in the land 
desponded; but in six years from this 
dark night of despotism, ro.se the glori¬ 
ous sun of the Revolution of 1688 , un¬ 
der which was established that inesti¬ 
mable Constitution which raised the 
nation from degradation and slavery, to 
liberty and happiness Gentlemen, 
our prospects may be adverse ; we 
may have fallen on evil times and evil 
men; still let us persevere, tli rough 
evil report and good report, in the 
steady and constitutional path we 
have hitherto trodden.—1 am no poli¬ 
tical Quixote, and feci no wish to 
breathe the air, or view the light of 
heaven, through the bars of a dun¬ 
geon but did the alternative lie 

O a ^ ^ 

between slavery and suffering, 1 trust 
1 haye sufficient virtue to prefer suf¬ 
fering to slavery j —when an English¬ 
man has survived the liberties of his 
country but an hour, he has lived an 
hour too long [immense applause.] 

This is language worthy to bo 
remembered and. held at all times. 
There is not only no use, but there 
is great wickedness, in conceal¬ 
ing our opinions. The man who 
dares not speak what he thinks, is 
a slave; the man who will not 
speak what he thinks, is a coward; 
and the man who thinks upon 
such subjects, without speaking*, 
may make a Revolutionist, per¬ 
haps, but a very poor Reformist. 
I ngland ! my country ! the birth¬ 
place of v use and mighty ones, 
of heroes, and philosophers! it 
ever thy sons want courage to 
u ter their thoughts, then thou 
art near to become a land of 
knaves and assassins, of plotters 

*See Jleformists* Register, p. 177. 


and conspirators, and sanguinary 
blood-spillers. For then the ph «* 
losopher will in vain employ his 
pen, or the hero wield his sword* 
in thy defence—‘thou wilt have 
nothing worth praise* or descrip¬ 
tion, or preservation. 

From a state of such foul de¬ 
basement, of deep degradation* 
the firmness and energy of indi¬ 
viduals may yet preserve us. In¬ 
stead of sitting down hopelessly, 
with our hands before us, in des¬ 
pair, sinking info irrecoverable 
lethargy, and becoming monu¬ 
ments over the grave of our free¬ 
dom, every man alive should 
show himself alive, and promote 
the march of truth. If the honest 
and the upright turn neither to 
the right nor to the left, they will 
meet with no lion in their way ; 
if they show no timidity, but per¬ 
severe in faith and hope, they 
must overcome. Bad men may 
prevail for a while, but evil is 
nothing more than ignorance and 
disorder, and their reign must be 
very short. It is in the nature 
of truth to force its way every 
hour;, knowledge is making gi¬ 
gantic progress, and will cover 
the earth, as the waters cover the 
sea. We ought not therefore to 
despair of our country, which 
may still be great and noble, and 
in our time, if we make it so by 
our virtues. We have, within 
these islands, more thinking 
heads, and upright hearts* than 
in all Europe besides ; and there¬ 
fore, though corruption, as a wide 
wasting pestilence, rnay desolate 
and enfeeble us; though uncon¬ 
trollable power may plunge us 
so deep in distress, that some of 
us may throw off the load of life, 
unable to bear it; and others 
may slay, and feed, on their chil¬ 
dren, to enable them to support 






Hone's Reformists’ Regise&il 



it; still I should say, let us not 
despair of our Country—if our 
misery is too great to be in¬ 
creased, there are stores of hap¬ 
piness in reserve for us; and we 
shall yet arise in greater glory 
amongst the nations. 

No ! Englaud cannot be de¬ 
stroyed, She is the brain of the 
world. A Ruler in Asia and the 
West Indies, a Civilizer in Africa, 
and the Parent of the United 
States of America, she now seems 
destined to be the Liberator of 
South America, Though the Bri¬ 
tish Government, hideously allied 
with the thing who sits, in mock¬ 
ery of humanity and justice, on 
the blind and sore eye-ball of 
despotism and superstition, the 
throne of Spain, may not choose 
to disoblige this petticoat-stitch¬ 
ing monarch, by emancipating 
his subjects in Soutli-America, 
who struggle for indendence with 
groans which cannot be uttered ; 
yet this great event in the history 
of human happiness will perhaps 
be achieved by British talent . 
Lord Cochrane, the brave, the 
gallant Lord Cochrane, whose 
name is a terror to the foes of 
Britain throughout the world, and 
whose presence in Parliament is 
a nightly annoyance to the ene¬ 
mies of her liberties at home; 
the noble, ill-used Lord Coch¬ 
rane is, I have no doubt, the 
man, by whose genius and ^nter- 
prize the deliverance of South 
America will ultimately be ac¬ 
complished. He announces his 
having resolved to view (dur- 
4 ing a few months) the opera- 
44 tions going on in South Ame- 
*• rica.” What sort of a viewer 
of warlike operations in South 
America will the HERO OF 
BASQUE ROADS make? 

Two of the bravest of British 


a 


a 


subjects have been in disgrace at 
Court. The great, the wise Sir 
Walter Raleigh, for his suc¬ 
cesses against the Spaniards in 
South America, 200 years ago, 
was beheaded by King James I. 
in compliment to the Spanish 
Ambassador; and Lord Coch¬ 
rane, by putting insult and in¬ 
dignity on whose valour Minis¬ 
ters have irretrievably disgraced 
themselves, will probably avenge 
Raleigh’s death, by freeing South 
America; and heap coals of fire 
on the heads of his enemies, by 
opening fresh channels of trade 
to the enterprize of British mer¬ 
chants. 

However it may seem discon¬ 
nected with the intended depar¬ 
ture of Lord Cochrane, for South 
America; yet, it is a little re¬ 
markable, that the DEPARTURE 
OF MR. COBBETT, for the 
United States of America, is an¬ 
nounced by the Statesman news¬ 
paper of last night, in the follow¬ 
ing article:— 

Liverpool, March 25, 1817. 

(< Mr. Cobbett is now in Liver- 
pool, with two of his sons, for the 
purpose of proceeding toNewYork. 
“ We hear he has engaged room in 
“ the ship Importer. His friend, Mr. 
“ Casey, of that town, accompanied 
" him to the Custom-house, and gave 
“ all necessary assurances of his right 
of egress. He accompanied Mr. 
“ Casey, to the Exchange, incognitas ; 
“ but as it is usual to enter the name 
f r on admission to the great room, this 
“ formality was omitted, until Mr. 
“ Cobbett retired j after which, Mr. 
“ Casey, in conformity with the 
“ rules, inserted Mr. Cobbett’s name 
" in the book. From this time, the 
curiosity to see this celebrated man 
“ was inconceivably great. At the 




31?J ' March 29 , 1817. [£18 


Custom4iouse,Mi%CASEV was asked 
“ if his friend had any thing saleable 
“ with him r To which Mr. Casey 
** answered, f he undoubtedly had— 
“ he had his talents with him, for 
“ which he might obtain a great 
price ; but not being disposed to 
“ sell them, he found it necessary to 
quit this country, and to seek a 
“ quiet asylum in another .” 

The Globe, evening newspa¬ 
per has an article to the same 
effect. I have endeavoured to 
trace this information. The let¬ 
ter in the Statesman is positive, 
but on the other hand, Mr. Cob- 
bett’s family treat the whole as 
a HOAX—as having originated, 
probably, with the person who 
played off the Horsewhipping 
story, last week; and it is a fact, 
that Mrs* C0BBETT is coming 
to town on Saturday , f rom Bot- 
ley, for the express purpose of 
meeting Mr. Cobbett, at his house 
in Catherine Street . As yet all 
remark on this subject is prema¬ 
ture. 

I beseech the reader to keep 
his eyes constantly fixed on the 
treat changes which are now 
taking place in our internal af¬ 
fairs ; and to bear in recollection, 
that the question Of REFORM is 
coming nearer to issue daily. 
Every step hastens it. The great 
County Meetings for Reform — 
die six' hundred Petitions for 
Reform, signed by a million of 
People, presented to the House 
of Commons on the 3d of this 
month, most of which were re¬ 
jected, because they were printed 
—the numerous Petitions pre¬ 
sented previously—the refusal of 
sil ly Magistrates to call meetings 
—the ]>eaceable and unanimous 
proceedings at those meetings 
when held-such exceiicnt 


speeches as those made by Mr. 
Ra^hleigh— the unwearied la¬ 
bours of such estimable men as 
Mr. Fawkes— the dirty arts of 
ministerialists, and the base de¬ 
fection of false friends, whicli^for 
a short season have postponed a 
meeting in Yorkshire—the con¬ 
viction prevailing everywhere, 
except in the House of Commons, 
that Reform is the only remedy 
for our evils, and must, sooner 
or later, take place-—the pro¬ 
ceedings in Parliament—and last, 
not least, the deficiency in the 
Revenue, the impossibility of in¬ 
creasing taxation, and the means 
adopted to raise money, by adding 
to our debt —all prove* that a very 
great and important change must 
take place. 

My next Number will include 
a subject of UNUSUAL INTE¬ 
REST. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Friday, 28 th March, 1817 . 


MR. CAPEL LOFET 

ON. 

REFORM. 

Universal Suffrage—Election by House¬ 
holders—Duration of Parliaments. 

yv -» -> \ij 

Stanton, near Bury, Suffolk, 
20 Feb. 1817. 

Sir, 

I have seen the 2 d Number of your 
“ Reformist's Register,'' and have it 
now before me. 

While I can either speak or write, I 
will not neglect, and 1 never have neg¬ 
lected, any opportunity in my power, of 
stating to the Commons of England 
what most concerns them ; and 1 know 
of nothing which so directly, so great- 
ly, so universally concerns them, as 
their Representation in Parlia¬ 
ment j in other words, the election and 
duration of their House; which, 
whenever it is that which the Consti¬ 
tution has ordained it to be, is, both 






310] Hone's Reform 

in name, principle, and fact, their 
House—the House of the Commons 
of the He a l:m, in Parliament assembled.. 

Although a Barrister, I do not think 
myself on that account exempted or 
disqualified from knotting and repre¬ 
senting to my countrymen what I 
know of the History and Constitution 
of England. And I cannot assent to 
the representation made of those Re¬ 
formists, as ignorant of either, and 
'Still less as wilfully misrepresenting 
either, whom I believe to be better 
informed of both, and better friends 
to the true principles of both, than 
their opponents; and this J esteem 
the advocates of universal suffrage to 
be. Be it that an approximation be 
made, including all householders, and 
permanent lodgers ; but without con¬ 
demnation of the general principle, I 
should be far from wishing to see it 
rejected. 

I cannot see how the representation 
of every male adult, not excluded by na¬ 
tural incapacity, crime, or actual pau¬ 
perism, or the extension of the exercise 
of the elective suffrage to cdl household¬ 
ers, or permanent lodgers, with the like 
exceptions, would vest the representa¬ 
tion in the commercial, nearly to the 
exclusion of the landed interest. On 
the contrary, I take it, the more 
full and equal the elective suffrage, 
the more it would be a representation 
of both— of the whole community of 
the realm ; and that those immedi¬ 
ately connected with the landed in¬ 
terest are the most numerous. 

And supposing that two representa¬ 
tives, as now, were returned by each 
elective body, and that 8900 voted at 
each election, the less danger of in¬ 
trigue or corruption ; while, if the 
poll were taken in larger subdivisioiis , 
and containing as great a number of 
voters in each as could conveniently 
meet and vote in otie day, local influ¬ 
ence and tumult would be equally 
avoided. 


[ist$* Register. [320 

With respect to annual Parka- 
meats, I still continue to think, as l 
have thought for some considerable 
time, that triennial, with the annual 
vacating, in numerical order, of one 
third of the seats (but the same per¬ 
sons to be capable of re-election), 
would be preferable, in the extended 
relations, internal and external, of the 
whole empire. I think that , with a 
reformed representation , even simply/ 
triennial Parliaments, might be safely 
admitted. But I would, without he¬ 
sitation, prefer annual to septennial 
Parliaments, or to any period which 
should suffer more than three years 
to pass without re-election, to the ex¬ 
tent specified, at least. 

If I err in these views, I have 
stated my reasons : and those whom 
they dissatisfy can equally state theirs. 

I wish, at such a crisis, to keep 
clear of all prejudice, all undue vehe¬ 
mence of sentiment or of language. 
Clearness, calmness, and firmness, 
become those who advocate the rights 
and interests of a great community. 
They give the surest ground of suc¬ 
cess, and the most just consolation, 
if, in such a cause, success is not ob¬ 
tained at present. 

Give me leave to observe, that the 
cause of Reform should not be clogged 
by ballot, instead of the free , and 
open, and living voice of electors : and 
permit me to deplore that, Mr. Fox, 
who considered mankind as his friends 
and brethren, and whose name was 
and is popular throughout the civilized 
world, should be mentioned as he is. 
Blame me, if you please, for thus ex¬ 
pressing myself; but it would be un¬ 
worthy and base in me, who have 
never personally been indebted to 
him, or to any Minister, not to speak 
of such a man, after his death, as I 
think and feel. 

I remain. Sir, yours sincerely, 

Catel Lofft. 

To Mr. Hone, G7, Old Bailey. 


London: Printed by J. D. Devtick, 48, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
At 87, Old Bailey, three doors tram Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(pose p.aid) should be addressed; and soid at 85, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
tacli, l'2s. 6‘d. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. ’ y ■ Thousand. 








Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 11.] Saturday, April 5, 1817. [Vol. 1. 


A LETTER 

TO THE READERS OF 

Mil. CQBBETT’S 

WEEKLY 

POLITICAL PAMPHLET. 


Public Feeling — Loyalty—Emigration 
—Cheap Repository Charity — Rot¬ 
ting alive — Mr. Cobbett's Embarka¬ 
tion*—His Address—My last Inter¬ 
view with Mr. Cobbett—His Import¬ 
ance as a public Writer—Character 
of his Register—-His Foresight— 
Horrors of Captivity—The Bastille 
in F; once—Dreadful Anecdotes— 
Cold Bath Fields Prison—Cruelties 
formerly practised there—Regret for 
the Discontinuance of Mr. Cobbett's 
Weekly Political Pamphlet. 


FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, 

Every one of us who feels lie 
has a country, now feels his mind 
distressed—his heart heavy —his 
courage fail him. If any one 
tells us that he has no such feel¬ 
ing', we may be certain that he is 
no countryman of ours; he is an 
alien—a stranger—and has no¬ 
thing in common with us, or he 
would feel as we feel. He may 
have been born on the soil, it is 
true ; and he may have posses¬ 
sions here: he may carry on 
trade, have property in the funds, 
or houses, or land; he may be a 
merchant, astock'-holder,eleven 


a land-owner; but we do not 
acknowledge him to be our 
countryman. We shall find many 
such men as these, who will tell 
us they do not care how things 
go on, so that they can live 
quietly and peaceably in the 
world; that it is of no conse¬ 
quence to them, whether the 
Habeas Corpus Act is suspended* 
or meetings for petitioning are 
prevented, because they are well 
known to be loyal men; and that 
they are very well satisfied with 
things as they are. Such men 
as these are no more countrymen 
of ours, than the tombstones 
which relate the decease of our 
forefathers, and their virtues. 
When our rights and liberties 
can no longer be enjoyed, or ex¬ 
ercised, these men, floating on 
the surface of society, like “ the 
green mantle of the standing' 
pool/’ denote general impurity 
and corruption. Loyalty, indeed! 
why these heartless beings mean 
no more by loyalty , than the 
most unmixed selfishness; namely, 
a determination to remain inac¬ 
tive, whilst the right to live free 
and Independent is contended for 
by all except themselves. Loy¬ 
alty !—Look first at the noisy 
senseless race, who bandy the 
word about as flippantly as their 
oaths; and then at the hypocri¬ 
tical smooth-faced knaves, who 
are also loyal, and who profess 
to be obedient to the higher 












323] , Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [324 


powers, and to “ render unto 
Ceesar the filings that are Cob- 
Sar’s.” Loyalty !—Why these 
miserable creatures, who know 
not that the word means love, 
or attachment, or faithfulness, 
to the laws, and who sup¬ 
pose it means love to the King , 
are themselves the calm, con¬ 
senting, guilty accessories, to the 
old wholesome laws of our coun¬ 
try being suspended or destroyed 
by new and unconstitutional 
laws. As to the King, their love 
for him is like the dram-drinkers’ 
love for the gin-shop keepers; 
they love them all in succession, 
and all round:—if one dies, ano¬ 
ther enters on the old house; 
and the comfortable glass upon 
the death of poor Mr. So-and-so, 
who is gone to glory, is renewed 
upon the coming in of good Mr. 
Such-an-one, who takes to the 
stock and fixtures. 

There is something in sorrow, 
which makes us desire to conceal 
it; but where all mourn, conceal¬ 
ment is impossible. The occa¬ 
sions of our grief, too, are as 
notorious as those who caused 
them. We must, however, be pa¬ 
tient, and commune with each 
other openly, as men. We have 
nothing' to fear from our own 
proceedings, if they are con¬ 
ducted in the face of our ene¬ 
mies. We are enlightened to the 
causes of our distress; and there¬ 
fore, as we are enjoined else¬ 
where, let our light shine before 
men, that they may all see what 
are the motives of our actions, 
and what we do. The renewal 
of laws opposed to our liberty, 
however we mourn them now, 
should not scare and appal us 
for ever; we should only become 
more vigilant and circumspect in 


our general behaviour, and hav¬ 
ing fewer differences amongst 
ourselves, keep closer, and walk 
as passengers are obliged to do 
in Bisham Wood , where pitfalls 
are made to catch people alive, 
and into which the innocent may 
be entrapped, in common with 
the guilty. 

A most deplorable effect of a 
long career of profligate expen¬ 
diture, of cruel and unwise enact¬ 
ments, is driving from the na¬ 
tion men of property and talent, 
whose loss we cannot replace. 
It is a notorious fact, that such a, 
fatal species of emigration is pro¬ 
duced, and is now taking- place, 
from these causes. I am not 
speaking of those amongst us, 
who are poor and distressed, 
with half a belly-full one day, 
and nothing to eat the next— 
they have not the means of get¬ 
ting away : but I am speaking of 
their employers—of men in bu¬ 
siness as manufacturers, or farm¬ 
ers, with large capitals at their 
command. Such men as these 
have gone, and others are going', 
to cultivate land, and establish 
manufactories, in countries where 
their skill and capital are of 
more value, and can be made more 
productive, than in this. As for 
those they once employed bore, 
who are pennyless, they cannot 
go —they must remain behind : 
he who cannot live here, and has 
no money to remove himself 
elsewhere, must die here. He 
must make up his mind to" it; 
and if he reads and believes the 
Cheap Repository Tracts , he will 
be duly prepared for it. One of 
these, addressed “ to the Meeha- 
“ nics, Artizans, and Labourers. 
“ of London and Westminster, v 
and diligently stuck about the 





325] April 

streets, lias the impudence to say, 
that “ the evils under which ice 
“ all (more or less) suffer, are 
“ wholly imputable not to the 
“ crimes of individuals* but to 
“ natural and unconironlable 
“ causesand with unfeeling 
audacity, tells the poor famishing 
creatures who read it, that “ it 
“ becomes us to submit with 
* Christian patience, to being put 
“ on short allowance ! ” Another 
of these things, entitled “ Look 
“ before you leap, reminds its 
poor readers, that— 

44 A Parliament Man,such another as PITT, 
44 Like him SAV’D THE LAND by his 
courage and wit; 

44 Oh! PITT! Guardian Angel, what 
didst thou perform ! 

Heav’n’s peace to ‘ the Pilot that wea¬ 
ther’d the storm ” 

This is the way in which the 
burden of distress is attempted 
to be made bearable to us by the 
proud, insolent, unfeeling-, shal- 
low r Pittites —the stupid lying- 
supporters of that PITT—of that 
bold, bad man, w hose system of 
politics and finance has brought 
us to beggary and hunger; who, 
so far from having saved the 
land, has impoverished it—has 
caused more ruin than any 
minister ever did before, or can 
again—has by his imposts so 
burdened the land, that in some 
parts no man can be found wil¬ 
ling to cultivate it, even with- 
out paying rent—who, instead of 
having weathered the storm, 
died, and bequeathed it as a le¬ 
gacy, when it was only beginning 
to rage; and whose successors 
have so rode on his whirlwind, 
and directed its fury, that they 
have razed society to its founda¬ 
tions, and blasted every hope of 
future happiness. The false w hi¬ 
ning hypocritical papers of this 


5, 1817. [326 

canting crew, are issued from the 
shop of Mr. Hatchard, Book¬ 
seller to the Society for bettering 
the Condition of the Poor, in Pic¬ 
cadilly, where the society holds 
its meetings; and the general 
tenour of the trash is, “ Work, if 
“ you can get any thing to do, 
and if not, apply to the over- 
“ seers: and if they cannot pro- 
“ vide for you, you will do your 
“ utmost to starve with as much 
“ propriety as the most respecta- 
“ ble amongst your neighbours.” 

Thi s is the real meaning of all 
that these charitable impostors 
do and say. They look upon us 
as a grazier looks at his cattle; 
“ What are they worth per car- 
“ case ‘l How do they tallow 
“ upon the caul, and on the kid- 
*• nies? What will they cost per 
“ head to keep? Are they worth 
“ keeping any longer? Are they 
“ worth shipping oft* alive?” and 
so forth. We are viewed and 
turned over, and speculated upon, 
as a sort of live stock, in which 
th ese persons have a common 
property, and exercise the right 
of ownership. We, w ho are poor, 
are looked upon as the mere ma¬ 
teriel of the gentlemen-proprie- 
tors. The language in which we 
are talked of, is that, wherein a 
dry-salter, or a potatoe shipper, 
speaks of his goods. Read, for 
instance, the following extract 
from the Timesoi to-dav; and if be- 
fore you get to the endof it, you do 
not feel the blood from your heart 
rushing up into your cheeks, and 
scorching your very skin ; if you 
do not feel as if you w ere nearly 
choking, before you have got half 
through, you have not the feel¬ 
ings w hich I had, when I read it 
carefully and deliberately over, 
as I wish you to do now. 



32/1 Hone’s -Reformists’ Register. [328 


44 You? people,” says the Times , 
44 are a drug, like your goods : 
4; but the {roods on hand may he 

cn •> - 

4 * thrown into warehouses, and 
44 reserv ed for a future, though 
44 contracted market. Here, then, 
“ is the misery. You cannot 
44 warehouse your people. They 
are hungry articles, which must 
44 be regularly oiled, whether idle 
“ or in action. They may ROT 
44 at last; but they will ferment 
49 before they rot , and burst their 
“ repository, and burnj'our habi¬ 
tations. The demand for men 
4 * was die staple demand of the 
44 war; not for soldiers and sail - 
44 ers, merely, but for labouring 
4 * men and manufacturers. The 
“ demand has ceased ; and the 
49 wen, to whose subsistence fo- 
49 reign nations had before eon- 
44 tribufed, have new no food but 
44 what we ourselves can furnish. 
44 Stripped of her external re- 
44 sources, this country cannot 
44 long support them?' &c. 

Well, fellow-countrymen, how 
do you feel now? Those of 
us who are unemployed, called a 
drug! a thing hanging upon 
band I something which was once 
a staple article, for which the de¬ 
mand has ceased! which may 
ROT at last! hut which may fer¬ 
ment before ROTTING ! Why 
are we men ? Is it come to this; 
that whether Englishmen are to 
live or die, is a question of 
pounds, shillings, and pence cal¬ 
culation, to be decided by a cast¬ 
ing up of totals, or by a rule-of- 
Ihree sum f Is this 44 a natural and 
49 uftcontrolabie circumstance, to 
44 which it becomes us to submit, 
44 with Christian patience,” as 
the canting placard lias it? h 
oar ROTflNG to be a tiling 
talked of to our very faces, by a 


public newspaper? Mark the 
language. 44 They (that is wef 
44 may EOT at last; but they will 
44 ferment before they ROT', and 
44 burst their repository, and burn 
44 your habitations .” Why, what 
does the Times mean £ Fer¬ 
ment before we ROT? What! 
ferment , and ROT afterwards ! 
What does the Times mean? 44 Burn 
44 your habitations.” Whose habi¬ 
tations, and for what ? Why the 
Times does not mean to say, if 

V 

there is food enough in the coun¬ 
try to fill all our bellies* that 
some of us must die, because 
others will not part with more 
than they can -eat themselves 
The Times cannot mean that the 
nobility and bishops, the gentry, 
clergy, the large land owners and 
capitalists, the Bank, which di¬ 
vides 10 per cent, on its capital, 
the East India company, the 
great corporations, the public 
companies, the gentlemen at 
Lloyd’s, the underwriters, the 
merchants, the traders, the money 
jobbers, the war and loan con¬ 
tractors, the gentlemen of the 
Pitt Club, the Iives-and-fortunes ? 
men, and the whole noble army 
of sinecurists and useless pen¬ 
sioners, who wear purple and fine 
linen, and fare sumptuously every 
day, would suffer Englishmen to 
ROT! This is, of coarse, impos¬ 
sible, in a Christian country; and 
therefore it is a base and wicked 
calumny of the Times, to say that 
we may 44 ROT at Iasi;” and I 
pray the Times not to use that 
word. ROT! a living feeing, a 
man, or a woman, or a child, 
EOT! I den t like this supposi¬ 
tion about ROTTING ALIVE. 
I hate the very mention cf it. 
There h an old saying, u Talk of 
the devil , and he will appear.* I 






April 5, 1817. 



wish the Tims* had said nothing 
about ROTTING ; not that I be 
lieve it can happen, because, if 
there be food enough, there will 
be plenty of means provided fur 
distributing- it; and yet I cannot 
somehow or other help coup]i no¬ 
th e old saying and the ROTTING 
in my own mind. However, we 
shall soon see the w icked pro¬ 
phecy of the Tithes set at nought. 
It is impossible for one part of 
the People to live in comfort, 
whilst the oilier part is dvieg, 
ROTTING. We shall see the 
rich and powerful voluntarily 
throwing open their coffers to 
prevent it, which is the easiest 
thing in the world; for it is of no 
consequence whether there is 
food enough in England, or not; 
there is food enough out of Eng¬ 
land, to supply England; and 
money, which the opulent will 
supply, is alone wanting to pur¬ 
chase it. Here will be a scene to 
glad the eyes, and expand the 
hearts of the humane. Instead 
of little paltry sums of 2 or 3001. 
from persons of rank and conse- 
<j ue nee, we shall see them 
rushing forth to tender mo i ties 
of their incomes, i behold,' or 
think 1 behold, the wealthy peers 
and commoners, of eic/hty or a 
hundred thousand pounds a year, 
putting down their names, with 
40 or 50,0001, at least, against 
them; the Ministers of the Crown 
depositing half their salaries; the 
Crown itself giving up half the 
sum appropriated to it by the 
Civil List; people of property, in 
all gradations, following the ex¬ 
ample—-a sense of real JUSTICE 
pervading the hearts of the rich 
in behalf of those who, having 
nothing, must, as the Times says, 
ROT, unless this JUSTICE be 


A vise i my 
e up, and 


done to them. For the rich to 
give less than sufficient to pre¬ 
vent the People ROTTING, will 
be unjust. For them to give 
more, will be generous. How¬ 
ever, justice, and nothing but 
justice, is wanted, arid we must 
not hear of ROTTING. How the 
money should be appropriated, 
in the first instance, is another 
question. Providing employ¬ 
ment, and paying wages for la¬ 
bour, is the best mode; but for 
those of us who are so far ad¬ 
vanced towards starvation, as to 
be near ROTTING, something- 
should instantly be done— in- 
■stahtly —INSTANTLY. So, arise 1 
my Lord Sidmotjtf?. Arise ! 

Lord C A ST LE RE A G f T. 
doing; for if the Time:; speaks 
truly, there is not a moment to 
lose: “ You cannot • warehouse 
! “ your People ; they are hum ary 
“ articles, which must he regu¬ 
larly oiled, whether idle or in 
action. They may rot at last; 
but they will FERMENT be- 
• “ fore thev ROT, and burst their 
; “ repository, and burn your hahi- 
“ tat i oris ! ” 

Under such restrictions as the 
present session of Parliament Ms 
deemed you and I, my country¬ 
men, to live ; remaining out of 
dungeons, and holding life itself 
but by sufferance, and at the 
pleasure of Ministers,* all of ms, 
from the palsied state of society, 
embarrassed by our own difficul¬ 
ties; witnessing more up scry in a 
week, than perhaps any of us 
ever saw before during our whole 
lives ; compelled to say to each 
other of Lord Castlereagh, as 
Cassius - said of Cesar :— 

♦ _ , r • . 

Why man, he doth bestride the narrow 
world, 

“ Like a Colossus $ and we petty nan 


a 

u 

it 








331] Hone s Reformists Register. [332 


“ Walk under his huge legs, and peep 

about 

<( To find ourselves dishonourable graves.” 

Influenced by these dire omens, 
which too plainly tell to wlmt 
further degradation and misery 
we are to be reduced, before we 
can claim to walk the earth as of 
right; before we can again sit 
by our fire-sides, surrounded by 
our children, without being liable 
to be seized, put in irons, thrown 
into damp unwholesome cells, 
without sufficient air, warmth, or 
exercise, to preserve either health 
or life, and deprived of means of 
petitioning for redress, or of see¬ 
ing our wives and children, even 
by an order of the Secretary of 
State: seeing that all this may 
happen to anyone of us, and that 
the man most obnoxious to the 
ministry, would be the likeliest 
object for an early victim, it is 
not wonderful that Mr. Corbett 
should take steps to leave the 
country.and embark for America, 
whither he has sailed, with his 
two sons, from the port of Liver¬ 
pool, on board a vessel called the 
Importer ; and whither he will 
shortly be followed by Mrs. Cob- 
bett and his two daughters. The 
first authentic public announce¬ 
ment of his departure, was by 
the following address , which I 
record here, because every the 
slightest memorial of such a man, 
at such a period of his life, is of 
great importance. 

“ TO THE PUBLIC. 

Liverpool, March 26, 1817. 

“ My departure for America will 
“ surprise nobody, but those who do 
** not reflect. 

“ A full and explicit statement of 
" my reasons will appear in a few 
“ days, probably on the 5 th of April. 


“ In the mean while, I think it 
necessary for me to make known, 
that I have fully empowered a Gen- 
tleman of respectability and inte- 
^ grity, to manage and settle all my 
“ affairs in England. 

“ I owe my countrymen most sin- 
cere regard, which I shall always 
“ entertain towards them in a higher 
“ degree than towards any other 
“ people upon earth. 

“ I carry nothing from my country 
“ but my wife and my children, and 
“ surely they are my own, at any 
f£ rate. I shall always love England 
“ better than any other country. I 
££ will never become a subject or 
££ citizen of any other state ; but I 
££ and mine were not born under a 
££ government having the absolute 
“ power to imprison us at its plea- 
“ sure; and, if we can avoid it, we 
££ will neither live nor die under such 
££ an order of things. 

“ If I have not taken leave of nu- 
££ merous friends in London and in 
££ the country, it was because I should 
££ have been made unhappy by their 
££ importunities, and the expressions 
££ of their sorrow. 

<( I make an enormous sacrifice of 
“ property and of feeling ; but when 
“ my heart feels the tugs of friend- 
“ ship, and of all the interesting ob¬ 
jects in Hampshire, it is reconciled 
“ to the loss, by the thought, that I 
“ can enjoy them only during the 
“ pleasure of a Secretary of State. 
“ When this order of things shall 
ff cease to exist, then shall I again 
££ see England. 

“ Wm. Cobbett.” 

Mr. Cobbett’s LAST Ad¬ 
dress will be published on the 
same day as this sheet, and be 




April 5, 1817. 



read by you, my countrymen, 
with more interest, perhaps, as 
far as regards himself than any 
of his Political Pamphlets. 

The last time I saw Mr. Cob- 
bett, was on Saturday, March 
15, at his house in Catherine- 
street. Preparation had at that 
time been made, with a view to 
his leaving England. Nearly all 
the back stock and odd numbers 
of the Weekly Political Pamphlet 
were removed the day before, 
(Friday), to the publisher of his 
stamped Register,to whom he sold 
them. I found Mr. Cobbett in his 
dining room, with his daughter. 
Our salutation was mutual jo¬ 
cular congratulation upon our 
meeting' once again at liberty, 
after the suspension of the Ha¬ 
beas Corpus Act, which, on Mr. 
Cobbett’s part, subsided into 
more grave remark upon the 
effect of that measure. 1 talked 
with him respecting his manage¬ 
ment of the Weekly Political 
Pamphlet , and that led to some 
observations on both sides, 
respecting Mr. Lockhart, of 
whose brother, in Cumberland, I 
had formerly a slight knowledge. 
Mr. Cobbett repeated to me the 
substance of his Letter to the De¬ 
luded People , which formed his 
Weekly Political Pamphlet of 
the following' Saturday (March 
22). He enlarged much on the 
abject state to which the Suspen- 
pension Act, and the pending 
bills, reduced the country, and 
particularly on what he conceived 
would be their effects in depress¬ 
ing literature, and preventing- 
reading societies from being 
formed, where truth and infor¬ 
mation on all subjects are 
sought for and obtained. We 
next observed on the emigration 


to America, and I mentioned to 
him a valuable pamphlet I am 
printing*, entitled, Hints to Emi¬ 
grants from Europe ,* who intend 
to make a permanent Residence in 
the United States , drawn up by 
the Shamrock Society, in New 
York , about eight months ago, 
for the special instruction of per¬ 
sons before they go out and 
settle. By the emigration of ca¬ 
pitalists, he observed, England 
would receive a blow she must 
at this crisis most sensibly feel. 
He instanced the consequence to 
this nation, of an enlightened 
gentleman, an opulent and most 
extensive farmer, whom he 
named, in one of the brightest 
and best cultivated spots in Eng¬ 
land, retiring, with all his fa¬ 
mily, to settle in America, there 
to employ his capital and great 
talents, and whither he was pre¬ 
paring to be followed by other 
agricultural capitalists. Mr, Cor¬ 
bett dilated much on this spe¬ 
cies of emigration to a rival state, 
where population is rapidly in¬ 
creasing, and unchecked; and 
where capital being in great de¬ 
mand, gives an immense spring 
to social progress. Our conver¬ 
sation ended by remarks on the 
W eekly Political Pamphlet. 

This being my last interview 
with Mr. Cobbett, is on many 
accounts strongly impressed on 
my memory. I seem to have 
the sound of his voice still in 
my ear. I see his very attitude 
as lie sat down in his chair, 
when I left him by his fire¬ 
side, in Catherilie-street. I cannot 
get these little incidents out of 
my head. We attach importance 
to such trifles, when they are 
connected with recollections of 
those whom we esteem or admire, 




335] IIone ? s Reformists’ Register. [336 


and whom we -perhaps shall see 
no more. These minute circum¬ 
stances I may be pardoned, per¬ 
haps, for remembering, of a man 
who having more power to do 
good as a public writer, has ac¬ 
cordingly done more good by 
enlightening' yon, my country¬ 
men, than any other man who 
ever lived before him. 

Mr. Corbett’s experience of 
mankind, his know ledge of life 
a id public men, gave him advan¬ 
tages over every writer that pre¬ 
ceded him. Twenty years ago, on 
his comin g- from America, he wrote 
on behalf of the Pitt Adminis¬ 
tration, and thus became ac¬ 
quainted with all the master 
springs of its mischievous policy. 
Absurd and dishonest inter¬ 
ference in the internal affairs of 
foreign countries—a war under¬ 
taken and prosecuted to no other 
end but to put dow n and utterly 
extinguish the rising freedom of 
the French People—the prose¬ 
cution of that war at an enor¬ 
mous expense, by agents no¬ 
toriously interested in a profuse 
and boundless expenditure of the 
public money—that expenditure 
so enormous, and so extravagant¬ 
ly appropriated, as to be unpa¬ 
ralleled by all former outgoings 
—a corrupt demoralizing system 
of taxation, so extensively en¬ 
grafted and dovetailed on the 
frame-work of society, as to make 
every man a levyer, as well as a 
payer of taxes—a dissipation of 
national resources, so great and 
uncontroulable, as must certainly 
dry up the very sources of na¬ 
tional wealth, and destroy the 
means of support for the People 
—an arrogant, domineering, ig¬ 
norant system of mis-govern- 
ment, dazzling by its insolence, 


and impoverishing by its profli¬ 
gacy ; haughtily rejecting all ad¬ 
vice;-despotically beating down 
and trampling upon all who op¬ 
posed its injustice, or remonstrated 
against its rapacity; at every new 
step encroaching upon public 
liberty, destroying confidence 
between mail and man, under¬ 
mining private happiness, and 
reducing' the mass of society to 
beggary and starvation : these 
Mr. Cobrett perceived w-erePiTT 
principles, and their consequen¬ 
ces ; and that the end of these 
things is REFORM—or Ruin. 

Mr. Corbett foresaw, that 
though Reform or Ruin must, as 
one of them n il/, be the end of 
the Pitt system, yet that there 
would be several stages in the 
progress of our affairs, before we 


reached the great chang-e. He 
Was convinced that misery would 
naturally produce desire for al¬ 
teration, for a better inode of 
managing national affairs—that 
this desire would be manifested 
first, by Petitions for remedy of 
abuses, and the particular mea¬ 
sures of oppression; next, by 
Petitions for Reform of Parlia^ 
ment; and if these were rejected, 
that the People would become 
indignant, and indignation might 
produce violence and tumult, lie 
also foresaw and foretold the re¬ 
sults which he and we have 
witnessed. The People, he said, 
will compel Ministers to restore 
the Constitution, or the Minister 
will make Parliament pass acts 
to abridge their liberties, and re¬ 
duce them to become slaves, or 
revolutionists. He opposed a!! 
tumult; and iiow r much he did to 
make the mind tranquil under 
severe distress, and to put it in 
•the right way to seek relief, let 






337] . April 5, 1817. 



his Register speak. lie put liis 
addresses and arguments into a 
cheap form, and their circulation 
in his Weekly Political Pamphlet, 
has extended all over the nation, 
and been almost unbounded as 
to number. As proof of his ex¬ 
cellent method of arguing, his 
matchless plainness of persua¬ 
sion, read his letters, the titles of 
which follow:— 

IN THE REGISTER, VOL. 31. 

To Sir Francis Rurbett. —What 
good can a Reform of Parlia- 
ment now do? and in what 
manner can it take place with¬ 
out creating confusion. No. 15. 
To Sir Francis Burdett.— In 
what manner can a Reform of 
Parliament take place without 
creating confusion. No. 1G. 

To the Journeymen and Labourers 
of England, Wales, Scotland, 
and Ireland. No. 18. 

To the Luddites. No. 23. 

To the Country Gentlemen. 
No. 25. 

These have given the People a 
lasting sense of their own import¬ 
ance, and taught them lessons 
which they never ought, and in¬ 
deed never can forget. Every 
man, says the celebrated Bou- 
Langer, is proud of having ac¬ 
quired one more truth, because 
it gives him clearer views ; lie is 
proud of his knowledge, because it 
gives him power, and makes him 
of more consequence in society 
than he was before : and know¬ 
ledge once possessed, a man never 
can lose. You, my countrymen, 
are indebted to Mr. Corbett for 
an abundance of knowledge, of 
important knowledge, which ha$ 
made you wiser and better men. 
He has imparted many truths, 


many valuable truths to you, 
of which you were ignorant; 
he has made you wise unto poli¬ 
tical salvation; he has sown 
amongst us the seeds of Reform, 
which have taken deep root, 
which all the harpies of corrup¬ 
tion and violence can never era¬ 
dicate, and which in good time 
will bring forth good fruit. 

Although it admits of question, 
whether Mr. Corbett’s depar¬ 
ture for America, at this time# 
was the very best course he 
could have pursued, yet there 
can be no doubt that his absence 
renders it more essential than 
ever, that those whose minds 
have been enlightened by his 
“ little books,” should implicitly 
follow his advice. Every man 
should preserve them as a trea¬ 
sure : every man who is without 

7 •%/ 

them should buy them, and form 
them into a volume; and, to use- 
his own words, “read it over and 
“ over again, and it will serve his 
“ children to read as they grow 
“ up, and thus will they he iii- 
£< formed as to their rights and 
“ duties, as well as their fathers 
“ and mothers. And why should 
“ they not ? Why should they 

v %■ v 

“ be ignorant of those rights and 
“ duties? Have not the labourers* 
“ as well as their employers, li- 
forties and lives to defend? 
“ I)o they not mainly assist to 
“ fight the battles of their conn- 

V J 

“ try by sea and land. Are they 
“ not called out to serve in the 
“ militia and local militia? Have 
“ they not wives and children 
“ whom they love to see happy? 
“ Have they not arms to fight and 
“ to labour, and have they not 
“ minds to understand, and hearts 
“ to feel ? Have they not a right 
“ to happiness ?” 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 



Though Mr. Corbett’s Weekly 
- Political Pamphlets must he 
discontinued, yet those we have 
are a manual cf useful know¬ 
ledge, to be read every day 
in the w r eek throughout the 
year. They should be bound up, 
and be on the same shelf with 
the History of England, the Pil¬ 
grim’s Progress,Robihson Crusoe, 
and the Young Man’s Book of 
Knowledge. Every cottage and 
kitchen library in u e kingdom is 
incomplete without it. It should 
go with the Housekeeper’s In¬ 
structor, the Pilgrim’s Progress, 
Buchan’s Domestic Medicine,the 
New Whole Duty of Man, the 
Wars of Flavius Josephus, and 
such kind of books; I mean that 
it should be as cowmen and fami¬ 
liar as those books, and be read by 
all who read them; and every one 
will do well to recollect, whilst 
recommending Corbett’s Cheap 
Register to his neighbours, that 
a vote was unanimously passed 
by the public meeting at Shef¬ 
field, thanking Mr. Corbett for 
that very work, and concluding' 
with “ a conviction, that in the 
“ late tumult in this town, the in- 
“ thience of Mr. Corbett’s ex~ 
44 cellent advice , which had been 
“ so generally read, prevented 
“ the multitude from proceeding 
“ to any serious acts of riot, to 
“ which they Xvere frequently 
“ incited by disorderly per- 
* sons.” 

Mr. Cobbett has performed, 
ably performed, his duty, in en¬ 
deavouring to obtain REFORM 
for the country, in a strictly legal 
way. He persevered, with the 
hope that Reform would he 
effected; for the present, his 
hopes have *been disappointed. 
But although so persuaded, he 


by no means omitted to antici¬ 
pate die chance of disappoint- 
meiit. lie plainly and - ho¬ 
nestly pointed out the conse¬ 
quences of refusal. He has told 
you, that Reform must come, or 
that laws would be made to stifle 
the voice of the People; laws 
which would degrade us as Eng¬ 
lishmen, by taking away our li¬ 
berty. Fie saw these laws made. 
He saw the persona! liberty of 
every soul in the country put- 
in to the secretary of 

State. He saw the power of life 
and death given 1?y i , t of Par¬ 
liament to any prejudiced or ig¬ 
norant Magistrate, hie saw the 
will of a Magistrate substituted 
by law for Trial by Jury. He 
saw laws made to do away accu¬ 
sation on oath; to supersede pub¬ 
lic, and, indeed, every kind of 
examination; to do away the in¬ 
tervention of the Grand Jury— 
the finding of the Bill—the 

producing of witnesses-the 

trial itself; and, in short, to sus¬ 
pend all the forms which our 
forefathers established as neces¬ 
sary to be observed, before the 
most criminal and abandoned 
murderer could be deprived of 
life, or even committed to prison. 
He saw Acts of Parliament passed, 
to deprive of these open and fair 
advantages, any and every man 
who might do certain things, 
which, until the passing of those 
laws, he might not only do with 
impunity, but receive praise for; 
and which praise has often been 
received from the very person* 
who have now made crimes of 
such actions, and who have given 
to an individual the power of 
life and death over multitudes of 
Englishmen. 

Mr. Cobbett saw that the 







341 ] 

power of inflicting 1 penalties, in 
many cases worse than death; 
was given to an individual, who, 
of his own mere will and plea¬ 
sure, without assigning any rea¬ 
son, could confine whom he 
pleased in a solitary cell, and 
there deprive him of all commu¬ 
nication with his wife and chil¬ 
dren— his business ruined, his 
family beggared, himself be¬ 
reaved of ail intercourse with his 
fellow man—of books, of pen 
and ink.—Here, deprived of all 
social intercourse, of all means of 
amusement or employment, even 
Englishmen might realize in their 
own persons the picture drawn 
by Sterne. 

—“ I took a single captive, and 
“ having first shut him up in his 
“ dungeon, I then looked through 
“ the twilight of his grated door, to 
“ take his picture.’ 

t{ I beheld his body half wasted 
“ away with long expectation and 
“ confinement, and felt what kind of 
“ sickness of the heart it was, which 
“ arises from hope deferred. Upon 
“ looking nearer, I saw him pale and 
", feverish : in thirty years, the west- 
“ ern breeze had not once fannVt his 
<c blood—he had seen no sun—no 
“ moon in all that time—nor had the 
“ voice of friend or kinsman breathed 
“ through his lattice—his children— 

—“ But here my heart began to 
“ bleed—and I was forced to go on 
“ with another part of the portrait. 

“ He was sitting upon the ground 
“ upon a little straw, in the farthest 
“ corner of his dungeon, which was 

alternately his chair and bed: a 
“ little calendar of small sticks were 
“ laid at the head, notched all over 
“ with the dismal days and nights he 
i( had passed there—he had one of 


[342 

these little sticks in his hand, and 
with a rusty nail he was etching 
another day of misery to add to the 
heap. As I darkened the little light 
lie had, he lifted up a hopeless eye 
towards the door, then cast it 
down—shook his head, and went 
on with his work of affliction. I 
heard his, chains upon his legs, as 
he turned his body to lay his little 
stick upon the bundle-—He gave a 
deep sigh—I saw the iron enter 
into his soul—I burst into tears— 

I could not sustain the picture of 
confinement which my fancy had 
drawn.”— 

Mr. Corbett had read of the 
Bastille in France, and of the 
dreadful abuse of power exer¬ 
cised by those who, in that coun¬ 
try, could immure whomsoever 
j they pleased in its dungeons ; 

| and lie manfully resisted by his 
5 writings the passing of laws gtv- 
i ing similar powers to any person 
in this country. But as manv of 
you, my teller^ countrymen, may 
be strangers to the mode of con¬ 
fining persons in that prison, l 
will tell you what the benevolent 
Howard relates of it, in his book 
on Prisons. He says,— 

* e The Bastille consists of eight 
very strong towers, with walls of free¬ 
stone, 10 feet thick at the top. These 
towers have dungeons : the dungeons 
of the tower of Liberty (what a 
name !) extended under the kitchen. 
Next that tower is a small chapel, 
with five niches, or closets, in which 
prisoners are put one by one, to hear 
mass, where they can neither see nor 
be seen. The dungeons exhale the 
most offensive scents, and are the re-* 
ceptacles of toads, rats, and other 
kinds of vermin. In the corner of 
each is a camp-bedstead, made of 
planks laid on iron bars, and on 
which the prisoners are allowed to lay 


April 5 , 1817 . 

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(i i 


343] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [344 

some straw. These dens are dark, « 4 above 54,000 lettres de cachet 
having no windows, hut openings into “ 1 were issued upon the single 
the ditch : they have double doors, 
plated with iron, with large bolts and 
locks. The most horrid chambers, 
next to the dungeons, are those in 
which are cages of iron, each 8 teet 
by G. The calottes, or chambers, at 
the top of the towers, are more tole¬ 
rable, but not high enough to walk 
5n, except in the middle; the win¬ 
dows being in walls ten feet thick, 
having iron within and without, admit 
but little light. All the chambers in 
the prison are numbered, and the pri¬ 
soners are called by the name of their 
tower, joined to the number of their 
room. Prisoners who die are buried 
in the parish of St. Paul, under thy 
name of domestics.” 


ground of tlie famous bulle 
“ 4 UnigenitusB 

Mr. Howard was so fortunate 
as to obtain a pamphlet prohibit¬ 
ed in France, on the severest pe¬ 
nalties ; from which I take some 
further particulars relative to 
that Bastille , and the persons 
confined tlier^. He published a 
translation of it, to afford “ a very 
“ interesting and instructive com - 
44 pdrison between the horrors of 
“despotic power and the-mild 
44 and just administration of pe- 
“ nal laws in a free state; and 
(poor Gentleman !) to increase 
“ the attachment and reverence of 
“ Englishmen to the genuine prin- 
“ ciples of their excellent Consti- 
“ tut ion .” 

It appears that the Bastille 
was destined to prisoners whose 
destruction was resolved on,either 
j. by apparent forms of justice, or 


The philanthropic Howard 
says, “ .] have inserted so parii- 
“ cular an account of this pri- 
44 son, chiefly with a design,”— 
mark his words, fellow country¬ 
men,—“ chiefly with a design of 
“ inculcating a reverence for the 
44 principles of a, free cojystj- : by the punishment of the cub- 
“ tut ion like our ohgv, fiettes, which was inflicted by 
“ which will not permit in artg j causing' the victims to be placed 
“ degree the exercise of tliat des- Ion a trap-door, through which 
* £ potism which has rendered the j they fell on wheels armed w ith 
name of Bastille so Jornada- points and cutting’ edges ; others 

•“ tile.” And then he savs, “ Sir i w T ere drowned with a stone about 

«/ 

444 WilliamBlackstone observes, their necks, ox stifled in dun- 


b* 


u 4 that die preservation of per- 
44 4 sonal liberty is of great im- 
4 porUnce to the public; for, 
44 4 f it once w ere left in the power 
u 4 of any, the highest, magis- 
44 4 trade to imprison arbitrarily 
4 * 4 whomsoever he or his officers 
44 4 thought proper, (as in France 
44 4 it is daily practised by the 
44 4 Crown) there zoould soon be 
44 4 an end of all other rights 
44 4 and immunities. —I have-been 
44 4 assured, upon good authority, 
44 4 that during the mild ad minis- 
44 4 tratiem of Cardinal Fleuuy, 


geons. Tristan V Hermits, Pro¬ 
vost of the Hotel, 'and companion 
of Louis XL, was himself judge, 
witness, and executioner, and 
put 4000 people to death in this 
manner, who w ere delivered to 
him for that purpose by his royal 
master. Cardinal Richelieu, a 
vMinister of State, had a closet at 
the Castle of Ruel, his country 
seat, called the Cabinet des Oub¬ 
liettes, into v/hicli he caused per¬ 
sons whom he had doomed 
to destruction to enter, when 
the floor opening under their 





. r>] April £ 

feet, they fell into a profound 
abyss! 

Jb the dungeons of the Bastille 
Louis XI. confined persons whose 
surfer mgs he wished to protract. 
He caused the Princes of An mag- 
nac to be buried in these dungeons 
in holes wrought in the masonry, 
the bottoms formed like sugar- 
loaves, that their feet might have 
no resting place, nor their bodies 
repose : and they were taken out. 
twice a week, to be scourged, 
and every three months to have 
a tooth pulled out. The eldest lost 
his senses. The youngest, who 
survived His Most Christian Ma¬ 
jesty, was saved, and it is from his 
petition, in 1483, that the facts 
were learned. 

The iron cages in the Bastille 
were invented by the Bishop of 
Verdun, in one of which, at the 
Castle of Angus, the first person 
confined was the Right Reverend 
Father in God himself, and le 
had a spell for about 10 or 12 
years. Louis XI. shut up the 
Cardinal de Balleau in an iron 
dungeon for 11 years. The walls, 
boor, cieling, door, &c. are all 
iron plates, fastened upon iron 
bars. Louis XL had two at Ids 
Castle of Loch os, in one of which 
Louis XXL shut up Ludovico 
tSfqrza till he died.] 

- Marshall Bassompieof,, signa¬ 
lized by his valour and good con¬ 
duct, gave umbrage to Cardinal 
Richelieu, the Minister of State 
before mentioned as addicted to 
torture, who shut him up in the 
Bastille in 1631, where the 
Marshal wrote his Jllemoires , and 
Com whence he was not liberated 
until 12 years after the death of 
tee Minister. 

In 1674a boy of! *3 having mode 
two Latin Jin .e: Uie vanity of 


, 1817. [34G 

the Jesuits of the College of Cler¬ 
mont, at Paris, Mas taken up 
and put into the Bastille , from 
w hence he was liberated in 1705, 
having been a prisoner 31 years. 
The Jesuits made a merit of re¬ 
leasing him on his becoming heir 
to all his family, and possessed of 
great property, of a large portion 
of w hich they robbed him. 

I have only room for these in¬ 
stances of horrible oppression, 
inflicted on persons subject to 
arbitrary imprisonment in the 
Bastille , at the will of a Minister , 
where most of the wretched pri¬ 
soners went distracted. At length 
the tyranny of the Government 
becoming wholly intolerable, the 
People of Paris rose in a mass on 
the 14th of July, 1789, and took 
the Bastille, by assault, liberating- 
five wretched victims of lawless 
power, amongst whom w r as the 
Earl of Massareene, an Irish 
Nobleman, confined there many 
years, whose beard, when he w as 
found, descended nearly to his 
girdle; and a Count Be Losagw , 
who was insane from the cruelty 
of his captivity. The iron cages 
were also found—one contained 
its prisoner, who had died in it, 
and who it had not been thought 
worth while to take out—be w as 
an entire skeleton, and probably 
had been dead half a century. 
Another human skeleton was 
found, chained to the wall of a 
dreadful dungeon. The indig¬ 
nation of the Parisians was so 
intense towards this prison, that 
they razed it <o the ground, nc t 
even leaving the wails standing. 

These horrible cruelties Mr. 
Cobbett bad read of; and he 
had also read, that persons ar¬ 
rested under the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act, in 1798, 









347] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [348 


•were confined without cause, and 
treated like criminals under 
sentence—that they were kept 
fin cells, too cruelly construct¬ 
ed even for the punishment 
cf criminals—-that the Middlesex 
Magistrates and their gaoler, and 
the Secretary of State and a 
majority of the House of Com¬ 
mons, shut Sir Francis Burdett 
cut of Cold Bath Prison , where 
prisoners under that suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus were con¬ 
fined, at the moment that gaoler 
represented himself to have been 
charged with three murders in 
the prison—that a Committee of 
7he House of Commons, expressly 
appointed to inquire into the 
state of that prison, and those 
charges, omitted to examine the 
persons confined there, who were 
anxious to give them information 
relative to it—that Mr. Wilber- 
force, himself, went to that pri¬ 
son, and made inquiries, without 
inquiring at all of the persons 
confined there, who had advanced 
the charge—that Mr. W ilber- 
force being a member of that 
committee, and Mr. W. Dijn das, 
the chairman of that committee, 
wholly neglected to examine the 
state prisoners there, touching 
the charge stated by the gaoler 
in an affidavit, to have been 
by them or «ome of them ad¬ 
vanced against him, although 
that document was the ground 
upon which that committee was 
appointed to inspect and inquire, 
and report on that prison—that 
though the committee visited the 
room in w hich these prisonerswerc 
confined, they came only as ca¬ 
sual spectators did, and never 
announced themselves, or asked 
a question by which they could 
be known as a committee—that 


Aris, the gaoler, acknow ledged 
upon oath, that he visited his 
prison with a stick in his hand, 
and struck liis prisoners with 
both stick and fist—that Sir 
Francis Burdett stated in the 
House of Commons, that he be¬ 
lieved there were then amongst 
those state prisoners, men as 
honest and as virtuous as any of 
those he was then addressing— 
that a man named Higgles, 
charged w ith no offence but po¬ 
verty ! not even suspected of 
any crime, but misery ! was con¬ 
fined there six days and nights, 
in a wretched cell, and died in 
it, under circumstances which in¬ 
duced Sir Francis to say of him, 
that he had complained unheeded 
and in vain, that he wanted not 
the apothecary, but food and 
warmth—that he was “ a poor 
wretched murdered object”*— 
that the gaoler laid all under 
contribution, even the wretched 
prisoners themselves, every arti¬ 
cle being turned to profit; the 
food, the fuel, the mattresses, the 
beds, the apartments, the kitchen, 
even the hospital, w ere all sources 
of profit to him ; from those pri¬ 
soners who had any thing to give, 
receiving a weekly payment, and 
even those who had nothing 
serving the purposes of his ava¬ 
rice; for the example of the cru¬ 
elties exercised upon them, was 
motive sufficient to extort the 
last farthing from him who had 
one, the gaoler receiving what he 
called tip from his prisoners, and 
presents from their friends for 

* It is proper to state, that nothing in 
this sheet relative to the management of 
the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, 
is meant to apply in any way whatever to 
its present government under Mr. Adkins, 
whose name I have always heard mentioned 
with respect. 






349] 

admission ; even borrowing hun¬ 
dreds of pounds from his prison¬ 
ers, for some of which he had 
been afterwards arrested—that 
Sir Francis Burdett, in the House 
of Commons, speaking of the con¬ 
duct of that gaoler, said,—“ I am 
“ not now barely stating what a 
“ man in such circumstances may 
“ be expected to do ; I speak of 
“ what 1 aver he has done. I 
“ call for inquiry into the hor- 
“ rid facts, and I offer proofs ! 1 

“ say his means of extortion are, 
“ for his prisoners, dark cells, 
* close confinement, without ex- 
“ ercise, without sufficient food, 
“ without warmth, without light, 
“ without cleanliness, without 
“ proper opportunities for their 
“ natural occasions, without in- 
“ telligence given or received, 
“ debarred from books, pen, ink, 
44 paper—their friends excluded: 
“ — I say, he keeps them hun- 
“ gry and cold, and motionless, 
“ and heavily ironed :—1 say, 
" they receive from his hands, 
“ and from his turnkeys’, blows, 
“ and death by torture.” 

During that suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act, a per¬ 
son was confined there as a state 
prisoner for three months; and 
the gaoler being examined as to 
the cause of the prisoner not be¬ 
ing' show n to the visiting Magis¬ 
trates, he said the prisoner’s 
name was. not on the books; 
and being asked why not on 
the books ? he answered, “ Be¬ 
cause he had no warrant with 
him !” 

What has been done , man may 
do; and who can be assured, 
that when the power exists, the 
same use wJl not some day be 
made of it. Mr. Cobbett being 
acquainted w ith these facts, do- 


[350 

ploring the state of his country, 
believing that he could not re¬ 
main at liberty in it, and com¬ 
bining, perhaps, with that con¬ 
viction, other persuasions, of a 
public, as well as some of a more 
private and personal nature, has 
withdrawn himself from the power 
of the new-fangled laws, and thus 
preserved his personal liberty, 
and some part, at least, of his 
usefulness. 

To you, my fellow-countrymen, 
the readers of Mr. Corbett’s 
Weekly Political Pamphlet , I in¬ 
tended to urge certain grounds, 
on which I claim your support 
for this publication ; but 1 have 
not room to do that, or to say any 
more respecting Mr. Cobbett, as 
I also intended. I have much to 
acquaint you with on both these 
points, but they must be reserved 
for my next. 

I little thought, when I put 
into Mr. Cobbett’s hand Brother 
Jackson’s receipt for the 400 
Romsey Registers I presented 
him w ith, the particulars of which 
you will find in Mr. Cobbett’s 
Register of January 4th (page 8); 
I little thought then, or when I 
afterwards pointed out to him 
the information in my account, of 
the Riots, which had escaped his 
notice (see the same number, 
page G), that then, when he had 
just concluded his “ Call upon 
the Clergy and was induced, 
from my conversation with him, 
to announce “ a New r Year’s Gift 
to Old George Rose,” for his 
next number ; I say, I little 
thought then, that ho would in 
three months from that time be 
on board a vessel proceeding to 
America, and that I should, in 
fourteen weeks, to a day, address 
you on the cessation of his Re- 


April 5, 1817. 



351] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [352 


gister, which at that time was in 
the height of its sale. 

I cannot conclude, however, 
without mingling my regret with 
yours, that we have lost Mr. 
Cobbett as a public writer, when 
we most need his powerful aid. 

His final production in this 
country w ill be published on Sa¬ 
turday. It is entitled, “ Mr. Cob - 
“ bett’s LAST ADDRESS to Ms 
“ Countrymen , previous to his De- 
“ parture to America; in which his 
“ Motives and Inteniions are fully 
“ stated .” 

We can have nothing- more 
from his pen for three months at 
least, and then, if he writes, though 
Lis opinions on general subjects 
wall be of great value, yet we 
must lament that he will labour 
under the disadvantage of being 
some thousands of miles from 
the scene where the events hap¬ 
pen on which he writes; and 
that Iris remarks on them cannot 
be read by us, until a quarter of 
a year afterwards. * 

Postponing some important 
explanations until my next, 

I remain, 

Fellow Countrymen, 

Your faithful Servant, 
WILLIAM HONE. 

Thursday, 3d April, 1817. 


CONTENTS OF No. IX. 

Mr. Cobbett’s Horsewhipping, the Morn¬ 
ing Post Account, and the true Account— 
Specimens of Representation—Edinburgh 
City and County—Borough of Yarmouth, 
and Mr. Maconochie—Mr Douglas, his 
Burghs, and his Wiser People of Scotland— 
Plyriipton Earle, and Mr. Boswell—Anec¬ 
dote of Dr. Johnson—Mr. Maconochie, 
and the Tin Kettle tied, &c.—-Scottish 
Anti-Reformists—Sentiment of Napoleon, 
from his Life, written by himself— 
Lord Chesterfield—Lord Carteret—Mr. 
Fawkes—Earl Grosvenor—Lord Boling- 
broke on the Consequences of Universal 
Corruption in England—An almost incredi¬ 
ble Anecdote of the present Parliament. 


' CONTENTS OF No. X. 

Mr. WALTER FAWKES, and* the 
YORKSHIRE MEETING—The 0% 
Committee—The 12 Noble Men of York¬ 
shire—Yorkshire Addressers a Century 
ago—Letter from a Yorkshire Bookseller— 
CORNWALL MEETING—Mr. RASH- 
LEIGII’S admirable Speech, verbatim-— 
Lord Cochrane going to South Arpe'rie'a-— 
Alleged Departure of Mr. COBBETT, 
for America—Mr. CAPEL LOFFT on 
REFORM. 


I beg to inform Country Inquirers, who 
desir# to have the Reformists' Register -, 
that they should give their orders for it tp 
Country Booksellers, most of whom have 
usually a parcel of various publications 
every week from their agents in town, and 
these town agents will procure and for¬ 
ward the Register, in their weekly parcels, 
regularly; but Booksellers, and persons in 
the country, who take the Reformists' Re¬ 
gister to sell again, may have them for¬ 
warded in any way they point our, by re¬ 
mitting with the order, or appointing pay- 
ment by some person in London, at stated 
periods. \y. jj. 


London*. Printed by J. D. Dfavick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Ou> Bailiiy, three doors from Lldgatjs Hili.; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(pos-t paid) should be ;i4dr<*: ed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Peace 
tucli, Us-, 6d. per Hundred, or bl, 10s. per Thousand, 














Price Two-Pence. 

HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

• * * • v " * •,*. ' ’ * • 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 12.] Saturday, April 12, 1817. [Vol. I. 


A SECOND LETTER 

TO 

MR. CORBETT’S 

READERS. 


LORD SIDMOUTH'S LETTER 
ethotlt Publications: what it is, and 
what it is not — Rev. ROBERT 
HALL, of Cambridge, on the Free¬ 
dom of the Press—No more Anti- 

Cobbetting - Coincidences of Mr. 

COBBETYS Last Address, and 
my last Number — Sale at Botley— 
Mr. COBBETYS last Arrange¬ 
ments, and last Requests - The 

Manchester Petition—-BLANKET 
BEAUX of Manchester—A Fa¬ 
thers Distraction,—FAMISHIN G, 
a Poem. 


FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, 

In my letter to you last Satur¬ 
day, I spoke of our feelings as 
Englishmen , and of the cause of 
those feeling's; I described two 
classes of people, who shame¬ 
lessly and falsely call themselves 
loyal; I recommended courage 
and union amongst ourselves; I 
mentioned the emigration of 
capitalists to America; 1 re¬ 
marked on the cold-blooded spe¬ 
culation in the Times , upon our 
rotting ; I observed at considera¬ 
ble length on Mr. Corbett’s de¬ 
pasture ; I related my last conver¬ 


sation with him; I stated some of 
the cruel punishments and wrong¬ 
ous imprisonments inflicted by 
arbitrary power ; I enjoined you, 
as I do again enjoin you, to trea¬ 
sure up and read all the excel¬ 
lent letters and advice which you 
will find in his Cheap Register; 
I deplored its discontinuance, 
and the loss of his usefulness at 
this time; I pointed out to your 
special notice, his LAST AD¬ 
DRESS, since published under 
the title of Mr. Cobbett’s Talcing 
Leave of hi& Countrymen; and, 
finally, I postponed something 
further I had to say respecting 
Mr. Corbett and myself, until 
the present Number. Recalling, 
therefore, those topics of my first 
Letter to your recollection, I now 
proceed to continue what I left 
unfinished. Before doing this, 
however, I beg your attention to 
a publication by the Right Hon. 
Lord Viscount Sidmouth, His 
Majesty’s Principal Secretary of 
State for the Home Department, 
of which the following is a 

(COPY.) 

Whitehall, March 27, 1817. 

“ MY LORD, 

“ As it is of the greatest im- 
“ portance to prevent, as far 
“ as possible, the circulation of 
« BLASPHEMOUS AND SEDI- 
“ T30US pamphlets and writings , 
“ of which , for a considerable 












O 


55] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


a 

a 


ft 

i. 

<t 

ft 

f. 

ff 

ft 

ft 

ff 

ft 

ft 

if 

f. 

<f 

ft 

ft 

f. 

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ff 

ff 

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time past, great numbers have 
been sold and distributed 
throughout the country; I have 
thought it my duty to consult 
the law officers of the Crown, 
whether an individual found 
selling, or in any way publish¬ 
ing' such pamphlets or writings, 
mipht he brought immediately 
before a Justice of the Peace, 
under a warrant issued for the 
purpose, to answer for his con¬ 
duct. The law officers having 
accordingly taken this matter 
into their consideration, have 
notified to me their opinion, 
that a Justice of the Peace may 
issue a ??arrant to apprehend a 
person charged before him 
UPON OATH with the publi¬ 
cation of LIBELS of the na¬ 
ture hi question, and compel 
him to give bail to answer the 
charge. Under these circum- 
stances, I beg leave to call your 
Lordship’s attention very par¬ 
ticularly to this subject; and I 
have to request, that if your 
Lordship should not propose to 
attend in person, at the next 
General Quarter Sessions of the 
Peace,, to be liolden in and for 
tlie county under your Lord- 
ship’s charge you w ould make 
■viiown to the Chairman of such 
Sessions the substance of this 
communication, in order that 
he may recommend to the se¬ 
veral Magistrates , to act there¬ 
upon in all cases where any per¬ 
son should he found offending 
AGAINST THE LAW, in 
the manner above mentioned, J 
beg leave to add, that persons 
vending pamphlets or other 
publications in the manner 
alluded to, should he consi¬ 
dered as coming under the 
provisions of the Hawker’s and 


f356 

“ Pedlar’s Act, and be dealt with 
“ accordingly, unless they show 
“ that they are furnished with a 
“ license, as required by the said 




x\ct. 


1 am, &c. 

“ Sid mouth. 


r<r To his Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant 
of the County of- 


I hear a great deal more im¬ 
portance attached to this com¬ 
munication than it really de¬ 
serves. It has been called a Pro¬ 
clamation, and some of the news¬ 
papers, according to their diffe¬ 
rent views and interests, have 
given titles to it which would 
induce some people to think] 
i that they themselves really be¬ 
lieved we were hereafter only to 
read and write what may be 
agreeable to bis Majesty’s Minis¬ 
ters. Now, this is a letter, a mere 
letter, nothing but a letter, and hi 
no way whatever concerning us, 
the People ; unless, indeed, it was 
written for the very purpose cf 
being read by us, and then, to be 
sure, the end is so far answered. 
Though it is directed to the Lord 
Lieutenants of Counties, request¬ 
ing them to acquaint the Chair¬ 
men of the next General Quartet 
Sessions of the Peace with its 
substance: yet,not only the Chair¬ 
men have been made acquainted 
with the substance of it, but here 
we have it at full length in all the 


newspapers. 

Still, however, thus letter is 
nothing to us ; we have nothing 
to do with it: The REFOR¬ 
MISTS' REGISTER is no pro¬ 
mulgator of LI BE LS • It would, 
as the letter says, be offending 
against the law, to be so. I did 
not need the letter to tell me that 4 ; 
having ever been well convinced 
that obedience to the law’s is neices- 







8->7] April ] 

sary to the safety of the common- 

V V 

wealth. If we think a law im¬ 
provident, inexpedient, positively 
had, and mischievous, our legal 
constitutional course is to endea¬ 
vour to get that law put out of 
existence by another law. If we 
think Ministers unwise, weak, 
foolish, unfit to regulate the con¬ 
cerns of this great nation ; then 
we will petition for their re¬ 
moval. If we think the House 
of Commons is so constituted as 
to require Reform, and that we 
ought to be fully,fairly, and freely 
represented in that House—and 
all this we do think—then we will 
petition for Reform. If it be 
affirmed, that we, the Commons of 
England, ought not to be repre¬ 
sented in our own House, we will 
prove that we ought to be. If it 
be denied that Annual Parlia¬ 
ments were the law of the land, 
we will show, that Parliaments 
not only met annually, but that 
Parliaments were elected annu- 
Uly, accordingly to law. If it be 
denied that it is proper to can¬ 
vass, and examine, and reprobate 
the conduct of Ministers, we 
will show that the errors of 
the ablest and wisest Ministers 
have been so investigated, con¬ 
demned, and remedied; and that 
incapable and wicked Ministers 
have, by force of public opinion, 
been displaced and punished. 
AH this we will prove to have 
been done by our ancestors, and 
he prepared like them to do. We 
Constitutional Reformists care not 
for the open circulation of a letter 
by one public officer, a Secretary 
cj State , addressed to another 
public officer, a Lord Lieutenant , 
calling upon him to tell a third, a 
Chairman of the Quarter Sessions, 
to instruct a fourth, the Jfaais- 


2, 1817. . [058 

Irate under him, that it is the 
opinion of a fifth, a CroumLawyer, 
“ that a Justice of Peace may 
“ issue a warrant to apprehend a 
“ person charged before him, up- 
“ on oath, w ith the publication of 
“ LIBEL;” this is no concern of 
ours; for ice are not, nor will we 
be, libellers, I shall not waste 
one of my columns to inquire 
upon what grounds this opinion 
of the law officers of the Crown 
is founded. We are legally and 
constitutionally, openly and un¬ 
ceasingly, and against all the 
arts of influence, and threats of 
corruption, seeking to obtain Re¬ 
form, and therefore are the last 
men likely to be seditious libel¬ 
lers. We are political dissenters 
from the establishment, 4 more 
sinned against than sinning.’ We 
hear and forbear. We are com¬ 
pelled to bear with the taunts and 
abuse of those wdio, being within 
the pale of privilege,smite us upon 
one cheek ; and we forbear, whilst 
they insist on smiting us upon 
the other. We are struggling 

• • o o o 

for emancipation, and they for 
pow er; we for right, and they 
for might; but as unconstitutional 
power, and illegal might, must in 
the end he overcome by know¬ 
ledge and wisdom, so we pa¬ 
tiently persist, with the sure and 
certain hope of victory. 

Lord Sidmoutii’s letter says, 
that a Justice of Peace may hold 
a person to bail who is charged 
upon oath with publishing a libel; 
now, as 1 said before, 1 w ill not 
inquire whether such a holding* 
to bail be or be not a legal mea¬ 
sure ; but 1 do affirm, that neither 
so charging a person upon oath, 
nor holding" him to bail, makes 
him a libeller, A person may lie 
*:o charged cm oath, and so held 





35&J Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [300 


to bail, and be no more a libel¬ 
ler than Mr. Chapman of the 
Treasury is Mr. Pitt ; notwith¬ 
standing* Mr. Murray, a po¬ 
lice officer, affirms that Mr. 
Chapman is Mr. Pitt, and is 
ready to charge him upon oath 
with being Mr. Pitt. It will not 
be a very easy thing- to get re¬ 
spectable persons to act upon 
this opinion of the law officers of 
the Crown. A man moving in 
any thing of decent society, how¬ 
ever weak his intellect, or per¬ 
verted his mind, or however in¬ 
stigated, will scarcely venture to 
swear himself in as an informer , 
and that, too, at the risk of having 
his charge upon oath rejected by 
the Magistrate; for Lord Sid- 
mouth’s letter simply says, that 
a justice of the Peace may. not 
that he shall, issue his warrant 
to apprehend the person charged; 
so that there may be a great 
deal of loyalty wasted, and 
nobody be the better for it, ex¬ 
cept the Justice’s clerk, who gets 
a shilling for the oath; nor any 
body the w orse for it, except the 
informer, who gets the title for 
his trouble, and is laughed at for 
ever. 

If Lord Sidmouth’s letter w as 
designed to be a private circular 
of instruction to the Lord Lieu¬ 


tenants, the Noble Secretary of 
State is under little obligation to 
the ardent mind of the worthy 
Lord Lieutenant who Isas pub¬ 
lished it. But really there is no 
knowing exactly in what light 
to look at the letter . If it be 
circular, written for the express 
purpose of being printed in the 
newspapers, then it is another 
affair altogether; and my Lord 
Sf03iouTH having taken his 
chance of having the letter re¬ 


viewed, w ill not be disappointed 
if the reviewers are not all of 
one mind. For myself, as far as 
this sheet extends, the letter wjM 
have all the circulation I can 
give it; and as it w ill thus be 
read by many thousands of per¬ 
sons who would not otherwise 
see it, one object of its being* 
written will be answ ered. There 
is something whimsical about 
the letter. His Lordship, with 
the assistance of Lord Castle- 
reagii, got the personal safety 
act of the People suspended ; 
extended the personal safety act 
of the King- to the Prince Regent, 
and made that perpetual; revived 
two acts for preventing the se¬ 
duction of sailors and soldiers, 
and made their provisions per¬ 
petual also ; and obtained an act 
for more effectually preventing 
seditious meetings and assem¬ 
blies : yet, w ith these acts at his 
back, it seems the Noble Lord 
washes to make himself still 
stronger by this letter . I re¬ 
member, about sixteen years ago, 
when the Noble Lord was plain 
Mr. Addington, Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, that under the 
alleged apprehension of French 
invasion, he brought in a bill to 
compel all who were not volun¬ 
teers, to go into the levy-efi-masse , 
and thus forced every man in the 
kingdom to be a volunteer. On 
this occasion a caricature ap¬ 
peared, representing*, without 
much regard to perspective, 
France and England, with the 
channel between; the Noble Lord 
stood on the shore at Dover, 
whilst Natoleon, a very little 
fellow, popped his head over the 
walls of Calais, and cried, “ I’m 
a coming*!”—the Noble Lord ex¬ 
claimed to himself, with great 




Apri,l 1 <&, 1817- 



tear and trembling, “ Lord have 
mercy on us!” but bawled out, 
m the same breath, Who’s 
afraid !” Napoleon called again, 
“ I’m a coming !” the Noble Lord 
again ejaculated, “ Lord have 
mercy upon us !” and roared out 

still louder, “ D-n me, who’s 

afraid!” The immense array of 
soldiery behind his Lordship; 
part of a certain apparatus used 
in medical application,depending 
from his coat pocket; the rueful 
dismay of his countenance; his 
knick-knock knees; and an enor¬ 
mously large sword in his hand ; 
most laughably contrasted with 
the pert, make-believe, threat- 
ning little figure on the other 
side. The Noble Secretary's letter 
Las a sort of Lord ha ’ mercy on 
us bravery in it, and forcibly 
brings the caricature to my re¬ 
collection. 

Extreme horror of public dis-. 
■mission is" founded in weakness. 
The Rev. Robert Hall, of Cam¬ 
bridge, in his Apology for the 
Freedom of the Press , remarks, 
that Government being an insti¬ 
tution purely human, one would 
imagine it were the proper pro¬ 
vince for freedom of discussion, 
in its utmost extent. It is surely 
just that every one should have a 
right to examine those measures 
b}^ which the happiness of all 
may be affected. The controul 
of the public mind over the con¬ 
duct of Ministers, exerted through 
the medium of the press, has 
been regarded by the best writers, 
both in our country and on the 
continent, as the main support of 
our liberties. While this remains, 
we cannot be enslaved; when it 
is impaired or diminished, we 
shall soon cease to be free. 

Every thing (says Mr. IIall) 


that is really excellent, will bear 
examination, it will even invite 
it; and the more narrowly it is 
surveyed, to the more advantage 
will it appear. Js our Constitu¬ 
tion a good one, it will gain in 
our esteem by the severest in- 

v 

quiry. Is it bad, then its imper¬ 
fections should be laid open and 
exposed. Is it, as is generally 
confessed, of a mixed nature, 
excellent in theory, but defective 
in its practice; freedom of dis¬ 
cussion will be still requisite to 
point out the nature and source 
of its corruptions, and apply suit¬ 
able remedies. If our Constitu¬ 
tion be that perfect model of ex¬ 
cellence it is represented, it may 
boldly appeal to the reason of an 
enlightened age, and need not 
rest on the support of an implicit 
faith. 

Government (Mr. Hall ob¬ 
serves) is the creature of the 
People; and that which they 
have created, they surely have a 
right to examine. The great 
Author of Nature having placed 
the right of dominion in no par¬ 
ticular hands, hath left every 
point relating to it to be settled 
by the consent and approbation 
of mankind. In spite of the at¬ 
tempts of sophistry to conceal 
the origin of political right, it 
must inevitably rest at length an 
the acquiescence of the People. 
In the case of individuals, it is 
extremely plain. If one man 
should overwhelm another with 
superior force, and after com¬ 
pletely subduing him under the 
name of government, transmit 
him in this condition to his lieira, 
every one would exclaim against 
such a piece of injustice. But 
whether the object of this op¬ 
pression be one, or a million, «an 






‘383] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [30*4 


make no difference in its nature; 
the idea of equity having- no re¬ 
lation to that of numbers, Mr. 
Burke, with some other authors, 
are aware that an original right 
of dominion can only be explained 
by resolving into it the will of 
the people, yet contend that it 
becomes inalienable and inde¬ 
pendent by length of time and 
prescription. This fatal mistake 
appears to have arisen from con¬ 
founding the right of dominion 
with that of private property. 
Possession for a certain time, it 
is true, vests in the latter a com¬ 
plete right, or there would he no 
cud to vexatious claims; not to 
mention that it is of no conse¬ 
quence to society where property 
lies, provided its regulations he 
clear, and its possession undis¬ 
turbed. For the same' reason, it 
is of. the essence of private pro¬ 
perty to be held for the sole use 
of the owner, with liberty to em¬ 
ploy it in what way he pleases, 
consistent with the safety of the 
community. But the rig-lit of 
dominion has none of the quadi- 
f.ics that distinguish private pos¬ 
session. It is never indifferent 
to the community in whose hands 
it is lodged ; nor is it intended in 
any degree for the benefit of 
those" wild conduct it. Being de¬ 
rived from the will of the People, 
explicit or implied, and existing 
solely for their use, it can no 
more become independent of that 
will, than water can rise above 
ifs source. But if we allow the 
People are the true origin of po¬ 
litical power, it is absurd to re¬ 
quire them to resign the right of 
discussing any question that can 
arise either upon its form or its 
measures, as this would put it for 
ever out of their power to fevoke 


the trust which they have placed 
in the hands of their rulers. 

If it be a crime (Mr. Hall con¬ 
tinues) for a subject of Great 
Britain to express his disappro¬ 
bation of that form of govern¬ 
ment under which be lives, the 
same conduct must be condemned 
in the inhabitant of any other 
country. Perhaps if: will be said, 
a distinction ought to be made 
on account of the superior excel¬ 
lence of the British Constitution, 
This superiority I am not disposed 
to contest; yet cannot allow it 
to be a proper reply, as it takes 
for granted that which is sup¬ 
posed to he a matter of debate 
anti inquiry. Let a government 
be ever so despotic, it is a chance 
if those w ho share in the admi¬ 
nistration are not loud in pro¬ 
claiming its excellence. Go into 
Turkey, and the Pachas of the 
provinces w ill probably tell you, 
that the Turkish government is 
the most perfect in the world. 
If the excellency of a constitu¬ 
tion, then, is assigned as the 
reason that none should be per¬ 
mitted to censure it, who, I ask, 
is to determine on this its excel¬ 
lence ? If you reply, every man’s 
own reason w ill determine, veu 
concede the very point 1 am en¬ 
deavouring to establish, the liberty 
of Jree inquiry: if you reply, 
our rulers, you admit a principle 
that equally applies to every go¬ 
vernment in the world, and will 
lend no more support to the Bri¬ 
tish Constitution , than to that of 
Turkey or Algiers . 

An inquiry (says Mr. Hall) 
respecting the comparative ex¬ 
cellence of civil constitutions, 
can be forbidden on no other 
pretence, than of its tending- to 
sedition and anarchy. This plea, 





howeyer, will have little weight 
with those who reflect to how 
many ill purposes it has been al~ 
reafly applied; and that when 
t ic example has been once intro¬ 
duced, ot suppressing opinions, 
on account of their imagined il! 
tendency, it has seldom been con¬ 
fined within any safe or reason¬ 
able bounds. The doctrine of 
tendencies is extremely subtle and 
complicated. This dread of cer¬ 
tain opinions, on account of their 
tendency, lias been the copious 
spring of all those religious'wars 
and persecutions’, which are the 
disgrace and calamity of modern 
times. 

The real danger to every free j 
government (Mr. Hall remarks) | 
is less from its enemies than 
from itself. Should it resist the 
most temperate Reforms , and ; 
maintain its abuses with obslhiacM. j 
imputing, complaint to faction , 
calumniating its friends, and 
smiling only on its flatterers ; 
should it encourage informers , 
and hold out rewards to treachery , | 
turning every man into a spy , and i 
every neighbourhood into the seat ' 
of an inquisition , let it hot hope I 
it can long conceal its tyranny 
under the mask of freedom. 
These arc the avenues through 
which despotism must enter; j 
these are the arts at which inte¬ 
grity sickens, and freedom turns 
pale. 

The Reverend Mr. Hall, a 
clergyman, a man of great learn¬ 
ing and talent, was not ashamed 
to utter these sentiments before 
all men ; and I remember, though 
I was very young at the time, 
that when he did so, in the year 
1793, they were entertained with 
suitable respect. They are fully 
as applicable now as they were 


then; for we have seen—oh chat 
great men would be wise, and 
counsellors get understand ing!— 
we have seen that knowledge has 
made its way, broken down its 
barriers, overflowed, and ferti¬ 
lized every mind in its progress ; 
that, similar to waiter, it has an 
upward as well as a downward 
pressure: a«d that when ap¬ 
plied its a power, it acts, like the 
hydrostatic press, with amazing 
force. Let authority add weight 
to weight, and lay heavy burdens 
upon truth, still its upward pres¬ 
sure is increased by the smallest 
additions to it, till the ^ery ir- 
struments used to keep it down, 
are conroressed and destroyed by 
its irresistible strength. 

Having detained yoti, fellow 
countrymen, thus long with Lord 
Sidmouth’s letter , which I have 
shown can be of no importance 
to us; and w ith the excellent 
opinions of Mr. Hall, which are 
of importance to us, because the 
experience of 24 years since they 
were written has proved them to 
be true; w e will now return to 
Mr. Cobbett, whose departure 
has been a death-blow r to some cl 
our enemies, and a source of great 
gratification to others. A few 
scribblers, who ground their quills 
against the principles he advo¬ 
cated in the Weekly Political 
Pamphlet , fretting and fuming, 
and wearing them to the hare 
stump, for very rage and a paltry 
pittance, are cut off in the midst 
of their work. They may console 
themselves* if they will, with 
what is the fact, that their scrib¬ 
bling had no share in hastening 
eparture and their own ruin; 
but truth is a tiling they cannot 
comprehend, and conscience, 
hanging about the neck of their 








£671 Hone’s Reformists’ Register* [SOS 


liearte, reproaches them with hay¬ 
ing been perhaps a sort of ac¬ 
cessaries to their own undoing. 
They have lost the dirty bread 
tossed to them by their niggardly 
masters, as a reward for their 
dirty labours. Anti-Cobhetting 
is all over: there will be no more 
printing at three halfpence a 
sheet, to be a halfpenny less than 
Cobhetfs Political Pamphlet ; no 
more leaving them in at coffee¬ 
houses, and on tap-room tables ; 
no more sending- them gratis to 
“well-disposed people,’’and drop¬ 
ping them down areas; no more 
coaxing, and pushing,and wheed¬ 
ling people to take them in, for 
the use of the servants and ap¬ 
prentices. It was all up-hill, un¬ 
profitable work, whilst it lasted ; 
for, like Brother' Jackson, of the 
Romsey Register , they could get 
nobody to read them—they might 
be bought by the great folks, to 
give away, to be sure—but as to 
an independent journeyman, or 
mechanic, or handicraftsman, 
being enticed to purchase the 
Anti-Cobbett for three halfpence, 
why, it was like offering a three- 
halfpenny ounce of salts to a fa¬ 
mishing- man, who wanted to lay 
out two-pence in buying a loaf. 
However, it is all over now. The 
poor creatures who in vain beat 
'their empty sculls for an idea, 
aiql, those who most cautiously 
read their productions in search 
of one, without finding it, may 
alike rest in peace. The quill 
grinders must rest—their occu¬ 
pation’s gone. By the simple pro¬ 
cess of going without food fora 
Week, they will be qualified foi 
coroner's verdicts of “ Died —be 
the visitation ojGod!” or, if they 
wish to become useful at last,they 
may crawl out into the market- 


gardeners’ grounds, and hang 
themselves up for scarecrows. 

Mr. Cobbett is by this time, 
probably, one fourth part of the 
way to the United States. I His 
Last Address , his Taking Leave 
of you, my fellow countrymen, 
has, by this time, been in all your 
hands. It is just what might 
have been expected from his 
pen ; and it is remarkable, that 
in my last Number, published on 
the same day, I touched on nearly 
the same topics, and that we 
treated them both alike. This is 
very remarkable. It is an instance 
of two persons, two hundred 
miles apart, writing and thinking 
so exactly alike, as to express 
themselves nearly in the same 
words. 

In my last Register , speaking 
of the Cheap Repository Tracts , 
#rc, I said (p. 326), “ the general 
“ tenor of the trash is, ‘ work, if 
“ 4 you can get any thing to do, 
“ ‘ if not, apply to the overseers, 
“ 4 &c.’ ” Mr. Cobbftt, in his 
Taking Leave , speaking of si¬ 
milar publications, likewise calls 
them (p. 9) “ trash , with which 
“ the People are not to be amused, 
“ by a recital of the manifold 
“ blessings of a state of things, 
“ in which they have not half 
“ enough to eat, &c.” 

At p* 326, I say, “ they look 
“ upon us as a grazier looks at 
“ his cattle . 4 What are they 
“ 4 worth per carcase? How do 
“ 4 they tallow upon the caul and 
“ 4 on the kidnies? What will 
44 4 they cost per head to keep ? 
“ 4 Are they worth keeping- any 
44 4 longer? Are they worth ship- 
44 4 ping off alive?’ and so forth. 
44 We are viewed, and turned 
44 over, and speculated upon, as 
44 a kind of live stock, &c,” Mr. 




369] April 12 , 1817. [370 


Coebett (p. 6) says, that writers 
wlio “ consider men as mere atd- 
“ metis, may have had influence 
“ in the producing- this change ; 
44 and we now frequently hear 
“ the working classes called, 
44 4 the population? just as we call 
u the animals upon a farm, ‘ the 
* 4 * stock’ ” 

At p. 324, I said, that “ men in 
44 business, as manufacturers or 
a farmers, with large capitals at 
4 * their command, are emigrating. 
“ Such men as these have gone, 
44 and others are going, to culti- 
44 vate land, and establish rnanu- 
44 factories, in countries where 
44 their skill and capital are of 
44 more value, and can be made 
44 more productive than in this.” 
Mr. Coebett says (p. 16), “ at 
44 this very moment hundreds of 
44 farmers are actually preparing 
* to remove themselves and their; 
“ property to America, and many I 
“are now upon the voyage—; 
“ with their valuable industry 
44 and skill to add to the agricul- 
44 ture of America.” 

I said (at p. 330), that we were 
44 holding life but by sufferance, 
44 and at the pleasure of Minis- 
44 ters.” Mr. Coebett says (p. 3), 
had he remained in England, lie 
should have 44 walked about his 
“ fields, or slept in his bed, merely 
64 at the mercy of a Secretary of 
44 State.” 

There are other trains of 
thought and expression, in Mr. 
Cobbett’s Leave-Taking, and my 
own Register , of that day, which 
show that persons thinking alike 
may write alike, without one co¬ 
pying from the other. 

All^ that the hirelings say 
against Mr. Coebett, now lie is 
gdne, will have no more weight; 
than the stuff they opposed to 


his arguments for Reform, when 
here. They exultingly announced, 
that his farming stock was 
to be sold by auction at Botley, 
on Monday last. Ihey particu¬ 
larize his 44 four capital mules, 
44 quiet in harness; 15 asses; a 
44 mare; 2 fine colts, the one a 
44 yearling, the other 2 years old ; 
44 rick of good meadow hay; 
44 about 100 tons of excellent tur- 
44 nips; Iamb carriage, with 4 
44 good wheels, and wicker body; 
“ a gig; 5 capital rick-staddles, on 
44 stout pillars, and caps; cucum- 
44 her and melon frames, with glass 
44 lights; 10 large framed lights 
44 for graping; hand lights ; stone 
44 roller; &c. Also, the excellent 
44 fixtures of the house, compri- 
44 sing register and oilier stoves, 
“ kitchen range, large copper 
4 * furnace, shelves, dressers, and 
44 other articles ;” and the mean, 
mindless, degraded brutes, ex- 
ulting in the break-up of his es¬ 
tablishment, and the separation 
of his family, call him a trams - 
port, and ask what has become of 
the rest of his furniture ? 
Wretches ! Why, they know that 
it had been removed to another 
farm, which he lived on, in the 
neighbourhood; and, that wbeyn 
he left Botley for Catherine Street, 
part of it went there. As for their 
rejoicing—less low feeling was 
not expected from their vulgar 
hearts. 

Mr. Coebett, before he went, 
took all the measures that ap¬ 
peared to him to be requisite to 
arrange his affairs. He empower¬ 
ed a person to receive into his 
possession all the stock of his 
Register, and the whole of Paper 
against Gold, remaining in the 
hands of the pr inters. 

A gentleman whom he en- 





871] IIonl’s Reformists’ Register. £372 


trusted with die management of 
his concerns, he requested to 
call on his printers, foi iheir ac¬ 
counts, which he required to be 
cent airer him ; and he also de¬ 
sired the printers to be informed, 
that they will be jnstlg paid, 
before the period at which they 
would be settled with, had the 
printing' been done for book¬ 
sellers. In the same letter, he 
ordered every thing* to be sold, 
including his library. He de¬ 
sired nothing* more to be reserved 
for his own use, than a white 
poney, which his wife was ac¬ 
customed to ride, and which had 
learned all his children to ride; 
with all his dogs, and four tur- 
kies, which had been breeders. 
The whole of these he mentions i 

f |i 

not to he worth twenty pounds. ! 

A mare he orders to be returned j 

to Mr. Cartwright. He says in j 

this letter, that he has taken | 

with him barely sufficient to \ 

•/ | 

carry him to America—he be- I 
lieves that his wife may have 
sufficient for the expenses of 
herself and her daughter; but 
if she has not, he has no doubt 
that her perseverance and good 
management will enable her to 
effect his wishes in following i 
him. 

Base, thoroughly base, my 
fellow countrymen, is that man, 
who would insult another 
under those circumstances which 
occasion Mr. Corbett to leave 
England. No one of us, I am ■ 
sure, is capable of harbouring 
the like feelings towards any 
human being*, however we may 
dislike his politics, or his writ¬ 
ings. But wc had no right to 
expect better things from their 
pens. They imposed on thejr 
readers by giving out, that whilst 


he was at Liverpool he secreted 
himself; whereas, the direct ccon¬ 
trary was the fact: he was there 
for several days,publicly walking 
the streets,known to everybody, 
and receiving* every body who 
was introduced to him. This be 
did until he went on board the 
Importer, Capt. Hall, which, 
sailed for America, on Friday, 
the 28t]i of Maxell. 

Mr. Corbett is equally out of 
the reach of abuse and praise. 
His calumniators therefore will, 
have their full swing* of venge-. 
anee, and those who pay tribute, 
to his merit, must bear an addi¬ 
tional share of the odium. This 
w e reckoned on, fellow country-, 
men, and therefore we shall not 
be disappointed. Let them gnaw 
their tongues for pain, and rail 
on. The errors of Mr. Cobbetx 
are as much before me as before 
his enemies—I know them as 
w ell as they do; but I think I 
exercise sound practical wisdom, 
in affirming, that as no man’s life 
lias been laboriously spent in the 
service of the public, without 
some deviations from the exact 
rule of right, so, in proportion 
as an individual lias done great 
service, his deviations should be 
viewed witli tenderness. 1 be¬ 
lieve that no man has more en-?. 
lightened bis countrymen than 
Air. Corbett ; and that to his 
Weekly Political Pamphlet is to 
be attributed the calm sensible 
conduct of the People, at the 
present moment. Air. Cobbett 
has effected so much good, that 
it wo aid be unjust to dwell on 
his mistakes. As some one said 
of a deceased public character, 

so I say of Mr. Cobbett —“ He 
•/ 

“ was so great a man , that I cannot 
“ remember his faults! 9 Had he 









April 12, 1817. 


[07 i 


noverwritten nline before or after • 
bis letter to the Lord Mayo;?, be ] 
would deserve the thanks of his : 
country. 1 have not space here i 
to estimate the value of his 
writing’s, and if I had, I am not 
prepared to defend every line 
that iie wrote, or praise every 
word that he said; luit instead 
of detracting- from his usefulness, 
by throwing a grain of dust into 
the balance against him, my aim 
will be to preserve the recollec¬ 
tion of what he has dope for us, , 
as much as my humble ability 
will admit; to keep it constantly 
in view; to take up as much of 
his ground as I can; to blow a 
shrill blast of alarm, to cry aloud, 
and spare not; to fall on, and j 
overwhelm, and put down the > 
enemy under our feet. 

This I shall prepare to do with 
all my heart, and with all my 
might; and therefore 1 now quote 
to you, part of an election j 
speech, made by Mr. Fox, in | 
1796, when the Seditious Meet- ! 
ings Bill of that day was in force. I 

In my advertisement, I have given j 
f< my opinion on the present Govern- 
“ meat of this country, and of the 
“ Parliament who supported it. 1 
“ will give you my opinion again as | 
“ explicitly as I can. They have (what- j 
** ever might have been their views and 
“ intentions) they have been the cause 
of spending more of the.treasure of 
“ Great Britain, and shedding more of 
ti the blood of human beings in every 
part of this world, than any other 
“ government that ever preceded them. 

*' With, the word humanity in their 
“ mouths, they have filled every quar- 
“ ter of the earth with more misery, 
and, with religion in their profes- 
“ si arts, they have spilled more Cbris- 
“ tian blood, than any King, Prince, 

“ or Emperor, ever did, in the annals 
* f of the world ! They have been the 


cause of destroying more of God's 
“ creatures than the greatest ccnnuef* 
“ or m ancient or modern history; 
“ end have lost more at the same 
“ time than any of those conquerors 
“ ever gained r This applies to thetA 
“ with regard to their foreign policy. 
**■ With regard to their domestic con- 
“ duct, it is most infamous. They have 
“ sent men to Botany Bay, contrary 
“ to law!—contrary to justice!— 
“ contrary to the principles of human* 
“ ity, wliich ought to be. the principle 
“ of all law ! They were tried, in* 
“ deed : but their trials were eon- 
(c ducted in such a manner, that evwv 
c< lover of justice and of humanity 
“ must revolt at it in his own mind. 
“ They have spilled no blood at home, 
“ indeed, with the exception of one of 
“ their own spies in Scotland: but one 
“ of my competitors (Mr. Horns 
“ Tooke), told you, they made aA 
<e attack on his life : they did so, and 
“ on others also. Now, 1 appeal to 
“ all those who hear me, whether 
“ these gentlemen themselves, whose 
“ lives were brought in question by 
“ this attack upon them from Gcvere- 
“ ment—-whether they, 1 say, evar 
“ felt more than myself, or spoke 
“ more openly their sentiments, and 
“ expressed more strongly their re- 
“ sentment of these infamous prose- 
“ cutions, than I have. I know it 
“ is the custom of the Ministerial 
“ Party to say, that I use inflammatory 
“ language to the People. If Minis- 
ec ters bring tins country to such a 
c<: siate as that a recital of it inflames 
“ the People, it is their fault, and not 
“ the fault of those who tell the Peo- 
“ pie what tlicir condition is. J do 
“ not wish the People of England to 
“ be inflamed; but I do wish them 
cf to feel a proper sense of the injuries 
S( they have received, and to express 
e: that sense like Englishmen ! 

f( The law that was passed in the 
“ last Session of Parliament has made 
it impossible for more than fifty 
“ persons to meet, without being sub- 
“ ject to the interference of a Mugis- 









375] ' Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [376 


trate. If you take my advice, this 
“ law will not disturb your meeting. 
cc —Meet ! [great applause.~\ Meet ! 
tc Act in obedience to the law, which 
<e does not forbid your meeting \ it 
<e only empowers the Magistrate to 
“ commit you, if you act improperly. 
“ Meet, then, 1 say *, conduct your- 
“ selves with propriety, and see whe- 
<e ther any one will dare to oppose you. 
<( Bad as this law is, by all means 
<c obey it—but unite with your obe- 
(t dience to this law, a determination 
“ to express your opinions and senti- 
“ ments of public measures and men 
tc with the firmness and temper which 
“ becomes freemen. By such a de- 
e( meanor you will set a good exam- 
fC pie to the rest of the Kingdom, 
“ which must immediately have a 
(C good elfect, and must infiuence in 
^ some degree the conduct of Minis- 

ters. 

<( Gentlemen, I have spoken plain- 
tc ly and openly to you : and 1 will 
“ conclude with repeating, that in 
“ my conscience I believe that Go- 
“ vernment has been by none exag- 
“ gerated. A more detestable one 
ec never existed in British History ; and 

not to detain you longer, I will sum 
<c up its character in two words. 
** This Government has destroyed 
t( more human beings in its foreign war 
fC than Louis XIV. ami attempted the 
“ lives of more innocent men at home 
te than Henry VIII. 

This advice, and these truths, 
in tlie energetic language we 
have read, must he remembered 
to have been delivered by Mr. 
Fox, who knew well what he was 
saying', who had been a Minister 
before he made his speech, and 
who was a Minister afterwards. 

The grounds of meeting, we 
all of us know, are daily increas¬ 
ing; but all of us perhaps do not 
know how the enemies of Reform 
treat petitioning. You will re¬ 
member that the Manchester 


weavers met to petition, and here 
is a copy of their Petition, as I 
find it printed in Bell's Weekly 
Messenger , of Sunday, March 23. 

MANCHESTER PETITION. 

e< The following is a copy of the Pe- 
“ tition to the Prince Regent, with 
which the persons lately arrested at 
“ Manchester were proceeding to 
London : — 

“ The Petition of the Undersigned, 
“ being Inhabitants of Manchester, 
“ in the County of Lancaster, 

<e HUMBLY SHEWETH, 

“ That your Petitioners, before the 
“ last war, neither felt nor feared 
either difficulties or privations j 
“ but during its continuance have 
frequently experienced both, and 
“ have repeatedly applied to your 
“ Royal Father, your Royal Highness, 
“ and the House of Commons, for Re - 
“ dress; which applications, we ere 
“ sorry to say, have, in our humble, 
ce but firm belief, not received that at - 
“ tention which their importance me- 
“ rited; so that now, when the waste 
“ of war is over, our sufferings are 
become both more general and 
“ deeper than ever. 

“ This state of things we, your 
“ Petitioners, attribute to the rapid 
increase of TAXATION, which has 
“ been quadrupled, together with the 
“ increase of RENT, which has pro- 
bably been doubled during the war ; 
“ which, together, so nearly absorb 
“ the whole produce nf the kingdom, 
“ as to leave a quantity very far short 
“ of being sufficient to keep your Pe~ 
“ titioners in existence, and therefore 
“ their lives are now become a burden 
“ arid a plague to them. Your dis- 
tressed Petitioners are further con- 
vinced, that if the House of Gom- 
“ mons had really emanated from 
and been wholly and annually ap- 
te pointed by the People at large, this 
“ war, and the taxation resulting 
therefrom, would long ago have 
“ received a sufficient check, cv.en 




377] April 12, 1817. [378 


“ admitting the nation to have sanc- 

<e tioned its commencement-that 

“ the laws to regulate the importa- 
“ tion of corn, calculated to advance 
iC its price, would never have been 
suffered to pass—-that* the law of 
(e libel, which subjects the publishers 
“ of truth itself, in some instances, 
(t to great pains and penalties, there- 
“ by preventing the publication of 
“ the most important truths, could 
“ never have received the sanction 
“ of the friends of truth and of man- 
“ kind---tliat a Bill to suspend the. 
<e Habeas Corpus Act, a Bill em- 
powering Ministers to imprison, 
ec without proof of guilt, whomso- 
“ ever they please, and for an un- 
t( known length of time—-could never 
have passed. 

ef Your Petitioners, thereforehum- 

bly, but fervently, pray, that your 

Royal Highness will instantly dis- 

“ miss from your Councils all those 

Ministers who have advised or de- 

sc vised, such cruel, and unjust mea- 

“ sures, and call to your Councils 

“ men who are the declared or avowed 

friends to conciliatory measures— 

to Parliamentary Reform—and a 

“ general and very considerable re- 

f f trenchment in every part of national 

expenditure. Our lives are in your 

hands—our happiness, in a great 

c( measure, depends on you. If you 

ec procure adoption of measures calcu- 

“ lated to relieve us , you may then 

‘ ■ safely rely upon our support and 

C( gratitude-—without iftis, ice can nei- 

ec iker support you nor ourselves. Your 

ce gracious attention to our prayers, 

will gain you the eternal esteem and 

fc gratitude of your Petitioners, who 

“ will ever pray.” 

▲ • 

You will remember that these 
Manchester men, as related in 
a former Register, were dis¬ 
persed by the military; lira! 
some of them were taken into 
custody; that others, with Peti¬ 
tions in their hands, proceeded 
to London, to present, or cause 


their Petitions to be presented 
to the Prince Regent ; that 
those who were prepared for the 
journey had some provisions with 
them, and that each man carried 
a blanket to sleep on at night. 
Now it is not attempted to be de¬ 
nied that most of these persons 
were in very great distress; and, 
that considering their case not 
properly represented to Govern¬ 
ment, they adopted the resolu¬ 
tion of coming to town them¬ 
selves. Whether that was the 
right course, or not, I will not 
say any thing about; but it is 
very clear that the military 
thought it was not; for the Man¬ 
chester papers say, some of the 
Petitioners were sabred. One 
way or other, they were stopped 
from coming up to London. Now, 
if these persons were distressed ; 
if most of them were out of em¬ 
ployment, and could get none; 
if they had been long’ unem¬ 
ployed, without a prospect of 
being speedily employed ; they 
were objects of our sympathy 
and relief. There cun be no 
doubt, too, that if they had been 
laughed at in their misery—if 
their distress had been ridiculed 
—if their appearing famished, 
and un con tidy clad, had called 
forth taunt, that such treatment 
would exci'e disgust in the hu¬ 
mane of all parties ; that a man 
who would do so,must he thought 
below a brute—to have a heart 
without feeling, and a mind of 
diabolical construction; that it 
is almost impossible to suppose 
such a man can exist; ami yet 
such a man does exist, who has 
so ridiculed the miserable, and 
taunted their distress—aye, and 
has done it in print, too —in a 
newspaper. Yes, these poor un-* 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



happy men, whom the Manches¬ 
ter papers describe, as weak and 
pale, and hungry, and unemploy¬ 
ed, with their humble Petition in 
one liquid, and with a blanket at 
their backs, have been taunted, 
wantonly, wickedly taunted, with 

a nick - name-the helpless 

wretchedness of their appear¬ 
ance has enabled the Courier to 
call them Blanket Beaux!!! 
Here is the Passage :—“ Thanks 
“ to the Magistrates of Lan- 
“ easliire, and other districts, 
* who stopped the BLANKET 
“ BEAUX in their progress to 
the Court of Carlton House to 
“ pay their respects to the Prince 
“ Regent ! ” 1 remember no in¬ 

stance of 'refined cruelty, equal 
to this, and involuntarily call to 
recollection the sayings of the 
wise:— 


“Behold the TEARS of such as 
* if ere OPPRESSED , ami they 
“ had XO COMFORTER.; and 
“ on the side of their OPPRES- 
“ SORS there was POWER .— 
“ Then are not in trouble as other 
“ men; neither are they plagued 
“ like other men. Therefore pride 
“ compasseth them about as a 
“ chain; violence coyereth them 


“ as a garment. Their eyes stand 
K out with fatness ; they have 
“ more than lieart coaid wish. 
“ They arc CORRUPT, caul 
“ speak wickedly concerning OP- 
“ PRESSloxr 

1 dare not trust myself with 
remark upon the passage I have 
quoted from the Cornier , nor 
upon the shocking indifference 
with which that paper lias treat¬ 


ed cases of individual misery, 

«/ * 

arising out of the present state 


of things. 1 have lately become 
acquainted with scenes of dis¬ 
tress, (hat would wring any 


heart, except that of the worst- 
hearted man alive—the man who 
wrote that passage. 

Hopelessness is not now con¬ 
fined to the humblest walks in life. 
As I have elsewhere observed, 
reflecting observers will not be 
surprised at the ebullitions of 
distraction which arise from the 
vast mass of existing distress. 
He w ho is completely, destitute— 
who has fallen from comforts 
to bare necessaries—from just 
enough to not quite—from that 
to no prospect of support at all— 
is a wretch without hope. He is 
slimmed by society, and he shuns 
it. He is a stricken deer, from 
whom the sleek herd fly; the 
hunters are upon him, and he is 
without shelter or escape. To 
his family his face wears unusual 
earnestness of meaning; his lips 
indistinctly mutter of future wel¬ 
fare—that somethin 2 : will turn 
up yet—that he intends so and. 
so. In vain are his endeavours to 
dispel their recklessness and des¬ 
pair, He goes forth in the si¬ 
lence of extreme suffering; lie 
sinks upon a seat, w ithout object 
or purpose; his arms drop un¬ 
strung at his side ; he has neither 

nerves or muscles-his whole 

frame is without tension: his eyes 
glaze—lie sees nothing: his tears 
flow cold upon his face—be lias 
no sense of weeping; spell-bound 
by misery, he is unconscious of 
being alive; his sufferings are 
condensed upon his heart, and 
he endures the intensity of hu¬ 
man agony. But an acquaint¬ 
ance-like face dissolves the 
charm: in an instant, and as by 
magic, sense and recollection 
return; lie talks faster, and starts 
more subjects, and laughs louder 
than his visitor. These are the 






& 


^1] April 12, 1817. 

bubbling^ of the Life-blood—the 
h&llucinations of an intolerable 
anguish, of which the uralk- 


txb&uls of the world know no¬ 
thing. Again left alone, he as 
suddenly relapses into his horri¬ 
ble gloom. l)oes his wife look 
upon him, or a child, or one he 
loves —he starts up convulsively 
-—a moment is suflioient to form 
dreadful designs—and he rushes 
away, to bear, afar off from those 
dearest to his affections, the 
raging conflagration of his mind. 

-Surely, surely, towards such 

men the paternity of government 
should be exercised. Is the pa¬ 
tient pained, and in delirium from 
exhaustion ?—the physician pre- 
scribes anodynes and nourish¬ 
ment ; he does not wait until the 
frenzy becomes so alarming, as 
to require the strait waistcoat:— 
if he should, and instead of put- 
tin®- it on, lie suffers fatal vio- 
fences to be committed, the phy¬ 
sician is answerable to the law 
for his misprision and neglect, 
and not the madman. 


I hav e written this Number ] 
with great difficulty, in severe | 
affliction from the sudden death 
of one of my children—the only 
one I have lost out of eight. 3 
mention this to account for mis- I 
takes which very likely have 
escaped my notice. 

I crave careful perusal of the j 
beautiful Poem which concludes \ 
this sheet; and thus I tender the 
Author my thanks for obliging ) 
me with it. 

I am, 


[3S2 

FAMISHING. 

— •“Take physic, Pomp; 

“ Expose thyself to feel what wretches fee!, 5 
“ That thou rnay’st shake the superriux to them, 

“ And show the Heavens more just. - ’ 

S11AKSPSARE. 


Go to, ye sordid, narrow-pdrpos’d souls 
Of titled selfishness, go to, and hug,' [fast. 
Your lov’d possessions; see you hold them 
For lo ! a while, and unrespective Time 
His “ dreadful summoner” shall send, to 
whom 

Ye all must bow ; not as ye bow and cringe 
To nature’s spoiler, the fear’d reveller, 
Who proudly lords it over passive misery; 
But in earnestness. Lead, heart, hand, and 
soul. 

And scatter’d senses, rolling in the gulf 
Of vile chaotic nothingness ; inert, 

All, save the undying soul, that ceases not, 
But lives, obnoxious to its just award. 

How may you envy, then, the meanest 
wretch fously. 

Whom yesterday you spurn’d, contemptu- 
For poorly daring but to supplicate, 

What might have sav’d his life, though 
scant indeed [mat sound? 

The pittance.—Hush! heard you that dis- 
’Tivas but the clamour-burden’d air, that 
wail’d 

Portentously, the troubling times, and 
wretchedness 

Of listless unemployed poverty.— 

Nay, ’twas more; an agoniz'd poor spirit 
Sever’d his o’er-strain’d heart-strings, and 
did shriek 

Joyous, to leave his shatter’d citadel, 
Where hunger, grief, despair, and misery, 
Had wrought such breaches, nature dy’d to 
know !— 


Fellow Countrymen, 

Your fffltbful Friend, 
WILLIAM HONE. 


Here is a scene for sympathy; for rage : 
Poor murther’d wretch! thou hadst a right 
in life • 


Wednesday; Olh April, 1817. 


Connascent with thyself, and surely then 









3$3] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [384 


Thou should’st have had the means, else 
nature toils [earth ; 

In vain, to clothe with good the fertile 
She did intend thee part-proprietor, 

And sent thee in possession. If not so, 
'Twere dreadful to be forc’d unwittingly, 
Into this “ breathing world,” to look and 
starve 

While others feast, insatiate of satiety 
O’ercloy’d; and spoil, destroy, and waste, 
when fails 
Enjoyment. 

• Yes, thou too drew’st sustenance 

As sweet, and hadstasoul as pure, as those 
In affluence. Thou saw’st,the heav’ns’ 
sweet light, [beat 

And earth’s fair bosom bar’d, and thy heart 
In gratitude to the great cause of all.— 
Thus far was joy. Thus far fallacious hope 
Allur’d thee on, unmark’d the narrow 
bounds 

Of human bliss. Adversity, fell fiend ! 
Assail’d thy fhen unpractis’d step; thou 
fells’t, [but death ! 

And none would reach the helping hand, 
Oh ! my poor country, shall it then be 
told, 

Alas! that in thy great metropolis, 

A human being died of want ? oh shame ! 
That such a scene should blast thy fair re¬ 
nown, [liberal, 

Curtail thy meed of praise, for actions 
Philanthropic, humane, and generous. 

And just'. Is it to pamper titled interest, 
Whose boasted right’s the cobweb tie of 
birth, 

Fortuitous, uncertain, unimprov’d, 

That thy poor citizens must suffer, e’en 


To death ?— then shall the dying soon be 
seen, ' [ously, 

Not dropping here and there promiscu- 
jBut in whole hecatombs, whose cries shall 
wake 

Eternal justice to avenge the wrongs 
Committed on creation ; England then 
Shall mourn her faded laurels, and shall lift 
The strong, right arm of power, to drive 
Far, far away the spoiler. And for thea. 
Poor suff’rer, may the eternal Being 
Heal up thy spirit, and irradiate love 
Beam on thy soul approving, as on al! 

Who love their fellow-men, and honour 
Him 

Beatific, omnipotent, benign! 

Justus* 

CONTENTS OF No. XL is a Letter to 
the Readers of Mr. Cobbett’s Weekly Poli¬ 
tical Pamphlet—Public Feeling—Loyalty— 
Emigration—Cheap Repository Charity- 
Rotting alive—Mr. Cobbett’s Embarkation 
—His Address—Mv last Interview with Mr. 
Cobbett—His Importance as a public Writer 
*—Character of his Register—His Foresight 
— Horrors of Captivity—The Bastille in 
France—Dreadful Anecdotes—Cold Barb 
Fields’ Prison—Cruelties formerly prac¬ 
tised there-Regret for the Discontinu¬ 

ance of Mr. Cobbett’s Weekly Political 
Pamphlet. 


*** Applications for the Reformists’ 
Register should be made to the different 
persons who sold Mr. Cobbeti’s Weekly 
Political Pamphlet. 

Country orders addressed to Mr. Hone, 
(>?, Old Bailey, with remittances, or ap¬ 
pointing payment in London, and men¬ 
tioning the conveyance parcels are to be 
sent by, will be punctually' executed, ^and 
bills and placards to hang at doors and shop 
windows enclosed. 

Tbe Reformists’ Register is charged 
Twelve Shillings per Hundred, or M. 10s. 
per Thousand. 


London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 









Price Two-Pesiee. 


HONE’S -REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

—« ■ ■■ ■ ■ . | m ■ . * - - - r ~ ■ _ _ _ _ 

No- 13. ]_ Saturday, Apjul 19, 1817. [Vol. I. 



THE 

HYPOCRITES’ 

“ REASONS FOR CONTENTMENT ” 

EXAMINED. 


Parliamentary Leisure for Sir Mark 
Wood and Mr. Wilberforce to 
consult their Constituents — for Mr. 
CASEY, of Liverpool, to receive an 
Apology from . Col. Cawtiiorne, 
M. A. now M. P. for LANCAS¬ 
TER, and formerly for L IN COL N 
—State of the Representation in 
each Place—The prevailing Distress 
■—Specimen of a consoling 'Street 
Ballad , hy Miss Hannah More, 
iii . which she. says, 

4 ‘ The Gentlefolks, too, will afford us 

Supplies; 

<{ They’ll subscribe —and they’ll give up 

—their Puddings and Pics ! ! ! ” 

t 

Disorderly Dying, and Dying orderly 
— PALLY'S “ Reasons for Content¬ 
ment" canted at us now—Its False¬ 
hoods, as to the present State of the 
Rich a'nd Poor-— The Misery of 
, Tradesmen and Labourers —Sir Ca¬ 
pe] Brooke’s Testimony to English¬ 
men being LET to the best Bidder 
—THe Working Men of a whole 
Parish PUT CP TO AUCTION 

every Saturday Evening- The 

TRADESMAN’S DESPAIR— 
Mr. Buxton’s Sketches of Distress 
— Mr, COItF.R-IDCES Description 
of Land-Graspers and “ Christian 
Mav imonists -The unhung Blood- 
Money Men-—Distresses at Man¬ 
chester-Hired Informers in Ireland 
La fried by Judge Fletcher-- The 
Lx&miner’s Parallel between MIL- 


TON and Mr. CORBETT drawn 

closer -Milton’s Mock Funeral, 

whilst he was Secreted -Legal OpU 

nion on LORD SIDMOUTH’S 
Letter--- POSTSCRIPT. 


The Speaker of the House of 
Commons being' ill, and Lord 
Castlereach attacked by the 
gout, these are deemed good and 
sufficient reasons for further ad¬ 
journing Parliament for a fort¬ 
night. This recess allows Mem¬ 
bers of the House opportunity 
to consult their constituents upon 
future proceedings for the pub¬ 
lic welfare. Not that the Ho¬ 
nourable Gentlemen are bound 
to follow their instructions; but, 
at any rate, their opinions are 
worth having. It would be 
amazingly droll, though, if the 
worthy Member for Cation, Sir 
Mark Wood, upon retiring 
within himself, should actually 
obey certain intimations of pub¬ 
lic duty, and divide with Sir 
Francis Burkett, on his forth¬ 
coming motion respecting Re¬ 
form in that House; or if the 
twenty free and independent 
electors of the borough of Hr am¬ 
ber, who have done themselves 
the honour of returning Mr. W il- 
berforce, on Ills vacating York¬ 
shire , should submit to that gen¬ 
tleman's conscience,the propriety 
of supporting Annual Parlia¬ 
ments, and suffrage co-exfcnsivd 
with direct taxation. The inter- 





















387 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


val will likewise permit Colonel 
Caavthorne to apologize -per¬ 
sonally to Mr. Casey, at Liver¬ 
pool, who the Honourable Mem¬ 
ber, in his place in the Honour¬ 
able House, is represented to have 
called an -“ Irish Renegade;” cer¬ 
tainly, a very harsh phrase from 
the gallant Colonel, considering 
who he is. What had Mr. C asey 
done to merit such a name ? An 
Irish renegade ! Actually Irish ! 
What a misfortune—an Irishman ! 
But Mr. Casey could not help 
being bom an Irishman. The 
gallant Colonel should have re¬ 
membered what he must hear 
when lie goes to church, “ that 
“ we are not our own makers,” 
and therefore not having the 
liberty of being born where >ve 
please, he might have forgiven 
Mr. Casey for having been horn 
in a country, which is, somehow 
or other, not to the gallant 
Colonel’s liking. Colonel Caw- 
thorne will perhaps be able to 
explain, that he did not mean to 
call Mr. Casey a renegade, that 
when he said so. he was merely 
“ talking to himself.” The gallant 
Colonel will doubtless avail him- 
self of this interval in bis Parlia¬ 
mentary labours, to see and ex¬ 
plain all this to Mr. Casey, 
w hose high integrity and respec¬ 
tability were sufficiently testified 
to, in tiie House of Commons, 
immediately after the gallant 
Colonel, by virtue of his privi¬ 
lege, thought proper to vilify 
him. It will be very little out of 
his way to Liverpool, when he 
pays his respects to his consti- 
i uents at LA NC ASTER, for which 
place he sits, and respecting 
\thich, Mr. Oldfield, in his 
Representative History, states as 
follow s:— 


“ The Earl of Lonsdale lias 
“ several times attempted to in- 
u fl uence the election of Mem- 
“ hers for this tOAvn, and to add 
“ its representation to the nine 
“ Members he sends for other 
u places; but generally without 
“ success. 

“ if tiie right of election for 
“ tliis town AAas in the house-, 
“ holders, the number of voters 
“would be 5000; as it is, the 
“ number is not above 1800, and 
“ those of the poorest order, be- 
“ ing- mostly journeymen ship- 
“ aa rights or cabinet-makers, not 

half of whom arc housekeepers 
“ or tax-payers . 

“ By the charter, freemen only 
M have a vote ; but the most gla- 
“ ring corruption lies in making 
“ those freemen . A freeman’s 
“ son, or a freeman’s apprentice, 
“ within the borough, is en- 
“ titled to take up his freedom 
“ whenever he pleases, on pay- 
“ ing into the hands of the mayor 
“ or bailiff £1..7..0. This sum is 
“ most generally paid by the op- 
“ posing, candidates, and the 
“ greatest number of freemen, 
“ thus made, turns the scale of 
“ the election. Hence, as ship- 
“ building and the cabinet busi- 
“ ness are the only manufactories 
“ here, he who has the most ships 
“ to build or repair, or he who 
“ will lay out a few hundreds in 
“ mahogany furniture, is most 
“ likely to carry his election! 
“ The journeymen are at the com - 
u maud of their masters ; they get 
“ intoxicated during the canvass ; 
“ and having 5 s. to eat and drink 
“ on the day of election, they give 
“ a shout, and go quietly to work 
“ again ! ” 

It further appears, that Col. 
Caw Thorne, in the year 170G, 



389 ] April 19 , 1817 . [&90 


represented the City of LIN¬ 
COLN; and Mr. Oldfield says— 

“ The influence that prevails 
“ in this city is that of Lord 

Mon son, whose residence at 
“ Burton Hall is within two miles 
44 of the place; and that of the 
44 Earl of Buckinghamshire, who 
44 has also a seat in the neigh- 
44 bourhood. These Noblemen 
44 nominated the Members at the 
44 last general election in 1812. 

44 The expense of a contest here 
44 is estimated at £12,000 to each 
44 party. This arises from the 
44 number of non-resident free- 
44 men, who are to be collected 
44 from all parts of the kingdom, 

by the candidates and their 
44 agents ; from the sums given to 
44 the voters , which vary according 
44 to circumstances ; and the enor- 
44 mo us demands for ribbons and 
u treating. The dread of incur- 
“ ring these expenses left the 
44 electors with only one candi- 
44 date at the last general elec- 
44 tion, in 1812. The friends of 
« the Earl of Buckinghamshire 
44 were fearful of naming their 
“ man till the morning of elec- 
44 tion, when they proposed a 
44 gentleman who was abroad in 
44 the military service in Spam, 
44 who was totally unknown to the 
44 people , and unconnected with 
44 the place. It is generally un- 
44 derstood, that if any indepen- 
44 dent candidate could have been 
44 found, lie would have been 
44 chosen without opposition; but 
44 expresses were sent off to se- 
44 veral gentlemen, and no one 
44 could be prevailed, on to en- 
44 counter the danger; in conse- 
44 quence of which the nominees 
44 of the two noble families were 
44 returned.'’ 

Mr. Oldfield farther observes, 


that 44 the anxiety of candidates 
44 to obtain the writs for election 
44 is sometimes so great, that 
44 large sums of money have been 
44 given for them, and the best 
44 bidder has been generally the 
44 first possessor. A gentleman 
44 in office, of great character and 
4 * integrity, and on whose credit 
44 we have the firmest reliance, m- 
44 formed us, that he was present 
44 when 1,000 guineas were given 
44 at the dissolution of the Parlia- 
44 ment in 1790 for the writ for 
44 this city.” 

And Mr. Oldfield also says — 

44 May 4, 1796. A report being x 
44 made, that John Fenton Caw- 
44 thorne, Esq. a Member of this 
44 Lfouse, and Colonel of the Mid- 
44 dl esex Westminster regiment 
44 of Militia, had been tried and 
44 found guilty by a court-mar- 
44 tial, of several charges of em- 
44 bezzlement and infamous be- 
44 haviour, and was sentenced to 
44 be cashiered, and rendered un- 
44 fit to serve his Majesty in any 
44 military capacity whatever,—the 
44 minutes of the said court-mar- 
44 tial and sentence being laid 
44 before the House, a motion was 
44 made, that for his said offence 
44 he be expelled this House, ns 
44 an unfit person to hold a seat 
44 in Parliament.—Upon a divi— 
44 sion for the expulsion, there 
44 appeared:— 


44 Ayes.. 108 

44 Noes. 12 


44 Majority for the expulsion, 96.” 

The gallant Colonel being 
again, however, an Honourable 
Member of theHonourable House, 
his name appears in the Royal 
Katendar for 1817, at page 66; 
but, though according to the old 








Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



saying*, “once a Colonel, always a 
Colonel.” yet his military desig¬ 
nation is omitted; and instead 
thereof, lie is there denominated 
simply a Master of Arts ! 

The recess will be.employed, 
too, in another manner. The 
smooth oiiy-tongaied professors 
of good liking* to the poor, as 
they call * themselves, will be at 
work. They tell us that they are 
no politicians. No, no! not they. 
They are not discontented. They 
profess to think that Reform will 
not make matters better, and that 
things must be put up with till 
they mend: and then, forsooth, 
they desire us to recollect, that 
all classes are suffering 5 in which 
there is some truth, certainly; 
but they forget to tell us, that if 
all classes suffer at the same 
time, they do not all suffer alike ; 
and that the weakest goes to the 
wgll, and is crushed. The press 
is already teeming with a due 
number of their persuasives to 
passive obedience. This very 
week, when tens of thousands -in 
London are out of work, a ballad 
is hawked about the streets, 
written by Miss Hannah More. 
to the tune of “ a colder there 
was, and he liv’d in a stall,” in 
which are the following verses. 

<{ TTi e parliament men, altho’ great ts their 
power. 

Yet they cannot contrive us a bit of a 
shower; 

Ami I never yet heard, tho' our rulers are 

wise, 

That they" know very Well how to manage 
, the Skies ; 

For the best of them all, as they found to 
their cost, \ 

Were not abie to hinder last winter's hard 
frost. 

l< Besides, I must share in the wants of the 
times, 

Because i have had my full share in its 
ci imes; 


And I'm apt to beheve the distress which 
is sent, 

Is to punish and cure us of all discontent. 
—/Jut harvest is coming —Potatoes are 
, no me ! ' . • 

Our prospect clears up"; ye complainers 
be dumb. 


“ And tho’ I’ve no money, and tho’ I’ve no 
lands, 

I’ve a head on my shoulders, and a pair of 
good hands; 

So I'll work the whole day, and on Sundays 
I’ll seek 

At church how to bear all the wants of 

the week. 

The gentlej'olks, too, will afford us supplies ; 
They’ll subscribe —and they’ll give up— 
their puddings and pies.'!.'" 


This is the dull Ivina* conso- 
latitm offered to the half-starved 

r 

and miseralde. We are already 
exhorted to be patient under af¬ 
fliction, and to bear our crosses 
with humility; not to murmur or 
complain, or be fretful; not to be 
irritated or angry; but to submit 
ourselves as we ought, to the 
stations allotted to us. All this 
will of course save our kind pro¬ 
tectors a great deal of trouble. 
They think people ill-advised ami 
discontented, who walk out of 
doors, and drop down, from hun¬ 
ger and weakness, and give up 
the -ghost in the streets. "This is 
not the way they recommend.— 
It does not meet with their ap¬ 
probation. They, without much 
labour, furbish up old stories 
of poor people who were so good, 
as to he quite resigned; who 
staid at home, and were visited at 


their own habitations, and de¬ 
parted this world decently, and 
in good order; all which saved 
the ex pause and inconvenience 
or coroners’ inquests, and the 
risk of verdicts that might bring 
a “slur upon the parish A 

Shamefully unfeeling* and in¬ 
decent is the conduct of people 
of this stamp, which the following 




April 19, 1817. 


393] - ' 

advertisement, from the Times, 
will testify. “Excellent Tract , 
for present distribution,"--observe, 
fo v'present distribution,—“ REA¬ 
SONS FOR CONTENTMENT, 
addressed to the Labouring’ Poor 
of Great Britain, by the late Rev. 
\V. Paley, D. D.” From tin's ex¬ 
cellent cheap tract for present dis¬ 
tribution, 1 have selected a few 
passages, to show the downright 
impudence ot its present publica¬ 
tion. It purports to be “printed 
tor the editor/’ and the names, 
“ Hatchard, Piccadilly,” and 
“ Seeley, Fleet-street,” follow 
conspicuously, as booksellers, 
upon the title page ; Mr. Hatch- 


[394 

ard being the bookseller to 
the Bettering Condition Society, 
and Mr. Seeley, and also Mr. 
Hatchard, being' noted pub¬ 
lishers of what are called loyal 
tracts, for present distribution. 
This twopenny publication was 
written by Archdeacon Paley, 
to show that poverty is better 
than riches. I have put oppo¬ 
site to each other, the author’s 
opinions upon the condition of 
rich and poor, as they will be 
sound in the book, showing the 
pages whereon they are printed, 
and then my own remarks fol¬ 
low :—- 


THE POOR. 

“ Providence, which foresaw, 
“ which appointed, indeed,, the 
“ necessity to which human affairs 
“ are subjected (and against 
“ which it were impious to com- 
“ plain), hath contrived, Ihat, 
“ whilst fortunes are only for a 
“ few, the rest of mankind may he 


THE RICH. 

“ We are most of us apt to 
“ murmur, when we see exnorbi- 
tant fortunes placed in the 
hands of single persons; larger, 
we are sure, than they can 
want, or, as we think, than they 
can use.” (p. 3.) 


u 


ii 




a 


(6 


happy without them.” (p. 3.) 

It is false, that whilst some have exhorhltant fortunes, the rest 
are happy. It is so notoriously untrue, that telling us this, in the 
midst of desolation and ruin, printing it in a cheap tract, and re¬ 
commending it as excellent for present distribution, is mocking the 
poor man’s sorrow—jesting upon his misery. 

THE POOR. 

“ It is an inestimable blessing 
“ of such situations, that they 
* supply a constant train of em- 
“ ploy merit both to body and 
“ mind. A husbandman, or a 
“ manufacturer, or a tradesman, 


“ never 


goes 


to bed at night, 


** without having his business to 

# # c5 

“ rise up toiu the morning ; regu- 
“ lar engagement, business to 
•“ look forward to, something* to 
“ be done for every day, some 
“ employment prepared for every 


4 ‘ morning.” (p. 5.) 


THE RICH. 

“ The w ant of employment 
“ composes one of the greatest 
“ plagues of the human soul: a 
“ plague by which the rich, es- 
“ pecially those who inherit 
“ riches, are exceedingly oppressed . 
“ Indeed it is to get rid of it, that 
“ is to say, it is to have something 
“ to do, that they are driven upon 
“ those strange and unaccounta- 
“ ble w ays of passing their time, 




in which we sometimes see 

1 5 * 


“ them, to our surprize, engaged, 
(p. 5.) 







395] Hone’s Reformists’ Register, [396 

What a shameless, audacious contrast of situation. The rich ear* 
ceedingly oppressed for want, of employment! A husbandman, a 
manufacturer, a tradesman? never going 1 , to bed without having busi-* 
ness to rise up to! Why did the sixty farmers, who lately went in 
one ship to America, leave England ? What employment have the 
manufacturers.of Manchester ? What business do tradesmen now 
rise up to in the morning? Hundreds take down their shutters in 
horror of the tax-gatherers, at the mercy of their landlords, and 
without hope of receiving enough during the day to support their 
families. 


THE POOR. 

44 Some of the necessities which 
44 poverty (if the condition of the 
4 ‘ labouring part of mankind 
44 must be so called) imposes, are 
“ not hardships, but pleasures, 
44 Frugality itself is a pleasure. 

“ It is an exercise of attention 
and contrivance, which, when- 
“ ever it is successful, produces 
satisfaction.” (p. 7.) 

Another shocking* contrast. I 
say, that frugality is a pleasure 
secret, because their load of povei 
because they cannot witness their 
or perishing of hunger! 


THE RICH. 

44 There is no pleasure in taking 
44 out of a large unmeasured 
“ fund. They who do that, and 
“ only that, are the mere com 
44 veyers of money from one hand 
44 to another.” (p. 7,) 


oes the wretched editor mean to 
to men who crawl away to die in 
ty is greater than they can bear—^ 
families dispersed in work-houses. 


THE POOR. 

44 A yet more serious advantage 
44 which persons in inferior sta- 
44 tions possess, is the ease icith 
44 which they provide for their 
44 children . All the provision 
* 4 which a poor man’s child re- 
44 quires, is contained in two 
44 words, 4 industry and inno- 
44 4 cence.’ With these qualities, 
44 though without a shilling* to 
44 set him forwards, he goes into 
44 the world prepared to become 
44 an useful, virtuous, and happy 
44 man. Nor will he fail to meet 
44 with a maintenance adequate to 
44 the habits with which he has 
44 been brought up, and to the 
44 expectations which he has form- 
44 ed; a degree of success suffi- 
44 cient for a person of any condi- 
44 tion whatever,” (p. 7.) 


THE RICH, 

44 In what we reckon superior 
44 ranks of life, there is a real 
44 difficulty in placing* children 
44 in situations which may in any 
44 degree support them in the 
44 class and in the habits in which 
44 they have been brought up 
44 with their parents : from which 
44 great and oftentimes distress-. 
44 ing perplexity the poor are 
44 free.” (p. 7.) 







397] April 19,1817. [398 

It is so far from easy for persons in tlie middling* ranks of life 
to get their children provided for, that the fact is notoriously other¬ 
wise. Men ot property have, by their pow er, even usurped or un¬ 
dermined the right of the powerless to education for their children 
in national establishments. 1 know an instance, attended with 
very remarkable circumstances, of an individual with a large 
family, who, alter long trying a great number of persons, has been 
utterly unable to get one of his children into ^Christ’s Hospital, 
wherein Mr. \V Aim man’s persevering exertions, formerly, exposed 
a mass of abuse and improper management. -The means even of 
education are narrowing every hour to men, who will not degrade 
themselves and their children for ever, by accepting it in the shape 
ot charity. As to easy provision for them in life, it is ont of the 
question. Parents, now living* in apparent decency, have the me¬ 
lancholy prospect of going to early graves, consumed by cares for 
their offspring, without the prospect of ever seeing them wholly 
provided for. Let us hear no more of Archdeacon Paley’s real 
difficulty of providing for the children of those in the superior ranks 
ot life; of its being a great and distressing perplexity' —from which 
the poor are free. The rich have the means of consoling them¬ 
selves for disappointment; they have money —and if money is unequal 
to answer all the wants of their families, and provide for them, they 
must take the advice to themselves, which Mr. Malthus gives to 
the poor—they .must neither marry nor get children. At any rate, 
we are not under an obligation to receive the lying insults of those, 
who tell us our children are more easily provided for than the 
children of the rich. Before this sheet is closed, we shall see that 
it is false—every way false. 


THE POOR. 

“ Service in England is, as it 
ought to be, voluntary and by 
“ contract; a fair exchange of 
w work for wages ; an equal bar- 
** gain, in which each party has 
“ his rights and redress; wherein 
“ every servant chooses his master 

(p. 8.) 


THE RICH. 

“ The connexion between mas- 
“ ter and servant, frequently 
“ leaves nothing in servitude ex- 
“ cept the name; nor any dis- 
“ tinction, but what one party is 
“ as much pleased with, ami 
“ sometimes, also, as proud of as 
“ the other.” (p. 8.) 


More falsehood—wicked falsehood ! Much of service in England 
is not voluntary-—is not a fair exchange of work for wages—le not 
an equal bargain—nor can every servant choose his master. These 
are open bare-faced lies. Lord Castlereagh himself helps me to 
give the lie to these assertions. His Lordship says, that land¬ 
holders do not pay the labourer the wages of his labour—that they 
pay him only part of his wages—that to ease their shoulders, they 
make a pauper of him, and give him the rest of his wages out of 
the poor rates. So far from the labourer choosing his master, the 
correspondents of the Board of Agriculture, in the Report publish¬ 
ed by the Board, states the contrary;—lor instance, 



099 ] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[400 


Sir. John Wright, of Kilverstone, says, “ the 'Magistrates have 
44 constant applications from young men, that they can get no work, 
44 and have not bread to eat.” 

Sir Richard Brooke de Capell Brooke, Bart, of Northampton¬ 
shire, says, 44 the poor are much distressed, anxious to work , but. 
44 they can get no employment, even at very reduced wages; ot 
44 course, they apply to the Overseers, who rarely have any work to 
44 set them about, but digging stone for the roads* fn Pesborougb, 


they 


are com- 


44 and other parishes, the Overseers let out the men 
44 pelled by the Magistrates to find work for, to the highest bidder , 
44 or to any person who bids for them, perhaps from 24. to 8 d. per 
44 day, according to their ability to work, the parish paying the la- 
44 bourer the difference between what is offered for him, and the sum 
44 ordered by the Magistrates. Those who are not thus hired, are 
44 set to work in a stone pit, or perhaps are supported in idleness.” 

Mr* Calvert, of A vers ham, in" Nottinghamshire, says, 44 In some 
44 parishes in this neighbourhood, a'number of labourers would be 
44 out of employment, except by the following means, viz.—the 
44 Overseer of the parish to which they belong, calls a meeting of 
44 the inhabitants on the Saturday evening, at which meeting he PUTS 
44 UP EACH LABOURER, by name,'separately TO AUCTION; 
44 and they have been LET, generally, at about from Eighteen Pence 
44 to Two Shillings per week: the farmer, or other person, finding’ 
44 victuals to the labourer for six days only. I was offered one of 
*' these labourers at EIGHTEEN pence per week, hut refused to take 
“him; he was a stout able married man, 04 vears of age: the 

'•/O' 

44 family, if any, is of course supported at the expense of the parish* 
44 The superfluous labourers of the parishes in which I hold land, 
44 are appointed and allotted to each farmer, for a certain time, ac- 
4{ cording to his rental, and to his next neighbour afterwards, 
44 around the parish ; the farmer paying the labourer from 8 d. to Is. 
44 per day ; and from 8 d. to Is. per day is given to him for the inain- 
44 tenance of himself and Ids family by the Overseer of ike Poor !” 

Is there fair exchange of work for wages, or choice of servitude in 
any thing like this 1 ? Let the editor of Paley’s Reasons for Content¬ 
ment answer the question before lie again advertises his publication 
as an 44 excellent tract for present distribution.” 


THE POOR. 

44 In the luxuries of eating’ and 
44 drinking, the advantage is on 
44 the side of the poor man. If 
ki someth ng extraordinary .fall in 
44 his way, he comes to the repast 
44 with appetite; is pleased and 
44 refreshed; derives from his 
44 usual course of moderation and 
44 temperance, a quickness of per- 
44 ception and delight, which tlie 


THE RICH, 

44 Who addict themselves to in- 
44 diligence, lose their relish. 
44 Their desires are dead. Their 
44 sensibilities are worn and tired. 
4 * Hence they lead a languid sa- 
44 tinted existence. Hardly any 
44 thing can amuse, or rouse, or 
44 gratify them. The epicure 
44 must be sumptuously entertain- 
44 ed, to escape disgust.” 



401 ] 


April 19 , 1817 . 


[m 


“ unrestrained voluptuary knows 
44 nothing of. Ihe peasant wbe'ri- 
“ ever lie goes abroad finds a 
44 feast.” 

What dreadful trifling with distress is here! To whom is tin's 
most indecent publication fit to be at 44 present ” distributed? Who 
is the editor of it ? Let him put his name to it, that we may know 
him, and judge whether his intentions be as wicked as his lies. 
“ la the luxuries of eating and drinking, the advantage is on the 
44 side of the poor man !”— 44 W henever iie goes abroad, he finds a 
“feast!” Is this the 44 excellent” information 44 for present, distri¬ 
bution amongst the poor ?”— JSToic -—when they have not enough 
bread to eat themselves, nor enough to give to their children, to 
save them from famishing—from dying:—is this the time to tell 
them to compare situations with the rich , who, when they 44 addict 
themselves to indulgence, lose their relish ”—whose 44 desires art- 
dead”— w hose “sensibilities are worn out and tired” —who therefore 
lead 44 a languid satiated existence ”—whom 44 hardly any thirty can 
amuse , or rouse , or gratify Are the poor now to be seriously 
asked which are best off, themselves or the rich 44 epicures ,” who, in 
the words of the pamphlet, 44 must be sumptuously entertained to 
escape disgust f” Oh, shame! shame! This is one of the tracts 
published by Cheap Repository booksellers, whose publications cants 
to the distressed and indigent, about, submission and humility; and 
who now try how far they, in their helplessness, can endure mockery, 
and scoff, and taunting- comparison with the condition of the rich 
and the wealthy. Never let it be forgotten, that this goading ex¬ 
periment has been got up and performed by the loyal . 


a 


THE RICH. 

As to some other things 
44 w hich the poor are disposed lo> 
44 envy in the condition of the rich, 
44 such as their state, their appear- 


THE POOR. 

44 A life of labour , such, 2 mean , 

44 as is led. by the labouring part of 
44 mankind in this conning has ad- 
44 vantages in it which compensate 
44 all its inconveniencies :—It sup- j 44 arice, the grandeur of their 
44 plies employment, it promotes 44 houses, dress, equipage, and 
44 activity. It keeps the body in 44 attendance, they only envy the 
44 better health, the mind more j “ rich these things because they 
44 engaged, and, of course, more | 44 do not know the rich. They 
44 quiet. It is more sensible of j 44 have not opportunities of ob- 

44 serving with what neglect and 
44 insensibility the rich possess 
44 and regard these tilings them- 
44 selves.” (p. 10 .) 

Whatever suspends the pur¬ 
suits of the man of diversion* 
distresses him. (p. 9.) 

Oh falsehood, where is thy blush ! Inquire of one of a multitude 


<; 


4 ease, more susceptible of plea¬ 
sure.” (p. 13.) 

To the labourer, or the man of 
business, every pause is a recre¬ 
ation. (p. 9.) 





40-)] Hone's Reformists* Register* [404 

of men now in business, and you will find pause no recreation. 
Go to the tradesman—the shopkeeper; get Inin into his back 
parlour, gain his confidence, talk with him about the present pause , 
his smiles will vanish from his face, as sunshine quits the field 
when a cloud suddenly intervenes—your words drop cold upon his 
heart, and his mind blazes with feverish anxiety. He will tell you 
of his many pennyless days, of his poundless weeks, of his restless 
nights w hilst thinking- of his bills coining- due, of his hoping from 
month to month, of trade still bad, of his affairs getting worse, of 
his family getting larger, of his friends getting shy, of monied 
people getting more selfish, of his last illness being disorder of the 
mind, of his wife’s being still unw ell from fretting at their situation, 
of his being unable to send a child to a country lodging, according 
to medical advice, &c. As his little ones enter the room, you will hear 
him sigh, or see him frown dow n a tear, lie w ill tell you that hope 
has fled, that he has no prospect of things getting* better, that life 
has no charm for him, that his family alone compels him to strug¬ 
gle on. 

This'would 1 _>e the language of numerous tradesmen, if they 
could unbosom their pent-up thoughts and feelings. As to the 
journeymen and labourers, look at them, by thousands, unemployed ; 
see if there is any recreation in that pause, w hich leads but to the 
workhouse or the grave. Compare their situations with that of 
the rich, as the “excellent tract for present distribution ” recom¬ 
mends; compare “ every pause ” in daily exertion, the daily hope¬ 
lessness of gaining daily bread, with the suspended pursuits w hich 
distress “ the man of dh-erst on" and then determine if the “ man 
of diversion ” is most entitled to our commiseration. How cruel is 
this wantonness !—Again I ask, Oh falsehood, where is thy blush! 

When Archdeacon Palky wrote and published this tract, the 
objections urged here could not then be made to the same extent; 
but its re-publication non is wickedly bold, is infamously during .— 
The man w ho, with faculties to understand the pamphlet, would 
deliberately read it through, and then call it an “ excellent tract 
for present distribution,” is fit for deeds of black and midnight 
treachery. I am shocked at the meanness and the wickedness of 
the wretch, who thus seeks for a little filthy lucre. “ Printed for 
the editor ” stands in the title. Let the publishers w ho have con¬ 
sented to be tools to him, give this editor up; his name ought not to 
be concealed; it should be known forthwith, that every man who 
wields a pen in behalf of the People, may “ lash the rascal naked 
through the w orld.” 


1 shall say no more upon the 
scandalous republication of Dr. 
Pa ley’s “ Pea sons for Content¬ 
ment ” at this time, and the re¬ 
commendation of them as an “ ex¬ 
cellent tract for present distri¬ 


bution.” But if the sale of this 
tract is continued, I will print an 
edition of it myself, at the same 
price, with notes , which would 
make the Archdeacon, if he w ere 
alive, ready to knock Messrs. 



405 ] April 19 , 1817 , [406 


Hatchard and Sbeley’s Editor 
in the head. It is but a few short 
months since Mr. Fowell Bux¬ 
ton, in an eloquent speech, at 
the Mansion House, on the sub¬ 
ject of the distress in Spitalfields, 
described the majority oi* those 
who pay the rates in that district 
as being' themselves the poor. 

Till lately, perhaps," said Mr. 
Buxton —and every word he ut¬ 
tered is applicable to the state of 
tens of thousands of poor-rate 
payers in other parts of the king¬ 
dom, and therefore deserving 
great attention—“ Till lately, 
44 perhaps, they were above the 
“ level of absolute poverty—if 
44 in distress, yet not in its lowest 
gradations; but the hand of 
44 misfortune, which has pressed 
44 down others , has weighed hea- 
44 vily on them; and perhaps 
44 there is no class more dis- 
Ci tressed, more the objects of 
44 pity, than these householders. 
“ Great commiseration is due to 
44 those who have seen better 
44 times; who, struggling against 
44 the waves that threaten to in- 
44 gulpli, can hardly resist them. 
44 Great pity is also due to those 
“ who are obliged to support a 
44 respectable appearance , and to 
44 do so, are necessitated to curtail 
44 their food!—THEY pay the 
44 present rates, though with much 
44 difficulty, and with much selj- 
44 denial; but they stand so on 
44 th e verge of a precipice, so on 
44 the poise of a balance, that the 
smallest additional weight ut- 
44 terly overwhelms them. De- 
44 maud more than they now con- 
o tribute with so much personal 
44 privation, and they at once re - 
44 sign all hope, and refuse all 
44 payment. These are our kouse- 
“ holders: and experience lias 


44 convinced us, that with these 
“ w have arrived at the maxi- 
44 mum of parochial assessment; 
“ that if we increase the rates, 
44 we lessen the amount they pro- 
44 duce; that the oniy couse- 
44 quence of such attempted ad- 
44 vance is, that we are obliged to 
44 strike their names out of the 
“ list of those who pay the rates, 
44 and insert it in that of those 
44 who receive them.” 

Mr. Coleridge, a gentleman 
whom no one will suspect of as- 
siar-niiig* untrue causes for the 
great mass of evil, has published 
a 44 Lav Sermon, addressed to the 
“ Higher and Middle Classes, on 
44 the existing Distresses and 
44 Discontents,” in which I most 
unexpectedly find some passages, 
from whence I select one or two 
for those whom he, perhaps, 
would call the lower classes. It 
is .probable that Mr. Coleridge 
may be a Tittle offended at seeing 
what he designed for minds I e 
would call cultivated, submitted 
to the 44 reading public” at large, 
but I am as desirous of 44 sowing 
beside all waters ” as that gentle¬ 
man; and having met with a little 
of his good seed, he must pardon 
me if I drop it into good ground, 
where it will take deep root, Mr. 
Coleridge seems to trace much 
of the 44 existing distresses ” to 
extreme selfishness: he says,— 

“ I fear, that the inquiring tra- 
44 veller would often hear of 
44 zealous Religionists who hav e 
“ read (and as a duty too and 
“ with ail due acquiescence) the 
44 prophetic, 4 Wo to them that 
44 join house to house and lay field 
44 to field, that they may be alone 
44 in the land!’ and yet find iio 
44 object deform the beauty of the 
44 prospect from their window or 





407 ] Hone’s Reformists' Register. [408 


“ even from their castle turrets so 
“ -annoyingly, as a meadow not 
u their own , or a field under 
“ ploughing* with the beam-end of 
“ the plough in the hands of its 
“ JivMhle owner! I fear that he 
“ must too often make report of men 
“ lawful in their dealings, scrip- 
“ tural in their language , alms- 
“ givers, and patrons of Sunday 
“ Schools, who are yet resistless 
“ and, overawing Bidders at all 
“ Land Aval ions in their ricigh- 
“ bourhood, who live in the centre 
“ of farms without leases, and 
“tenants without attachments! 
“ Or if his way should lie through 
“ our great towns and manufac- 
“-'taring districts, instances would 
“ grow cheap with him of wealthy 
“ religious practitioners, whenever 
“ travel for orders without cards 
“ of edification in prose and verse, 
“ and smalt tracts of admonition 
“ arid instruction, all ‘ plain and 
“ easy, and suited to the meanest 
“ capacities;’ who pray daily, as 
“ the first act of the morning and 
“ as the last of the evening, ‘ Lead 
“ us not into temptation! but 
“ deliver us from evil!’ and em- 
“ ploy all the interval with an 
“ edge of appetite keen as the 
“ scythe of Death in the pursuit 
“ of yet more and yet more of 
“ a temptation so perilous [the 
gathering up of riches']., that 
“ (as they have full often read, 
“ and heard read, without the 
“ least questioning, or whisper of 
“ doubt) no power short of Omni- 
“ notence could make their deli- 
“ verance from it credible or 
“ conceivable.”—“ Often as the 
“ motley reflexes of my expe- 
“ rience move in long procession 
“ of manifold groups before me, 
“ the distinguished and world- 
“ honoured company of Christian- 


“ Mammonists appear to the eye 
“ of my imagination as a drove ot 
“ camels heavily laden, yet all at 
“ full speed, and each in the con- 
“ fident expectation of passing 
“ through the eye of the needl&, 
“ without stop or halt, both beast 
“ and baggage!” 

These are sad and solemn 
doings to reflect on. Great and 
awful consequences, such as the 
proceedings at Manchester, result 
from them. The meetings there 
to petition—the military ar¬ 
rests—the subsequent nume¬ 
rous imprisonments—arise out of 
the sweeping calamity. Want of 
employment—distress—hunger- 
discontent—loud complaint—are 
ali usable ingredients to him, who 
lias an interest in the manufac¬ 
ture of a plot. The -convicted 
—the long convicted—unhung 
blood-money men, selected igno¬ 
rant, unemployed, and destitute 
Irishmen, as the best objects for 
seducing’ to commit capital of¬ 
fences. The villains combined 
and conspired against the poor 
unsuspecting creatures, until* 
through their wants, they had 
transformed them into criminals, 
and made sure of their blood. 
The most open and ardent are 
unsuspicious, and fall easy victims 
to tlie crafty; and thus may the 
distressed Manchester men, whom 
the Courier cruelly calls blanket 
beaux , have been operated upon 
by blood-thirsty men. We see 
that at Liflbrd Assizes, only a 
fortnight ago, notwithstanding* 
the evidence of Major D’Arcy, a 
Magistrate, and a wretch named 
Rowan, supported by a confede¬ 
rate, five men were acquitted on 
a capital indictment, for adminis¬ 
tering unlawful oaths. Judge 
Fletcher called the Grand Jury 



409 ] April 19, 1817. > [410 


into Court, after tlie trial com¬ 
menced, to hear the evidence; 
and when the verdict was given, 
addressing them on its tendency, 
liis Lordship said, “ It is now for 
you to decide, on reflection, 
“ whether such a man shall, 
“ in future, be considered as 
“ a peace preserver in the county, 
“ or as a firebrand /” to which 
one of the Grand Jury observed, 
“ I am convinced, my Lord, that 
“ this trial, and its satisfactory 
“ result, will be productive of 
“ beneficial effects.” The Dublin 
Evening Dost , says, “ The Grand 
“ Jury threw out all such other 
“ bills as were supported ojx the 
“ evidence of Major D’Alley’s 
“ itinerant informers .” 

For the present 1 dismiss the 
subject of national distress, on 
which I had intended more re¬ 
mark, than, from indisposition, I 
have been able to supply; but 
I must not conclude without 
briefly noticing the Examiner s 
comparison of Milton with Mr. 
Cobbett. Mv doing' this has 
been suggested by a conversation 
which 1 had with Major Cart¬ 
wright, respecting Mr. Cobbett, 
tliis morning 1 . 

V. / 

It is no ill compliment, cer¬ 
tainly, as the Examiner observes, 
to think of Mr. Cobbett at the 
same time with Milton. “When 
“ Milton was abroad, and heard 
“ of the troubles of his country, 
“ he was anxious to return and 
“ share the grandeur of the dan- 
“ ger; when Mr. Cobbett thinks 
“ he sees . danger coming 1 , he 
“ feels nothing 1 hut the thing 
“ itself, and is only anxious to 
“ argue himself to a distance 

“ from it/* So says the Examiner; 

* 

but it should be recollected, that 
Milton, when in Italy, “ after the 


“ sad news of the civil war in 
“ England recalled him,” as he 
says, re-visited Home for two 
months, passed some time at 
Lucca, remained a month at 
Venice, viewing its curiosities, 
went afterwards to Geneva, where 
lie staid a considerable while, and 
arrived very leisurely in England 
about Aug. 1640. several months 
after the “ news” reached him; 
which news, however, was merely 
of the king’s intention to invade 
Scotland; for the civil wars in 
England did not commence till 
1642, a year and a half after 
Milton’s return; from which time 
the Parliament had the best of 
the struggle, as it had from the 
beginning; and Milton, w ith all 
the great and excellent men of 
his day, were in perfect safety. 

At the Restoration, however, 
the reign of terror commenced ; 
and Milton being, for the first 
time, in danger from the royalists, 
was hurried by his friends, from 
his house in Petty France, West-* 
minster, and secreted bg one of 
them in St, Bartholomew’'s Close, 
Smilhfteld, where he remained 
concealed\ till the act of Oblivion 
passed; when, not being excepted 
in it, he was restored to society. 
It is related, that more effectually 
to discourage inquiry alter Mil- 
ton, a mock funeral was made 
for him ; which, in all probability, 
so deceived his enemies, that, be¬ 
lieving him dead, they did not 
include him amongst the persons 
excepted in the Act, and he 
thus escaped. - The trick being 
discovered, it became an object of 
the king’s mirth, who, it is said, 
“ applauded his policy in escaping 
“ the punishment of death, by a 
“ seasonable show of 'dying/* 
Thus, says Tk\ Syjimons, the able 





411] 

biographer of Milton— “ When 
lie could not murder, this face¬ 
tious monarch could still laugh. v 

Entertaining great respect for 
the Escammer* I with deference 
submit, that the parallel between 
Mi lton and Mr.CouiiRTT is closer 
than it imagined. Milton, when 
he returned to England, from 
Italy, ran no personal risk; but 
(as the Examiner says of Mr. 
Cobbett) both Milton and Mr. 
Cobbett, “ when they found 
44 danger coining, felt nothing 
“ but the thing itself, and re- 
“ moved themselves to a distance 
“ from it.” 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Wednesday , lOth-April, 1817 . 


OPINION 

ON 

LORD SID MOUTH’S 

LETTER. 

[I intended to say something on the legality 
of the Secretary of State’s “ Circu¬ 
lar” to the Lord Lieutenants, printed in 
the last Register (p.354). The ''Morning 

Chronicle has saved n»e the necessity of 

•/ 

writing, by an excellent Article, from 
which I extract the following constitu¬ 
tional opinion,] 

A Magistrate cannot legally 
hold a wan to bail for publishing 
that which he may deem a seditious 
or blasphemous publication. 

This position we have laid down, 
and are prepared to justify hv autho¬ 
rity and argument, while in chal¬ 
lenging any Journalist or Lawyer, 
disposed jto defend Lord Sidmoutii, 
to maintain the contrary, we contend, 
that the dictum of no respectable com¬ 
mentator since the days of the Star 
Chamber —that the provision of no 
Act of Parliament, at any period, can 
be quoted in its favour 3 while a host 


[412 

of authorities and precedents from the 

i . 1 . . . . 

earliest times sustain our opinion. 
But the practice which has been uni¬ 
formly sanctioned since the Revolution, 
furnishes a further support of that 
opinion. According to that practice/ 
no one Avas held to bail for a libel, 
until a Grand Jury had found a bill 
against him 3 and such is the practice 
in various other cases—in perjury 
and conspiracy, for instance. In fact, 
according to constitutional principle 
and general practice, a Magistrate 
cannot hold to bail for any other 
offences than “ treason, felony, and 
the peace 3”—that is, a breach of 
the peace. This power, then, does 
not extend to libels, “ because a libel 
“ is not a breach of the peace ; be- 
“ cause none can be so bound, unless. 
<f he be taken in actual commitment 
“ of a breach of the peace, striking, 
or putting some one or more of his 
“ Majesty’s subjects in fear 3 because 
“ there is no authority, or even am- 
“ biguous hint, in any law book, that 
“ he may lie so bound 3 because no 
“ libeller, in fact, tvas ever so bound 3 
because no Crown Lawyer, in the 
“ most despotic times, ever insisted 
<<r he should be so bound, even in days 
t( when the press swarmed with the 
“ most envenomed and virulent libels, 
<f and when the prosecutions raged 
<f Avith such uncommon fury against 
<<r this species of offenders—Avhen the 
Law of Libels Avas ransacked every 
44 Term—when loss of ears, perpe- 
f<r tual imprisonment, banishment, and 
fines of 10 and 20,0001. were the 
“ common judgment fines in the Star 
“ Chamber—when the Crown had 
“ assumed an uncontrollable authority 
“ over the Press.” * 

The folloAving observations of Chief 
Justice Pratt (Lord Camdf.n), in 

* These reasons, which we recite from 
an old and eminent writer upon libels, he 
supports by the following authorities 
Stat. Cham. Rep. in Appendix to Vol. II. 
Part 2.—Rush. Hist. Collect. 20, 33, 59, 
(50,70.—Stat. Tri. 297.—2 Show Rep. 47 1, 
ph 436.—2 Lord Raym 767.—see Sa.lk.l01, 
pi, 157 —Mod. 9 S. C. 


Hone's Reformists’ Register. 






April 19 , 1817 . 


413 ] 

delivering the judgment of the Court 
ot Common Vitas, upon Wilkes’s 
Case, are peculiarly appropriate to 
this question : — 

“ The description of a libel is, that 
<( it tends to a breach of the peace 5 
“ the utmost that can be said, is, that 
f a breach of the peace either might 
t( or might not follow from it. 

“ It will be hard to contend, that 
“ that which leads only to a breach 
€< of the peace, is a breach of the 
“ peace. 

“ Though I might admit, for the 
“ sake of argument, that a libel Is a 
“ breach of the peace, in a large, U- 
<( beral , and extensive light, yet it does 
not require sureties, or that a man 
“ should be bound to the peace. 

“ I do not find an instance where it 
“ was determined that a libeller is 
“ bound to the peace ; neither Lord 
“ Hale nor DaltOn mention it ; 
t( though they have mentioned 40 in- 
“ stances wherein sureties were re- 
“ quired, they do not take notice of a 
<( libel. 

“ Dalton instances where sureties 
“ for good behaviour may be re- 
<( quired : he says, sureties for good 
“ behaviour may be demanded in 
* f these cases, enumerating a great 
“ number, without mentioning the 
“ case of libels. 

“ When one comes to consider the 
“ nature of the case, I cannot think 
“ any thing can be more absurd than 
u to demand security of the peace of 
a libeller. How is the peace 
“ broke by an inflammatory paper, 
from an apprehension that other 
“ persons may be excited to break 
<< the peace? It is to make him bind 
“ himself that other persons may not 
** break the peace. After he is bound, 
ft there can be no breach of the re- 
“ cognizance, without an actual 
“ breach of the peace. 

“ In the case of the seven Bishops, 
i( indeed, three of the Judges deter- 
“ mined that sureties of the peace 
“ may be demanded against a libeller. 
“ This opinion was owing, per- 


[414 

“ haps, lo the dark inecnsille state of 
<e justice in those days. If you look 
“ at the trial, you will see the pro- 
“ gress of the point 5 you will see 
“ that the King’s Counsel ArsC 
“ affirmed the proposition, without 
“ argument or authority, and the 
“ Court confirmed it. Poveia, the 
“ only honest man of the four, gave 
“ no opinion at all, but desired fur- 
“ ther time to consider of it." 

But the judgment of the tribunals 
referred to upon Wilkes’s case, is 
quite conclusive upon the question 
that a man cannot be held to bail for 
a libel; “ because (as it was well ob¬ 
served by the writer to' whom vre 
have already referred, and who quotes 
the authorities annexed in mainte¬ 
nance of his opinion) “ by a contrary 
“ doctrine, every man’s liberty would 
“ be surrendered into the hands of a 
“ Secretary of State; he would be 
“ thereby empowered, in the first, in- 
“ stance, to pronounce the paper to 
“ be a seditious libel—a matter of 

such difficulty, that some have pre- 
“ tended it is too high to be en- 
“ trusted to a special jury of the first 
“ rank and condition 3 lie is to un- 
“ derstand and decide bv himself the 
“ meaning of every inuendo ; he is 
“ to determine the tendency thereof, 
“ and brand it with his own epithets 3 
“ he is to adjudge the party guilty, 
“ and make him author or publisher, 
“ as he sees good 3 and, lastly, he is 
“ to give sentence, by committing 
“ the party. All those authorities 
“ are given to one single Magistrate, 
“ unassisted by counsel, evidence, or 
“ jury, in a case where the law says, 
“ no action will lie against him, be~ 
“ cause he ads in the capacity of a 
“ Judge." * 

So reasoned our ancestors, so felt 
Englishmen of old, before “ Jaco¬ 
binism,” or any other by-word, was 
devised, to depreciate the language, 
or to discourage the spirit of liberty 3 

* 2 Rol. Ilep. t‘)9.— Salk. 397-—6 Mod. 
4(i.—L4. Raym. iG-i.—liar. Abrulg. 553.— 
14 Vin. Abridg. (F.) pi, 4. 





415 ] Hone’s Reform 

and as such objections were urged 
with effect against investing, a Secre¬ 
tary of State (who is a responsible 
Minister, and a .Magistrate also) with 
the power of ‘holding a man to bail 
for a libel, those objections apply 
surely with much greater force against 
the grant of such extraordinary power 
to every ordinary Magistrate in the 
country. 

In addition to all the authority and 
argument referred to, we have to ob¬ 
serve, that neither Blackstone, nor 
any of his annotators, all of whom 
are quite courtly enough, have men¬ 
tioned, or oven insinuated, that any 
such power, as that to which we al¬ 
lude, legally belongs to any Magis¬ 
trate. 

Upon what authority, then, do the 
legal advisers of Lord Sidmoutii rest 
J.heir opinion?—Surely they would 
not, at this enlightened period, rely 
upon the erroneous conception of 
Lord Coke, even as to Star Chamber 
practice, which was noticed only to 
be altogether discarded by the great 
Lord Camden, in the judgment which 
we have quoted ; or upon the opinion 
of the majority of the Judges, in the 
case of the seven Bishops, which the 
same eminent Judge justly attributed 
to “ the dark and insensible state of 
“ justice in those days .” 


POSTSCRIPT. 

Notwithstanding the increased Cir- 
culaliyn of the Reformists' Regis¬ 
ter, there are many Towns, arid seme 
Counties, in which it is not yet gene¬ 
rally sold. I shall therefore be obliged 
to friends of the Work, residing in the 
Country, to endeavour to establish 
Agencies for it, in their respective 
neighbourhoods---Generally speaking, 


i9ts’ Register. [410 

the 'persons who sold Mr. COBBETT S 
Wejekby Political Pamphlet, will be 
most suitable ; because, as my oicnprin¬ 
ciples, ever since l had the power of dis¬ 
tinguishing right from wrong, have been 
those cm which Mr. COBBETT con¬ 
ducted that Publication , and as (he 
Reformists’Register is consequently 
continued on such principles, Mr. 
Cobbktt’s READERS will doubtless 
take it in the country, as they do in 
London, and other parts of the king¬ 
dom, where it is known'. It is notv 
higher in circulation than any daily, or 
weekly, Publication whatever-—it is 
higher than the highest of them in sale, 
by MANY THOUSAND COPIES, 
and increases every iccek; but ihe exer¬ 
tions of my country friends I shall still 
be thankful for. 


Contents of No. 12.—A Second Letter to 
Mr. CORBETT’S Readers—LORD SID- 
MOUTH’S LETTER about Publications: 
what it is, and what it is nut—Rev. 
ROBERT HALL, of Cambridge, on the 
Freedom of the Press—No more Anti-Cob¬ 
betting—Coincidences of Mr. COBBETT ’S 
Last Address, and my last Number— 
Sale at Hot ley—Mr. CORBETT’S last 
Arrangements, and last. Requests—The 
Manchester Petition-BLANKET BEAUX 
of Manchester—A Father’s Distraction— 
FAMISHING, a Poem. 


*** Applications for the Reformists’ 
Register should be made to the different 
persons who sold Mr. Cobbett’s Weekly 
Political Pamphlet. 

Country orders addressed to Mr. Hone, 
67, Old Bailey, with remittances, or ap¬ 
pointing payment in London, and men¬ 
tioning- the conveyance parcels are to be 
sent by, will be punctually executed, and 
, bills and placards to hang at doors and shop 
windows enclosed. 

The Reformists* Register is charged 
Twelve Shillings per Hundred, or 51. 10s. 
per Thousand. 


London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67 ,Oed Bailey, three doors from Ludoatk Hill; where COMMUNICAT IONS 
(pos-t paid) should he addressed; .ynd sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price TwO-Pence 
each, 12s. per Hundred,-or. 51, 10s. per Thousand, 








Pi •ice Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 14.] 


Saturday, April 26, 1817. 


[Vol. i. 


POLITICAL 

PRIEST C R AFT; 

AN 

EPISTLE 

TO THE 

REV. DAN. WILSON, M. A. 

MINISTER OF ST. JOHN’S CHAPEL, 
BEDFORD ROW,LONDON. 


Mr. WILSON'S Doctrine of Passive 
Obedience and Non-Resistance 
stated—He affirms that NERO was 
not to he resisted, without Damnation 
— NERO'S Cruelties— Tyranny of 
JAMErS II .—Murders under his 
Orders, by Bloody Judge JEFFE¬ 
RIES— These , on Mr. Wilson's 
Principle, unlawfully resisted — Rev. 
Mr. Murray's excellent Exposition of 
Romans, Chap. 13 —According to Mr. 
Wilson, Dissenters and QUAKERS 
damned and saved by Act of Parlia¬ 
ment—-His Slave-making Doctrines 
~*-A JEW'S Character of JESUS 
—The LOYAL, a Sketch 5 a CITY 
ALDERMAN, 8<c.—Copy of the 
excellent BIRMINGHAM PETI¬ 
TION, verbatim. 


Sir, 

You have done two bad things. 
Yon have preached a bad Political 
Discourse, at St. John’s Chapel, 
in Bedford Row; and you have 
printed it with the Queens book¬ 
seller, in Piccadilly. This is the 
first time, perhaps, that a charge 
of bad preaching has been openly 


preferred against you, and you 
may be a little staggered : still, 

I repeat, you have preached a bad 
discourse. But the preaching it 
might have beea settled between 
your congregation and yourself, 
if you liad not asked all the world 
to admire it as much as your 
hearers. You now, however, ap¬ 
pear before higher and less partial 
judges than they who sit under 
your ministry at St. John’s Cha¬ 
pel—you have put yourself upon 
God and your country , and by 
them you must be tried. 

It is too late in the day to ask 
apology from a layman for scrip¬ 
tural quotation ; and you have no 
right to expect it from me • If 
you, the Minister of St. John’s 
Chapel, whose duty it is to un¬ 
derstand the Scripture, and to ex¬ 
pound Christianity, ascend your 
pulpit, and quote the Bible par¬ 
tially, for political purposes, it is 
the duty of me, the author of the 
Reformists ’ Register, to 1 urn over 
the Bible, and show that you 
have as much misrepresented 
real Christianity as you have po¬ 
litical liberty. 

The Duty of‘Content went under 
present Circumstances , being the 
title of your Discourse, I enjoin 
you to practise this duty, until I 
conclude^ “But,” says Paul, in the 
words of your text (l Timothy, 
chap. vi. verse 6.), “ Godliness 
with contentment is great gain.” 
There being very little of v 




vhat 



















4ID] Hone’s Reformists Register. [420 


conceive to be godliness in your 
Political Discourse, 1 further en¬ 
join you to take “ godliness with 
contentment,” and it shall go 
hard but I prove you, by your 
political labours, to be a man 
who thinketh himself to be some¬ 
thing when he is nothing, and 
deceiveth himself. 

In most dangerous diseases, 
where the fever runs high, the 
skilful physician tries to abate it. 
I shall do this by your inflamma¬ 
tory discourse. The Duty of 
Contentment under present Cir¬ 
cumstances is a modest subdued 
title to a piece of violent High 
Church Toryism. I imagined the 
title would introduce a sermon 
enjoining submission to incurable 
personal distress, a discourse 
adapted to the peculiar circum¬ 
stances of certain persons under 
afflictions which admit of no re¬ 
medy: but no, it is a high-flying 
political sermon, preached on the 
9th and 16th of March, 1817, en¬ 
joining a slavish.obedience, suited 
to no state of government since 
March, 1687, when James II. en¬ 
deavoured to introduce Papists 
into our Colleges, and wrote to 
Dr. John Peaciiell, the Vice- 
Chancellor of Cambridge, to ad¬ 
mit Alban Francis, a Benedictine 
Monk, to the degree of Master of 
Arts, at his peril —an order w hich 
the Vice-Chancellor refused to 
obey. l ie, silly man, lost his ollice 
for the refusal: but the Minister of 
St. John's Chapel runs no risk of 
tins kind. Let us see him Master 
of a College ; and if it please the 
Prince Regent to order him to 
turn himself into a Benedictine 
Monk, and say Mass in the Col¬ 
lege Chapel, his principle, ac¬ 
cording* to my view of it, will 
her* l *im out in complying* with 


the Royal order. Let us see w hat 
the Sermon says:— 

V 

“ When the Apostle further 

commands 4 every soul to be 
“ ‘ subject to the higher powers, 
44 4 for there is no power but of 
44 4 God, the powers that be are 
44 4 ordained of God: whosoever, 
44 4 therefore, resisteth the power, 
44 4 resisteth the ordinance of God, 
44 4 and they that resist shall re- 
44 4 ceive to themselves damua- 
44 4 tion;’ what does he mean? 
44 Does he not place loyalty and 
44 good order in the state, on the 
44 footing of a divine authority? 
44 And does he not consider diso- 
44 bedience to the civil magistrate 
44 to be rebellion against God? 
44 Will not the Christian, then, 
44 cheerfully 4 submit himself to 
44 4 every ordinance of man for 
44 4 the Lord's sake, whether it be 
44 4 to the King* as supreme; or 
44 4 unto governors as unto them 
44 4 that are sent by him, for the 
44 4 punishment of evil doers , and 
44 4 for the praise of them that do 
44 4 well?’ 

44 The apostolical commands on 
44 this subject deserve the more 
44 implicit obedience, because they 
44 are incomparably more easy to 
44 us than they mere to the prinii- 
“ live Christians . The apostles 
44 enjoined submission to civil 
44 authority w hen it was lodged 
44 in the hands of pagan and cruel 
44 masters, when persecutions 
“ raged against the infant cause 
44 of Christ, and many plausible 
44 reasons for discontent or resist - 
44 mice might have been urged. 
44 If, then, to such a jmojs'ster 
i4 as NERO obedience was to be 
14 unreservedly paid by the pri- 
t4 mitive Christians, how much 
■ 4 more is it to be paid by us 
k * to the paternal Christian gx>- 



421] April 20, 1817. [422 


“ vernment under which we 
“ live?” 

Poor NEROI—it is a little 
hard to abuse him, too, Mr. Wil¬ 
son. —Why call him a monster ? 
If it was not only lawful to obey 
him when he was alive, but, as 
you say, to obey him unreservedly, 
it is not loyal in you to speak 
thus of his memory to whom the 
primitive Christians w ere so obe¬ 
dient. This w r as only a slip of 
the tongue or the pen, perhaps. 
What, abuse NERO ! a regular- 
bred legitimate Emperor! against 
whom, if any one rebelled, dam¬ 
nation would, according to your 
principle, be his portion. He set 
Rome on tire, to be sure, and 
charged the Christians with 
doing it, and caused multitudes 
of them to be tortured and exe¬ 
cuted for it. He went on the 
roof of his palace, to see the city 
burn, and fiddled as it flamed. 
He beheaded Paul, and crucified 
Peter. He caused his own mo¬ 
ther to be murdered, and had 
her belly opened, that he might 
gratify a very singular curiosity; 
and was at last killed by one of 
his companions. According to 
you, I apprehend, sir, that they 
who by his orders burned Rome, 
and murdered the Christians, and 
fiddled with him on his house 
top ; they w ho by his orders put 
the apostles to death, and ripped 
up his mother, obeyed his orders 
lawfully; and the man who killed 
him was damned. This I appre¬ 
hend to be the case. If I mis¬ 
conceive you, if this is not your 
meaning, the^ readers of your 
Contentment Sermon should no 
longer remain in error. Unless 
you^ show that this inference 
is not to be drawn from your 
doctrine of passive obedience apd 


non-resistance, Nero’s famous 
acts and Mr. Daniel Wilson’s 
Contentment Sermon will always 
come into my mind at the same 
time, as performances of the same 
stamp. How ever :— 

To get a little nearer our own 
times,King James the Second, w ho 
is called, by Eciiard, James the 
Just, because, says Eciiard, he 
strictly observed his faith ,—this 
James the Second, or James the 
Just, abjured the Protestant Re¬ 
ligion, and never read the Scrip¬ 
tures, savs Burnet, but to make 
a jest of them. He seized the 
Customs, contrary to law r . He 
lived in open adultery with the 
daughter of Sir Charles Sedley. 
He packed the House of Com¬ 
mons. After the defeat of the 
Duke of Monmouth in the West, 
he employed the most sangui¬ 
nary miscreants in that quarter. 
Thirty prisoners were hanged, 
several days after the fight, with- 
out even the form of trial, the 
officers looking on from an en¬ 
tertainment: at every new health 
a prisoner w as hanged up, whilst 
the guests, observing the shaking 
of their legs, ordered the music 
to play to what they called the 
dancing. The bloody Jefferies 
and four other judges, were still 
more cruel and merciless. Bur¬ 
net says, Jefferies’s behaviour 
w^as brutally disgusting, beyond 
any thing that was ever heard of 
in a civilized nation; “ he was 
“ perpetually either drunk or in 
“ a rage, liker a Fury than the 
“ zeal of a judge.” He required 
the prisoners to plead guilty, on 
pretence of showing them fa¬ 
vour ; but lie afterwards show ed 
them no mercy, hanging many 
immediately. He hanged in se¬ 
veral places about 600 persons 






423] 

This Jam i s the Just had an ac- 
count of Jefferies’s proceedings 
sent to him daily, which he took 
pleasure to relate in the drawing¬ 
room to foreign ministers, and at 
his table, calling it Jefferies’s 
campaign* Upon Jefferies’s 
return, he created him a Peer of 
England, by the title of Earl 
of Flint. During- these Moody 
Jtssizes, the Lady Lisle, a lady 
of exemplary character, whose 
husband had been murdered by 
the Stuart party, was tried for 
entertaining- two gentlemen of 
the Duke’s army: and though 

L ' O 

the jury twice brought her in 
not guilty, Jefferies sent them 
out again and again, until, upon 
his threatening to attaint them of 
treason, they pronounced her 
guilty. Jefferies, before he tried 
her, got the King to promise he 
would not pardon her, and she 
was murdered—the King only 
changing her sentence from burn- 

o o 

ing to beheading. Mrs. Gaunt, 
a widow, near Wapping, who was 
a Baptist, and spent her time in 
acts of charity, was tried on a si¬ 
milar charge. She hid one Bur¬ 
ton, who having heard that the 
King had said he would sooner 
pardon rebels than those who 
harboured them, accused his be¬ 
nefactress of saving his life. She 
was sentenced to be burned, and 
suffered with wonderful con¬ 
stancy. The excellent William 
Pe nn, the Quaker, told Burnet, [ 
that he saw her die. She laid 
the straw about her for her burn¬ 
ing speedily, and behaved her¬ 
self so heroically, that all melted 
into tears. Six men were hanged 
at Tyburn, on the like charge, 
without trial. At length, the 
bloody and barbarous executions 
were so numerous, that they 


[424 

spread horror throughout the 
nation, and let all people see 
what might be expected from a 
reign which seemed to delight in 
ldood. England was an Acal- 
dema :—the country, for 60 miles 
together, from Bristol to Exeter, 
having a new and terrible sort ot 
sign-posts or gibbets, bearing the 
heads and limbs of its butchered 
inhabitants. Every soul was sunk 
in anguish and terror, sighing* by 
day and by night for deliverance* 
b ut shut out of all hope by despair. 

These are some of the acts 
done by or under the authority 

%t r 

of James II. in w hose reign, and 
that of his brother Ch arles 11. no 
less than sixty thousand persons 
were prosecuted for their reli¬ 
gious opinions; f>000 of whom 
died in prison: whilst Lord Wil¬ 
liam Russell, Alger non Sidney, 
and some of the best men in 
England, were consigned to the 
scaffold, under the forms of law, 
and perished by the hands of the 
public executioner. 

James the Second's reign was 
put au end to, by several English 
lords and gentlemen fetching the 
Prince of Or ange, w ith an army, 
from Holland. On the King- 
being informed that the Prince 
was coming, he turned pale, and 
for a while remained speechless 
and astonished. “ May one not 
“ now imagine," says Oldmixon, 
“ the injured ghosts of Russell, 
“ Sidney, Batllie, Cornisii, and 
“ the hecatombs in the West and 
“ hi Scotland, haunted his dreams 
“ amidst the extremity of his dis- 
“ tress and despair; that now, his 
“ bloody whippings, his dun- 
“ geons, his intolerable fines, his 
“ violations of oaths and laws, 
“ were like so many vultures to 
“ his tortured soul.” 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register 





l-o] -A pr i l 20, 1817. [426 


" If to such a monster as 
“ .\ FRO, obedience was to be 
•• unreserved l// paid,” as you say 
it was, then the bloody Jefferies 
escaped damnation, by unreser¬ 
vedly obeying the cruel mandates 
oi James II. 1 ask, what became 
ot they who put an end to 
tyranny, by calling in William 
ill.; of Lord Somers, and such 
men as him; of the seven Pro¬ 
testant Bishops, who refused to 
read James's Declaration for 
Liberty ot Conscience, though its 
real design was to establish 
Popery as the religion of the 
state; -ot the whole Convention 
Parliament, who seated William 
III. on the throne ; and, in fact, of 
U ill jam himself? Have they 
all “ received unto themselves 
damnation ?” 

Not to trifle upon the point, 1 
tell you, Sir, I feel ashamed and 
disgraced, by living in the same 
city with you w ho preach,and with 
the people who calmly listen to 
this slavish doctrine, which 1 
think is entirely exploded by the 
Rev. Mr. Murray, of New castle, in 
liis Lectures. He was well read 
in the Scriptures. Though he 
needs no praise from me, 1 do 
him no discredit, by affirming 
that his Bible was not one of 
those which open of themselves 
at the 13th chapter of Paul's 
Epistle to the Romans. From his 
important remarks on that chap¬ 
ter, I extract as follow s :— 

4 * Self-defence is an unaltera¬ 
ble law of nature, which the gos¬ 
pel has not set aside ; nor does it 
appear that it could he set aside, 
without making the religion of 
Jesus Christ a system of slavery. 

4 * As this is a point that can 
onli/ he determined hi/ scripture , 
and is of great importance to our 


holy religion, I shall consider it 
at some length, and appeal to 
the judgment and candour of all 
my readers, whether or not I have* 
done it justice. I must, at the 
same time, crave, that every one, 
in considering this subject, will 
set aside all opinions whatsoever, 
and let the words and sense of 
scripture have their full weight. 
There is a passage which has 
been much improved by those 
that imagine that believers of the 
gospel are, by the apostles, en- - 
joined to yield a passive obedi- 
dience, and that is in Romans 
xiii. 1. which our version reads, 

4 Let every soul be subject to the 
4 higher powers, for there is no 
4 power but God ; the powers 
4 that be are ordained of God. 

4 Whosoever resisteth the po$er, 

4 resisteth the ordinance of God ; 

4 and they that resist, shall re- 
4 ceive to themselves damnation. 

4 For rulers are not a terror to 
4 c/ood ivories, hut to evil. Wilt 
4 thou then not be afraid of the 
4 pow er ? Do that w hich is good, 

4 ami thou slialt have praise of 
4 the same; for he is the minister 
4 of God to thee for c/ood. But 
4 if thou do that which is evil, be 
4 afraid ; for lie beareth not the 
4 sword in vain; for he is the 
4 minister of God, a revenger, to 
4 execute wrath upon the head of 
4 him that doetli evil. Wherefore 
4 ye must needs be subject, not 
4 only for wrath, but also for con- 
4 science sake.’ With all due 
respect to our translators, and 
other learned men, I will affirm, 
that this is rather a paraphrase 
of the translators, than a transla¬ 
tion of the text. From the very 
genius of the Greek language, it 
is manifest, that duffiuic; rmtev/pc* 1? 
do not signify all sorts of an** 





427 ] Hone’s Reformists’Register* [428 


thority, but only such as pro¬ 
tect men in the enjoyments of 
their just rights and privileges; 
and these words ought to be read 
literally, protecting authorities , 
or excellent authorities. — iixam, 
in its very first signification, sig¬ 
nifies just and lawful power, or 
authority , and can never be ap¬ 
plied to tyrants and oppressors, 
without abuse* vjrt^x u signifies 
to protect, or to be eminent, and 
is here understood in that sense, 
as in other Greek authors.— 
Homer makes use of this word in 
this sense, when he describes 
Agamemnon addressing the 
Greeks, when the Trojans were 
advancing against them, [Iliad iv. 
ver. 249.] ‘ Will ye tarry,’ says 

he, 4 till the Trojans advance, to 
‘ know whether Jupiter will pro- 
6 tect yOU ? ’ »$>j] ocm vr^s^v) 

v. This apostle makes 
use of this word, Phil. jv. 7. to 
point out the excellency of the 
peace of God, y.ca r, Geh y 

viti^ua-a. 7 rxficc nav, J}nd the peace 
of God which passeth all un¬ 
derstanding shall keep your 

hearts.-This same apostle, in 

the first chapter of this epistle, 
makes use of this same word, to 
signify excellency, or what is 
more excellent, or better ; aA/^Aa, 
yyaiMvct vvtpxoflag, let each esteem 
others better than themselves. 
It does not appear from this 
passage, that there is any 
command to lie subject to any 
powers, except such as excel 
and protect their subjects. But, 
let us read the whole paragraph, 
without any paraphrase in the 
translation, and see how it will 
prove non-resistance. 4 Let every 
4 soul be subordinate to the au- 
4 thorities protecting them; for it 
4 is not authority, if not from 


4 God. But these that are autho- 
4 rities under God, are appointed. 

4 Therefore, he that resisteth the 
4 authority, resisteth the appoint- 
4 ment of God, and they that re- 
4 sist shall receive judgment to 
4 themselves. For rulers are not 
4 a terror of good works, but of 
4 evil. Will you not fear autho- 
4 rity ? Do good, and you shall 
4 have praise from it; for he is 
4 the servant of God for good . 

4 But if you do evil, fear, for he 
4 beareth not the sword in vain; 

4 for he is a servant of God, a re- 
4 vender for wrath to him that 
4 doeth evil. Therefore, it is ne- 
4 cessary to obey, not only for 
4 wrath, but for conscience sake. 

4 For this cause pay you tribute 
4 also, for they are the servants 
4 of God waiting' continually for 
4 this very thing'. Render, there- 
4 fore, to all their due, tribute to 
4 whom tribute, custom to whom 
4 custom, fear to whom fear, ho- 
4 nour to whom honour.’ Can 
any words make the subject 
more plain, that it is the appoint¬ 
ment of God, and the ruler 
answering the character here 
given him, that lays the obliga¬ 
tions upon Christians to obey 
him. If the people w ho bring 
Romans xiii. 1. as a proof of 
mere passive obedience to all 
sorts of superiors, w ill please to 
read the text carefully, the argu¬ 
ments they use will vanish, whe¬ 
ther they will or not. It is plain 
to a demonstration, that, as the 
apostle does not here appoint 
any particular form of govern¬ 
ment, so he says nothing of the 
present rulers, but recommends 
subjection to governors in gene¬ 
ral, and that from the considera¬ 
tion of the divine institution of 
their office, and the advantage 




4*29] April 2G, 1817. [430 


thereof to mankind, when right 
administered. To resist such 
governors as answer (he end of 
their office, and the apostle’s re¬ 
presentation, is, no doubt, a great 
crime, and deserves a proportion- 
able punishment, called here 
both in this life, and that 
which is to come. But the resist¬ 
ing of tyranny and tyrants, falls 
not under the sentence of the 
apostle. This text says nothing 
to the case of tyrants, but really 
EXCLUDES THEM, as being 
another sort of creatures from 
what he describes, and the very 
reverse of that character which 
he gives the ministers of God, to 
whom he requires subjection. 
To put this matter beyond dis¬ 
pute, let us suppose NERO here 
understood, as the advocates for 
this doctrine must mean, if they 
mean any thing, and try how 
nicely the text runs when thus 
applied ? 

“ I enjoin, that every soul 
(Christians as well as others) be 
subject to the higher powers, for 
the powers that be are ordained of 
•God. Nero (particularly at the 
head of the Roman empire) is so, 
and whoever resists him, shall 
receive damnation, for he is not 
a terror to good works (murder¬ 
ing' and persecuting the good) 
only to evil. Do well, and you 
have nothing* to fear from Nero, 
for he is the minister of God for 
good, a revenger, to execute 
wrath upon evil-doers; so that 
it is your duty to be subject to 
Nero, not only for fear of punish¬ 
ment, but from conscience, and 
the fear of God. You ought to 
support him in all his power and 
dignity (which he so well em¬ 
ploys), pay ing him such tribute 
as he demands, as is due to him; 


for he is God's minister , conti¬ 
nually attending on this very 
thing, carefully and watchfully 
discharging the duties of his 
office, protecting all his sub¬ 
jects, restraining the injurious, de¬ 
fending the innocent, in every way 
promoting the good of the com¬ 
munity . This must be the sense 
of the apostle, otherwise, the ar¬ 
guments on the other side are 
void of all meaning,and are non¬ 
sense. Now I leave it to any 
person of common sense to de¬ 
termine, what a reflection it is 
upon the apostle to make him 
speak in this manner? What 
would the Romans think of the 
Christians, when they heard 
them propagating so zealously, a 
doctrine, upon the pain of damna¬ 
tion, which they had condemned 
in the Senate of Rome, when, by 
an act of the same, they (the 
Romans), condemned Nero as a 
tyrant, for his murders and bar¬ 
barities. Could they have said 
any other thing, than that Paul had 
espoused the cai/se of a murderer, 
whom they had, by the Roman 
laws, condemned, not only as un¬ 
worthy to rule, but as unworthy 
to live? I must truly say, that 
it is contrary, both to the reading 
and interpretation of the apostle’s 
words, to father upon him the 
doctrine of non-resistance; for, 
as to passive obedience, it is an 
absurdity; there can be no such 
thing existing in the rational 
world.—It belongs to stocks and 
stones to obey passively; for no 
minds can yield obedience but 
from the heart. When a man is 
passive, he yields no obedience. 
But I think it may, with better 
reason, be concluded, from the 
apostle’s words, that neither 
Christians, nor any persons ejse 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



are bound to submit to unjust or 
tyrannical rulers, but, on the 
contrary, if they do, they are 
doing- all that is in their power 
to prostitute the ordinance of 
God, and giving the apostle 
openly the lie. 

“ They are not at all authorities 
appointed of God, according to 
the apostle, if they are a terror to 
good works, and a praise to evil; 
for the authorities appointed by 
God are appointed for this end. 
And the authority that does not 
answer this end, is not an autho¬ 
rity that is lawful to obey. In 
such a case, the threatening 
should be read backwards; 
namely, be that resisteth not the 
power shall receive (fW-*) judg¬ 
ment. If any persons were to 
read a Greek classic, as these ad¬ 
vocates for passive obedience 
read the New Testament, they 
would be posted up as enemies 
to true literature and common 
sense, by all the literati in the 
three kingdoms. The apostles 
have no where affirmed, that 
Christians, at the pleasure of 
despots, were to surrender their 
liberties more than others, who 
were fellow-citizens with them, 
in the same country. If both the 
rulers and the rest of the sub-' 
jects differ with them, they have 
no other shift hut to remonstrate 
against their oppression, suffer, 
or forsake the country. They 
are not to seek to be masters, but 
to continue in subordination: hut 
while the other subjects agree so 
far as to maintain the same civil 
rights, and meddle not with one 
another’s religion, they may both 
lawfully resist a supreme autho¬ 
rity that seeks to enslave them. 
They are not bound by Christi¬ 
anity to part with any rights 


which the laws of nations give 
them, provided they can preserve 
them consistently with those 
laws, and the doctrines of the 
divine word. There are some re¬ 
ligious professors, who pretend to 
be more strict than others, with 
regard to the New Testament 
practices, who take the first op-* 
portunity of joining in the op¬ 
pressive measures of the powers 
that be, and, by that means, free 
themselves of'persecution, by rais¬ 
ing the hue and cry against 
others. These persons not only 
think it their duty to give op¬ 
pressive powers all their assist¬ 
ance to take away the lives of 
others, and rob them of their 
natural and civil rights, but 
sound tlie trumpet of persecution 
against them, under the charac¬ 
ter of rebels , hypocrites , and ene¬ 
mies to truth and government. 
Their testimony for the kingdom 
of Christ is so managed, that, by 
pretending- an opposition to the 
kingdoms of this world, thev are 
always first to give the leading 
powers thereof their assistance 
against those that oppose them 
in their arbitrary measures and 
schemes, and by that refined spe¬ 
cies of hypocrisy, preserve them¬ 
selves from the strict observation 
of the ruling* powers. All this 
sycophant trimming they endea¬ 
vour to father upon Christ and 
his apostles, and, by this profes¬ 
sion, cover a very ill-natured and 
cruel disposition, against those 
who are zealous for the rights of 
mankind, OF ALL DENOJII- 
NATIONS” 

If the Rev. Mr. Murray’s trans¬ 
lation and interpretation of these 
celebrated passages of Paul's 
Epistle to the Romans be correct, 
there is an end to all argument 






433 ] 


April 20 , 1817 . 



upon it: and you will be reduced, 
Sir, to some other authority for 
your slave-making doctrine. 

Looking at this doctrine as- 
applied to the Dissenters and In¬ 
dependents —to they “who,” poor 
old Thomas De Laune says, 

“ desire none to be their pro- 
“ sol vies, any further than they 

# w W %/ 

“ give scripture and reason for 
“ it; resting very confident, that 
“ if tliey could prevail with 

people equally to hear both 
“ sides, and diligently to ex- 

# vl’ %/ 

amine the merits of the cause, 

“ their churches would every 
“ day gain more ground amongst 
“ all wise men”—applying it to 
them—-to they who do not obey— ! 

V 1/ 

who openly do not conform— ' 
who care no more for King 
George 1II. as head o f the church , 
than they do for the King George 
on Bloomsbury church, as bead 
of the steeple ; I ask you, Sir, 
how thetf stand, with regard to 
non-obedience and damnation ? 
What, for instance, is the situation 
of the Quakers, who, for a cen¬ 
tury, in spite of imprisonments 
and whippings,and transportings 
and hangings, resisted even acts 
of Parliament, by refusing to 
conform to them'? Did they re¬ 
ceive unto themselves damnation 
for their non-conformity and re¬ 
sistance? If so—as their very 
resistance, formerly, obtained the 
repeal of some laws, and the 
enactment of other laws, to sanc¬ 
tion it—and as the Quakers are 
now a legally constituted society, 
with their principles unchanged— 
then the Quakers of the present 
day are saved by the resistance, 
for which their ancestors were 
damned; and thus, 1 take it, ac¬ 
cording to your notion, time and 
an Act of Parliament may convert 


(be damnation of one generation 
into the salvation of another. 

The upholders of passive obe- 
dienco and non-resistance to ar¬ 
bitrary and illegal power, have 
in all times brought ruin on 
themselves, by their slavishness . 
It is to resistance —to the resist¬ 
ance of Cranmer", and Ridley, 
and Latimer, sealed by their 
blood, that you owe the liberty of 
preaching* non-resistance in a 
Protestant place of worship. By 
resistance , our forefathers gained 
for us our Constitution, which is 
itself a union of resisting forces. 
By resistance alone can it be 
maintained from encroachment 
and violence. Our liberties were 
the fruits of a series of resist¬ 
ances; but iu the history of our 
country, which is a history of 
resistance upon resistance, there 
is no trace of the doctrine of non- 
resistance having been preached, 
until bad men conspired to rob 
the People of some right, or 
abridge their liberties. You, Sir, 
a preacher of non-resistance, are 
Chaplain to an English No¬ 
bleman ; but your doctrine, 

. . 7 v > 

which is worthy of a Turkish 
Mufti, would recommend you 
to the sublime favour of (he Dey 
of Algiers. As I conceive its 
meaning and application, the 
veriest wretches who desolated 
the world from the time of Christ, 
if they wore crowns, or were 
called kings, or magistrates, or 
rulers; or in short, all who had 
power—all the bloody tyrants 
who persecuted the Christians, 
with NERO, to whom you say 
unreserved obedience was to 
be paid—who were at length 
resisted and put down for their 
crimes, and cruelties—all these 
master-spirits of wickedness were 




435] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. ' ; [436 


ordained of God, and the Chris¬ 
tians who resisted them received 
to themselves damnation. Rat 
this is the doctrine of tyrants 
alone. The man who holds it is 
a slave. 1 say, he is a SLAVE. 
He may be called a good man 
•—a well-meaning man—one of 
the weak brethren : but whether 
he be pastor, or whether lie 
be hearer, they who enforce the 
doctrine, and they who believe 
it, are slaves—ALL SLAVES. 

\ shall here say no more on 
passive obedience and non-re¬ 
sistance, than that it will be 
happy for the Government, for 
the country, for the People, for 
all ranks and conditions, if it 
never more be mentioned. It 
sets men thinking upon nice 
points, and on extreme cases, and 
particularly when volunteered 
from the pulpit. What occasion 
had the congregation of St. John’s 
Chapel, Bedford-row, to be en¬ 
joined to passive conduct, by the 
Earl of Galway’s Chaplain ? 
They are not an assemblage 
likely to become “ riotous or 
rontons.” Their circumstances 
in life are above all temptation 
to violence, and therefore I 
imagine you to carry• your 
notions of unconditional sub¬ 
mission so far as to mean that 
the measures of administration, 
and themal-practices of Ministers, 
however gross, are not to be 
scrutinized. Archbishop Laud 
preached this doctrine, and in¬ 
stigated King Charles to acts 
of arbitrary power, till the whole 
nation was in open resistance-— 
till Laud himself saw the King’s 
adherents gradually destroyed, 
and the breach between the King 
and the People so widened, by 
his prompting the King to reduce 


his tyrannical notions to practice, 
that lie brought Charles’s head 
to the block, after first losing 
his own. I enjoin you, Sir, to 
remember the fate of this med¬ 
dling' priest. All high-church¬ 
men, when they get power, ruin 
the cause they espouse. They 
take their stand, as you do, on 
sacred ground, and cry out 
“murder,” as soon as we venture 
to look at what they are doing. 
They forget, or rather, they never 
knew, the character , and despise 
the precepts of Him w ho went 
about doing good,preaching peace 
on earth, and good w ill towards 
men—who was the great op- 
poser of the w ickedness of tlm 
priests, and the corruptions of 
their government. A sensible 
Jew once said to me, “ Sir—He 
“ (Jesus) is admired and reve- 
“ reneecl by a few amongst us 
“ [the Jews] who think for our- 
“ selves. He lived at a time 
“ when our priests introduced a 
“ multitude of ceremonies and 
“ traditions into our books and 
“ worship, and exacted implicit 
“ obedience from the people, 
“ whom the priests kept in igno- 
“ ranee, and led passively obedi- 
“ ent. Jesus was the great 
“ leader of the opposition to their 
“ tyranny in our Sanhedrim, lie 
“ was ”—[Here he compared him 
to a great Parliament character 
in England.] “ Now, though 
“ Jesus was the friend of the 
“ people, such an one as they 
“ never had before, yet the priests, 
“ working on their blindness, 
“ made them believe he w r as their 
“ enemy, and raised such an out- 
“ cry, that, without difficulty, they 
“ got the very people he meant 
“ to serve, to be most violent 
“ against him. He was sacrificed 





April 26, 1817. 


“ to the rage and hatred of our 
“ priests. They detested his at- 
“ tempting to enlighten the peo- 
“ pie, and he perished. As 1 
tell you, Sir, a few amongst us, 
“ from what we read of him in 
“ our archives to have been, be- 
“ lieve he would have been our 
“ benefactor: but our priests —!” 
And so it has been all along. Hap¬ 
pily, however, priestcraft is de¬ 
clining; and of all priestcraft, 
political priestcraft is hated the 
most; because, from bloody Bon¬ 
ner to Bishop Horsley, political 
priests have been the greatest 
enemies to the People. 

Finding that 1 shall not be 
able to include all I have to re¬ 
mark and state respecting your 
Political Sermon in this sheet, 1 
shall observe only on one or two 
points in your Introduction, 
which is as follows :— 

u The Author of the following 
fC plain Discourse is aware that some 
tf apology may be necessary for the 
“ publication of it. He would, 
“ therefore, simply observe, that he 
“ thought, that at the present junc- 
** ture of affairs, when seditious persons 
* f were industriously employed in ecc- 
citing discontent amongst hisfellow- 
country-men, it became him not 
to resist the united, request of the 
te respectable persons who urged him 
to commit it to the press. He has 
<e dope so, in the hope that, under the 
“ blessing of God, it may possibly con- 
“ tribute in common with the nu- 
C{ merous other publications which 
(< have appeared in the same cause, 
<( to confirm in the minds of consi- 
e< derate persons, those principles of 
“ CONTENTMENT AND LOY- 
“ ALTY, which form a main hope j 
“ of our country in this moment of 
e< distress and trouble. 

ff Tlie subject was originally treated 
<r in two Sermons, which he has 


thrown into one, in transcribing 
“ his manuscript for the press. 

“ Chapel Street, Bedford Row, 

“ April 2, 1817.” 

“ Request of friends” is a very 
poor, though a very old reason, 
for appearing in print; but in this 
case, I believe it is the best of the 
two you offer. To confirm the 
considerate is not very requisite, 
in as much as consideration tend- 
cth to confirmation. The whole 
need no physician; but they that 
are sick—the inconsiderate, the 
unreflecting, the thoughtless, re¬ 
quire confirmation. Alas, Sir, the 
most thinking are not amongst 
the most loyal. The “ LOYAL” 
are a race of men fast wearing 
away ; they carried a great deal 
of sail, with shifting ballast; they 
used to infest our coffee-houses, 
and strut about our streets, boast- 
! ing of their attachment to govern¬ 
ment, and of being loyal men, and 
good churchmen. I recollect, a 
very short year or two ago, these 
gentlemen were in shoals ; they 
would march up to you, with 
! their hands in their breeches 
pockets, chinking their cash with 
a most assuring look of superi¬ 
ority and glee, and a complexion 
that denoted a free indulgence at 
the dinner table, and the bottle 
afterwards. We were saluted 
with a “ Well, Sir! What news ? 
“ What, you are quite down in 
“ the mouth, eh ! What, croak- 
u ing-, croaking ! This is the war 
“ with you Jacobins, you pantile- 
“ shop-men. Never contented. 
“ Why you look like a methodist, 
“ or a presbyterian parson, 
“ always in the dismals —telling 
“ us this won’t last, and that 
“ won’t last; and yet you see it 
“ does, eh ! Oh, never fear my 
“ boy ; it will last your time and 




439] Hone's Reform is 

* mine, and that’s enough for us. 
Come, come, pluck up, and be 
jolly ! Don’t be humbugging 
“ about the taxes, and the debt, 
and the sinking' fund, and all 
that. Its all nonsense, you 
“ know. Let’s beat that rascal, 

“ Boney, and we’ll show you 
what we’ll do. Why, I’ve just 
been down to the Treasury; and 

Mr.-tells me that * * * 

*■ * *, &.c. &c. There’s 

“ nothing like being LOYAL, 

“ my boy ; how can you expect 
“ to do any thing, if you are not 
‘• LOYAL ? I just met Tom So- 
“ and-So; he’s got into a good 
“ thing, He’s gone partners with 
“ Such-a-one, forging' French •“ 


ti 


w. 


a 


a 


(i 

<» 

a 

•a 


a 


ship-licences, and getting mo- 
“ ney like dirt: they made £1000 
“ last week. Your’e a clever fel- 
low, you should hit upon some- 
“ thing of that sort. When I was 
“ going* to the Treasury, I. saw 


“ Alderman 


coining aw ay. 


“ Oh, he’s a deep one! I re 
“ member him when he was a 
“ cheesemonger’s boy, up by the 
“ Miuories, and used to carry a 
“ butter tray on his head—there’s 
“ a fellow for you—that shows 
“ you what LOYALTY is. 1 
“ thought he’d been after some- 
“thing, he look’d so knowing; 
“ and so up lie came—for he and 
“ I are very thick, we’d a con- 
“ tract together larst year; he did 
“ me in it, but I scraped his pate 
“ for it afterwards, and we’re very 
“ good friends now —up be comes 
“ to me, and he says, ‘ My dear 
“ ‘ fellow, I’ve been down to the 
“ ‘ Treasury, about that contract 
“ ‘ I took last month—I've been 
obliged to cry ofi% and forfeit. 
What a shocking thing, isn’t 
“ 5 it ? They won’t, let me go for 
“ 4 less than the full penalty, jive 


a i 
44 . 


44 


4 k 


is’ Register. ,[440 

‘ thousand —a heavy sum, in 

%> 

6 these times, you know.’ So } 
said, ‘ Come, come, that's not 
‘ amiss; I warrant you'll get 
‘ dew hie by i J, or you wouMu’t 
‘ be off? He asked me what 
Imeant ? I just gave him a 
look—he understood me, and 
laugh’d. Oh, he’s a deep one i 
Now i’ll tell you how he’s done 
that. He put in for the con¬ 
tract to supply * * * *f There 
were a great many tenders, 

but lie named a very low sum 

%> 

in his, and it being the lowest, 
he got the contract, and was 
bound in the usual bonds to 
fulfil h is engagement by yes¬ 
terday, or forfeit a penalty of 
£5000. Well! this is two 
months ago ; and ever since he 
lias been buying up the whole 
of the article in the market, so 
that nobody else can sell to 
Government; and now he for¬ 
feits the £5000.—You see* how 
it is—Government must have 
the goods, and he’s the only 
one that can supply ’em.-— 
He’ll have a fresh contract, at 
his own price , and it is sup¬ 
posed he’ll make £20,000 by it. 
That’s the way, my boy ! Ob, 
he’s a capital fellow—a very 
LOYAL man—one of the first 
in the City—a good man, Sir— 
not a better man on ’Change. 
I say—talking of ’Change, puts 
me in mind—you remember 
old Thing 1 embob, there, in the 
Alley—the poor old buck’s 
quite done up. He was obliged 
to waddle for his differences, 
and there wasn’t a soul up stairs 
would write a line for him. 
At last he was quite in the 
way, crawling about to one and 
another, and we got him down 
as a Special Juryman. The old 




4 

1!] 



April 20, 


ani 

mid’s pic 

king- up 

a little now, 

u 

u 

am 

i quite chirrupy . 

1 went into 

u 

u 

a 

public 

parlour 

the other 

a 

<t 

night, and 

the old 

boy’s back 

« 

a 

was to me ; 

and there was lie, 

a 


“ wondering' how it was people 
“ ('ouhi not get to be Special 
“ Jurymen ; informing the com- 
“ pany he had been on four 
“ causes that day,* and had his 
“ guinea in each ; and like a fool 
“ as he was, he told a queer stick 
“ in the room, he’d put him in 
64 the way of getting on the list; 
“ but l suppose he'll take care of 
44 himself, if he does.—Lord, I 
“ remember how the old fellow 
44 used to get 07i —-just when the 
44 war broke out. He was then 
“ in bis prime. There wasn’t a 
44 good thing going, but what he 
44 was in; and then how he liv'd — 
44 like a Prince, Sir; kept his 
“ country-house, and servants in 
44 livery, with a curricle and sad- 
“ die horses. - Why, l remember 

“ when Lord-and Sir 

“ John-, and a whole 

44 squad of West-Endians used to 
“ dine witli him two or three times 
44 a week. lie was a most ser- 
“ viceable man to Ministers; and 
“ for LOYALTY—why he beat 
44 all hollow; only let an oppo- 
“ sition man come in his way, and 
44 he’d blow him out of the water! 
44 There’s his friend, the Colonel , 
“ that I saw you talking to t’other 
44 day, he lias managed pretty 
44 well—a man of great influence 
“ at the War Office; his brother's 
44 in the House, comes in for a 
44 Treasury borough; the Colonel’s 
44 a Commissioner of ——, with 
44 a snug £‘350. a year, and gets a 
44 deputy for £*20.; there are ten 
44 commissioners, and the deputy 
44 attends, and does ail the 
44 dutv; they only sign their 


1817. [44-2 

names to some papers now and 
then; the Colonel’s just got 
one son coming: from the Lni- 


arson—Lord-promised 

44 him a living, as soon as ever he 
44 took orders; then there are two 
44 sons in the navy, one on half- 
44 pay in the army, and another 
44 at Woolwich—all provided for, 


well taken 


of; and the 


care 

44 Colonel longs for nothing* but 
44 a war. As to jack What-d’ye 
44 call-’em, lie has turned out a 
44 precious rip , a rogue, a com- 
44 plete rascal. He owes me £30. 
44 and I suppose I shall never see 
44 30 pence. He was always a 
44 poor crawling mortal, what they 
44 call sober and honest, but no 
'‘pluck, except in his own way. 
44 He let a fellow take him in for 
44 all lie was worth, and now he 
44 is gone to thcliench; his wife 
44 died since lie was there ; and 
44 as for his children, somebody 
44 sent ’em home to his father, who 
44 is nothing* but a clerk in some 
44 factory. So you see how it is, 
44 eh ! If he’d taken my advice, 
44 and staid with the little mer- 
44 chant in Billiter Lane,he would 
44 have done very well; but be 
44 was so cursedly scrupulous, 
44 that lie would not put up goods 
44 for foreign orders, if they did 
44 not answer in quality to sam- 
44 pie; so be threw himself out 
44 with his principal, or he might 
44 have got in the firm—he was 
44 always a jlaf. I’ll take care 
44 and not help such poor crea- 
44 tures as him again.—Well, this 
44 is a long gossip; you must 
44 come down, and stop some 
44 Sunday. We are a set of jolly 
44 dogs in our neighbourhood— j- 
44 two or three that you know— 
44 all LOYAL, though—and wo 






[444 


4431 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


u spend the day quite orthodox ; 
“ go to church in the morning*, 
u dine at each other’s house in 
“ turn, have a complete jollifi- 
“ cation to wind up, and come to 
“ town cool and fresh on Monday. 
“ That’s the way to live ; not 
“ going* about as you do, w ith a 
“ countenance as Iona* as a 
M tailor’s pattern book, and 
u squaring every little thing as 
“ even as the bits of cloth. I’m 
“ glad to see you w r ell—good by. 
“ How’s your wife ?—good by.” 

Perhaps this sketch is a little 
too large, but it’s quite to the 
life. I perceive, however, that 
I have not left myself room 
here for any thing respecting the 
seditious persons who you say are 
employed in exciting discontent, 
or the respectable persons who 
urged you to print your Political 
Discourse. I must insert the 
Birmingham Petition—the excel¬ 
lent Birmingham Petition; which, 
both as to matter and style, is 
incomparably better than your 
Sermon, as I persuade myself 
even you will think too, when 
you read it. 

In my next Register I shall 
consider the Contentment under 
present Circumstances, which you 
recommend ; I shall show w hat 
those circumstances are ; and if 
I can find space, I shall insert an 
address to your congregation; 
w hich, if it does not make them 
better, will not make them w orse; 
and will at least inform them of 
some things they never heard 
from their Minister. 

With all respect for your pri¬ 
vate virtues, but with thorough 
hatred of your pulpit politics, 

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Wednesday, 23d April, 1817. 


BIRMINGHAM PETITION. 

To the Ilori. the Commons of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire¬ 
land, in Parliament assembled. 

THE HUMBLE ADDRESS AND PETITION 
OF THE DISTRESSED MECHANICS OF 
BIRMINGHAM. 

We, the undersigned inhabitants 
of the town of Birmingham, beg leave 
to approach your Honourable.House, 
and to inform you of our forlorn and. 
miserable situation. 

Accustomed from our earliest in¬ 
fancy to habits of continual labour, 
we have never been forward to ob¬ 
trude our humble interests upon the 
public attention, but we have always 
placed confidence in the wisdom and 
justice of Parliament, and of our 
country; nor should we now have 
been induced to prefer our complaints, 
but our misery is greater than we can 
bear, and w'e are compelled to make 
known our distresses to your Honour- 
able House. 

W e are in distress, and in our mi¬ 
sery w r e call upon our country for 
relief. 

We ask no more than your Ho¬ 
nourable House will acknowledge that 
good citizens have a right to expect. 
We ask no favours. We only ask to 
have it placed in our power to earn 
honest bread by honest labour. We 
only ask to be permitted to give to 
our country the benefit of our labour, 
and to receive in exchange the scanty 
comforts necessary for the support of 
life. Our wants are only food and 
clothing, and shelter from the ele¬ 
ments. Never before have we known 
the time when the labour of an Eng¬ 
lishman could not procure him such 
humble comforts as these. -Nor can 
we now believe that his labour is of 
less value than formerly. In all 
former times, the labour of an Eng¬ 
lishman could produce a sufficient 
quantity of the good things of life, 
not only for his own maintenance, 
but to provide an ample remuneration 




445] April 26, 1817. [446 


to liis country, and to his employers. 
And we presume to believe, that the 
labour of an Englishman is still com¬ 
petent to produce a far greater quan¬ 
tity of the good things of life, than his 
humble maintenance requires. But 
some cause, which we cannot under¬ 
stand, has deprived industry of its 
reward, and has left us without em¬ 
ployment and without bread, and 
almost without hope. We have no 
longer any demand for our labour, 
nor any bread for our families. Our 
life has become useless to our coun¬ 
try, and burdensome to ourselves. It 
would be better for us to die than to 
live, for then we should hear no more 
the cries of our children. Our hearts 
would no longer be wounded by the 
sight of sufferings which we indeed 
share, but which we cannot relieve. 

We implore your Honourable House 
not to misunderstand the expression 
of those bitter sufferings which we 
endure. Hunger, and poverty, and 
distress, have, indeed, changed all 
things around us, but they have not. 
changed us. They have not changed 
that devoted loyalty which, as good 
subjects, we feel towards our King; 
nor that true English spirit. Which 
binds us to the Constitution, and to 
your Honourable House. 

Many of us have not had any kind 
of employment for many months, and 
few of us have more than two or three 
days’ work per week, at reduced 
wages. The little property which 
we possessed in household furniture 
and effects, and the small hard-earned 
accumulations of years of industry 
and care, have been consumed in the 
purchase of food: and we are now 
under the necessity of supporting our 
existence by a miserable depcndance 
on parochial charity, or by soliciting 
casual relief from persons scarcely 
less distressed than ourselves. 

In the midst of these painful suffer¬ 
ings and privations, our friends and 
neighbours tell us that we must wait , 
and hope for better times. We beg 
leave to inform your Honourable 


House, that we have waited, until 
our patience is quite exhausted : for 

icllilst WE WAIT WE DIE. 

Upon all former occasions of dis¬ 
tress in any branch of trade, it was 
always found that some other chan¬ 
nels of industry existed, through 
which the honest labourer could ob¬ 
tain his bread j but now ice find all 
other descriptions of labourers equally 
distressed with ourselves. A general 
calamity lias fallen upon the whole 
nation, and has crushed the happiness 
of all. We would, indeed, indulge 
the hope that our sufferings are pecu¬ 
liar to ourselves, and may have been 
occasioned by the cessation of the 
war expenditure among us ; but on 
whatsoever side we turn our eyes, if 
we look to Manchester or to Glasgow, 
to the crowded city or the peaceful 
village, from one extremity of our 
country to the other, we can perceive 
nothing but an universal scene of po¬ 
verty and distress. The sighs and the 
fears , and the convulsive ejforts of 
suffering millions too plainly convince 
us, that some general and universal 
cause must have operated in producing 
such general and universal misery. 

We implore your Honourable House 
to remove that cause, whatever it 
may be. 

And we cannot but think that your 
Honourable House can remove it. Or 
if its roots are so deeply hidden, that 
no human wisdom can discover them, 
or so strongly fixed, that no human 
strength can remove them, we must 
then consider our sufferings as a vi¬ 
sitation from Almighty God, to which 
we must dutifully bend ; but in that 
case, we entreat your Honourable 
House will adopt measures for the 
whole nation to humble itself in morti¬ 
fication and prayer, in order to propi¬ 
tiate the divine justice, and avert 
those heavy calamities which afflict 41 s. 

But we cannot but think that these 
calamities originate in natural causes, 
which it is in the power of human 
wisdom to discover and to remove. 

We cannot but think that in a great 








417 ] 


Honk’s Reformists’ Register 

nation like this, the means of existence 


must exist for ALL. We cannot but 
think that in a country .abounding 
with every blessing, and with every 
production of agricultural and mecha¬ 
nical industry, some means may be 
devised, by which the blessings of 
Providence may be distributed and 
enjoyed-—by which the productive 
powers of industry may 'again be 
brought into action, and the honest 
labourer may again be enabled to 
earn an honest bread by the sweat of 
his brow. 

We humbly pray that your Honour¬ 
able House will take into con¬ 
sideration our distressed condi¬ 
tion, and adopt such measures as 
in your wisdom may be deemed 
necessary for the relief of our¬ 
selves, and of our suffering 
country j and, as in duty bound, 
we shall ever pray, 8cc. 


POSTSCRIPT. - 

Notwithstanding the increased Cir¬ 
culation of the Reformists Regis- 
ter , there are many Towns, and some 
Counties, in which it is not yet gene¬ 
ral!?/ sold. I shall therefore he obliged 
to friends of the Work , residing in the 
Country, to endeavour to establish 
Agencies for it, in their respective 
neighbourhoods—. Generally speaking, 
the persons who sold Mr. COBBETT'S 
Weekly Political Pamphlet, will be 
most suitable ; because, as my own prin¬ 
ciples, ever since J had the power of dis¬ 
tinguishing light from wrong, have been 
those on which Mr. COBBETT con¬ 
ducted that Publication, and as the 
Reformists’ Register is consequently 
continuedl on such principles, Mr. 
Coenr/cx's READERS will doubtless 


[448 

take it in the country, as they do in 
London, and other parts of the king¬ 
dom, where it is known. It is now 
higher in circulation than any daily, or 
weekly, Publication whatever—it is 
higher than the highest of them in sale, 
by MANY THOUSAND COPIES , 
and increases every week; but the exer¬ 
tions of my country friends I shall still 
be thankful for . 

The REFORMISTS* REGISTER will* 
every half-year, have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents* and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Ilume’s History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome* But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
he at one half the price ; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year. 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which he 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested; and the contents of 
these Tw o Volumes, which he obtains bv 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a Week, 
arid which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil* 
lings. 


*** Applications for the Reformists’ 
Register should be made to the different 
persons who sold Mr. CobbetTs Weekly 
Political Pamphlet. 

Country orders addressed to Mr. Hone, 
67, Old Bailey, with remittances, or ap¬ 
pointing payment in London, and men¬ 
tioning the conveyance parcels are to be 
sent by, will be punctually executed, and 
bills and placards to hang at door$ and shop 
windows enclosed. 

The Reformists’ Register is charged 
Twelve Shillings per Hundred, or 51. 10s. 
per Thousand. 


London: Printed by J. 1). Dewick, 46, Barbican; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Old Bailey, three doors trom Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should be addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Street — Price Two-Pence 
tail), Pis. per Hundred, or 51. U)s. per Thousand, 











Pi •ice Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 15.] 


Saturday, May 3, 1817. 


[Vol. I. 


POLITICAL 

PRIESTCRAFT, 

CONTINUED, 

IN ANOTHER EPISTLE TO THE 

REV. DAN. WILSON, M. A. 

MINISTER OF ST. JOHN’S CIIAPEL, 
BEDFORD ROW, LONDON. 


Mr. JCILSON' S Doctrine of Passive 
Obedience and Non-Resistance, from 
Romans, Chap. XIII., confuted — 
The Doctrines preached by Dr. Sa- 
cheverel — Disavowed by Parlia¬ 
ment, icho impeached and punished 
him fur them—Opinions of Ministers 
of State against the Doctrines — The 
Brunswick Knights of Norwich em¬ 
brace them—Their Procession from 
the Rampant Horse , to meet their 
President, returning from the Re¬ 
gent's Levee—The Loyal Norfolk 
Declaration, signed by 142 of the 
Church Clergy, out of 512 Sub¬ 
scribers — Proposal for the Care and 
Cure of the Rampant Knights — 
Droll Supposition respecting the 258 
Knights Rampant , and the Stago- 
rians—Exhortation to Mr. Wilson 
to recant. 

Sir, 

By the stir amongst your hear¬ 
ers, 1 discover that some of them 
are glad I addressed you in my 
last Register; they say, a word 
spoken in due season , how pood is 
it!* whilst others are very much 


hi all sincerity, I lmd rather that 
you had dealt faithfully, than 
that 1 should have occasion to 
reproach you; and the other I 
request to recollect, that if there 
be offence. J am not the man by 
whom the offence cometh * 

The oftener I think on the 
slavish doctrines of your Con¬ 
tentment Sermon , I am the more 
confirmed in believing that they 
should be followed up and ex¬ 
posed. They might he passed 
over in the discouise of a weak 
curate, before the ’squire of the 
parish, and a congregation of 
simple rustics: but you, whose 
audiences are respectable, both 
from opulence and rank; you, 
whom dissenters leave their 
meeting-houses to hear, and 
whose pulpit, it delighteth even 
bishops to honour; you are exalted 
above the common class of 
preachers, and fill too large a 
place before the public eye, to 
escape remark: when ?y<mprint a 
Sermon, it comes from one having- 
authority. To save, then, your 
congregation and your readers 
from the errors of the doctrine 
you preach, from the pernicious- 
ness of your authority in print, I 
again address you in all honesty 
of purpose. 

With } T ou, Sir, as a gentleman, 
or as a Christian teacher, I have 


offended. To the one I observe 
. I I’ivv. xv. 23. 


3 I 


4 


nothing- to do. 1 mean, that 1 
have no right to meddle with 

* Matt. xvHi. 7. 




















451] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. * [45-2 


your private affairs, or with your 
religious opinions. Blit you have 
forgotten a certain injunction, 
let the potsherd strive with the 
potsherds of the earth * You have 
been “ down into the city and 
preached POLITICS” Some of 
my readers, Sir, are your hearers; 1 
never addressed them on religious 
topics, and they little expected 
you would preach politics to 
them. You, Sir, have begun, and 
1 must go on. You have trench- 
ed upon my ground ; I, in return, 
must occupy a little of yours. 
You have taken up the sword of 
authority, and defied the armies 
of the Reformists. You say, that 
they that resist, shall receive to 
themselves damnation ; and with 
lying you have made the righte¬ 
ous-sad . f You say of us, that we 
work by the popular names of 
“ petition, and reform, and re- 
u trenchinent,” and “ propose 
“ schemes of base intrigue, and 
“ covert insurrection;” J but the 
month that speaketh lies shall he 
slopped .§ Politics, in the hands 
of churchmen, is a two-edged 
sword, which they are not expert 
in using—and they that take the 
sword shall perish by the sword .Jf 
Samuel Rutherford, in the 
year 1644, wrote a work entitled 
“ Rex, Rex : The Law and the 
Prince. A Dispute for the just 
Prerogative of King and People,” 
v, herein he lias, with great learn¬ 
ing, wholly disproved the shame¬ 
less slave-making doctrine of 
passive obedience and non-re¬ 
sistance. At the execrable res¬ 
toration of Charles II. the book 
was prohibited, and burnt at the 
High Cross at Edinburgh—there 

* Isa.xlv.g. f Ezek. xiii. 8. 

: Sermon, p. 31. § Ts. Ixiii. 11, 

|| Matt, xxvi, 52. 


was no other way of getting rid 
of it——it was unanswerable. Co¬ 
pies still remain of it, one of 
which I have before me; and if 
you will take the trouble of ex¬ 
amining' the doctrine you have 
preached, it shall be at your ser¬ 
vice. In the mean time, as you 
ground yourself on the 13th of 
Romans, and as it is the fashion 
with High-Churchmen to admire 
Paul, because they can preach 
him successfully to unreflecting 
hearers, I request your attention 
to something Further respecting' 
his true meaning. The late Dr. 
Caleb Evans, of Bristol, wrote 
an excellent argument upon it, 
which, with Mr. Murray’s ex¬ 
position in my last, enables me 
to put the question for the pre¬ 
sent to rest; unless, indeed, you 
revive it hereafter, and then you 
will find me at my post. 

The doctrine of passive obe¬ 
dience and non-resistance, has 
been urged on Christians, by 
the Clergy in particular, from 
the example of Jesus, who 
wrought a miracle to pay his 
tax to a heathen prince-^—to 
a bloody tyrant—to Tiberius 
C-Esar, 

As a matter of prudence , of 
policy, every considerate man 
would do the same under similar 
circumstances. For should this 
country ever he brought into a 
state of subjection, even to the 
Grand Turk , and a tribute imposed 
upon its inhabitants, and col¬ 
lected by military force, if the 
tyrant rendered my bondage so 
easy as to make it tolerable, and 
I might hope to-answer any va¬ 
luable ends by living under his 
tyranny, 1 would very quietly 
pay the tribute. 

Had Jesus never set jac au 







453] .-.' t May f 

example of this nature, I should 
no more have thought it un¬ 
lawful to pay such tribute, than 
to give an highwayman my 
money, when, with a pistol at 
my breast, he demands it. Could 
I effectually resist this highway¬ 
man, I most certainly would do 
it—and sooner than submit to 
the Grand Turk , if there was any 
prospect of my successfully re¬ 
sisting him, 1 would willingly 
risk my life and all I possess— 
nor can I see how, as a Christian, 
such conduct would be unlawful. 
Paul, the great apostle of the 
Gentiles, insists on the privilege 
of a Roman; why, therefore, may 
I not plead, or even fight, should 
there be a necessity for it, in 
vindication of the privileges of 
an Englishman ? Unless it is sin¬ 
ful to fight at all, which Quakers 
believe, but which you do not, it 
cannot be sinful to fight in sup¬ 
port of our just rights, our in¬ 
alienable privileges. But should 
these privileges he irrevocably 
lost, and arbitrary power es¬ 
tablished, no doubt it must be 
not only lawful, but it will be 
necessary to submit to that pow er, 
till an auspicious hour arrives, in 
which some hope may dawn 
upon us of being able to recover 
our liberties. And such a sub¬ 
mission as this, is all the submis¬ 
sion the example of Jesus can be 
supposed to countenance. 

The kingdom of Christ w r as 
not of this world —it was no part, 
therefore, of his design, either to 
support or destroy any particular 
form of civil government. With¬ 
out doing this—without taking 
upon him, either in an ordinary 
or extraordinary w ay, to overturn 
the Roman power, how' would he 
avoid paying tho tribute in ques- 


, 1817. [454 

tion ? But if you would from 
hence infer, that it is unlawful 
to fight in support of our just 
rights and privileges, you must 
suppose it to be equally unlawful 
to fight for Government, as, when 
we are oppressed by it, to fig-lit 
against it. The only question on 
tne subject of resistance is, 
whether we resist a lawful or an 
unlawful authority ; if a lawful 
authority, our resistance is un- 
laicful; but if it be an unlawful 
authority we resist, our resistance 
is glorious, though if there be no 
prospect of success, it may be 
rash and imprudent, and a quiet 
submission more eligible. 

The orthodoxy of the doctrine 
is further attempted to be esta¬ 
blished, by the insinuation, that 
it is the loyal doctrine of Jesus 
himself, countenanced by his 
precepts as well as his example . 
The passage produced to prove 
this, is taken from Matt. xxii. 10. 
&c. “ Ls it lawful to o-ive tribute 
to Gesar or not ?”—“ Render 
therefore unto Gesar the things 
which are Cesar’s,” &c. 

In this passage, to avoid giving 
a direct answer to an ensnaring* 
question, Christ calls for a Roman 
penny r and upon observing that 
it had Gesar’s image and super¬ 
scription upon it, tells them that 
they certainly might render, or 
that it was undoubtedly lawful, 
that is, there was no sin in it, to 
render unto Gesar the tilings 
that are Gesar’s. But does lie 
say one icord to determine whe¬ 
ther it was lawful in Gesar to 
usurp dominion over them, and 
to impose tribute upon them; or 
whether it would be unlawful in 
them to resist this usurped power, 
should a fair opportunity offer 
for that purpose? It might as 




455] ' Hone’s Hlfoiu 

fairly be concluded, that if our 
Lord had determined that it was 
lawful to give# highwayman our 
money, that it must therefore be 
unlawful to resist a highwayman, 
or to refuse him our money when¬ 
ever he saw fit to demand it. 

But the grand plea from Scrip¬ 
ture, is taken from Rom. xiii, &c. 

‘ Let every soul be subject to the 
4 higher powers, for there is no 
* power Inst, God ; the powers 
4 that be are ordained of God. 

4 Vfhosoever resisteth the power, 
4 resisteth the ordinance of God ; 

4 and they that resist, shall re- 
4 ceive to themselves damnation. 
4 For rulers are not a terror to 
4 good works , but to evil. Wilt 
4 thou then mot he afraid of the 
‘ power l Do that which is good, 
4 and thou sbalt have praise ot 
4 the same-; for he is the minister 
4 of God to thee for good . But 
4 if thou do that which is evil, be 
4 afraid ; for he beareth not the 
4 sword in vain; for he is the 
4 minister of God, a revenger, to 
4 execute wrath upon the head of 
4 him that doeth evil.. Wherefore 
4 ye must needs be subject, not 
4 only for wrath, but also for con- 
4 science sake.”— 44 Render there- 
4 fore to all their dues; tribute to 
4 w hom tribute is due ; custom to 
4 whom custom,” &c. 

There are but few seem to have 
been aware of the inconvenience 
of interpreting these Scriptures 
in the most absolute sense, and 
have limited it to obedience in 
lawful things, 44 which whosoever 
resisteth, resisteth the ordinance 
of God, and shall receive to him¬ 
self condemnation.”—By which 
it is supposed possible for the 
supreme power to act itnIan fully; 
and by our obedience to this 
power being limited to lawful 


ists’ Register. [458 

things, it is plainly admitted, 
by necessary implication, that 
when the supreme power acts 
unlawfullg , it may be resisted , 
without resisting the ordinance 
of God. And who is to he the 
judge in this case ? If it be an¬ 
swered, the supreme power , your 
limitation of obedience to that 
power in lawful things, is nuga¬ 
tory, and means nothing. You 
cannot suppose a culprit to ac¬ 
cuse and condemn himself. On 
the other hand, if the people are 
to judge when the supreme 
power acts unlawfully towards 
them, there is an end of the ar¬ 
gument. They cannot resist the 
supreme pow er, without at least 
supposing themselves oppressed 
by it. So that from these con¬ 
cessions, either expressed or im¬ 
bed, the supreme power may 
e resisted in certain possible 
cases, w ithout resisting* the ordi¬ 
nance of God, or incurring dam¬ 
nation. Should it be replied, 
that by lawful things are meant 
all those thing's which are not 
contrary/ to l he express law* of 
God: I answer, is there any ra¬ 
pacity—is there any injustice—is 
there any tyranny, but is contrary 
to the express law of God ? 

Should it be still argued, that 
though it be not lawful for the 
supreme power to oppress and 
play the tyrant; yet it is lawful , 
and therefore we ought to submit 
to oppression : I answer, it may 
not only he lawful, but necessary 
to do it; because it may be out 
of our power to do otherwise. 
There may be cases, in which it 
may be highly prudent to let a 
man that lias 44 taken away our 
coat''' unjustly, 44 take our cloak 
also ,” rather than contend with 
him. But surely Christ's advice 










4 V7] May 3. 

was never intended ns an uni¬ 
versal rule, and to be understood 
as binding’ upon the conscience 
upon every occasion, without ex¬ 
ception. Indeed, to suppose it 
unlawful to resist a power acting- 
unlawfully , whenever it is in em¬ 
power to resist it effectually, is 
to suppose it lawful to counte¬ 
nance and encourage , as much as 
m us lies, what is unlawful. 

Supposing* God to have de¬ 
signed man for a state of society, 
and that no society can subsist, 
without government; nor govern¬ 
ment without subordination and 
magistracy/; then magistracy is 
the ordinance of God , and those 
who refuse to obey lawful magis¬ 
trates , who despise dominion , and i 
who speak evil of dignities , were 
the very people Paul had in ; 
view, when he enjoined in the 
manner he'does, submission to 
the higher powers. 

Full of pride and conceit, these 
persons imagined, that having- 
assumed the profession of Christi¬ 
anity % they were too great and 
important to be subject to the 
dominion of heathen magistrates, 
if to any at all. Now, in opposi¬ 
tion to such destructive notions, 
Paul lets them know, that they 
were bound to “ submit to the 
“ higher powers, not only for 
w rath, but conscience-sake.^ Not j 
only from a fear of punishment,! 
out from a principle of duty to 
God. “ Wnosoever resisteth the 
“ pow er,” says Paul, that is, in 
lawful things, “ resisteth the or- 
“ dinance of God, and they that 
u resist, shall receive to them- 
“ selves damnation : ” that is, shall 
be condemned and punished for 
their resistance. He then sets 
before them the grounds and rea¬ 
sons of that submission to magis- 


i'IRIT. ' [158 

tracy winch he had enjoined 
upon them. “ For rulers are 
“ not a terror to good works, but, 
“ to the evil: the ministers of 
“ God to thee FOR GOOD.” 
“ Wherefore ” (the connexion of 
his reasoning is admirable), “ ye 
“ must needs be subject.” “ For 
“ this cause pay you tribute also, 
•“ for they are God’s ministers 
meaning thereby, though they 
are but men, and appointed to 
their office by men, and support¬ 
ed in it bv men, yet, when le- 
gaily invested with authority, 
they are to he considered as his 

V 

ministers for good , and be sup¬ 
ported accordingly, as attend- 
“ ing continually upon this very 
“ thing.” “ Render therefore to 
“ all their dues.” as good mem¬ 
bers of society, as friends of order 
and good government, for con¬ 
science-sake. or in obedience to 
the supreme authority of God, 
whose will it is, that you should 
obey and pay tribute to your 
lawful magistrates;—“ render 
“ tribute to whom tribute is due, 
“ custom to whom custom, fear 
“ to whom fear.” Paul does not 
take upon him, in the least, to 
determine to whom tribute was 
due, or what quantum of tribute 
might be due ; but only enjoins 
the conscientious payment of 
what w as due, according to the 
nature of the government under 
which they lived. 

But would, or can, any one, 
from these general injunctions of 
obedience to magistrates, as the 
powers that are “ ordained of 
God,”— FOR GOOD, remember— 
infer the duty of absolute sub¬ 
mission , or of ncm-resistance, and 
passive obedience , to WHAT¬ 
EVER the supreme pow er may 
require of us i 






459] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [460 


We arc exhorted by Peter, 
1 Eph. ii. 13. “ to submit our- 
“ selves to every ordinance of 
“ man for the Lord’s sake; ” 
whether it be “ to the king- as 
“ supreme,” or unto inferior ma¬ 
gistrates sent by him. Now in 
this passage, government itself, 
with respect to the particular 
form of it, as well as the specific 
laws enacted by it, is considered 
as the ordinance of man, and sub¬ 
mission to the king as supreme , as 
well as to inferior magistrates, 
appointed by and under him, is 
represented as submission to the 
ordinance of man. This submis¬ 
sion is, however, enjoined upon 
us, because it is the will of God , 
(see v. 15.) that we should sub¬ 
mit to lawful authority , as being 
not merely the ordinance of man, 
but ultimately, as Paul very pro¬ 
perly styles it, the “ ordinance of 
M Godfor GOOD .” In the law¬ 
ful discharge of the trust com¬ 
mitted to the prince, a resistance 
of such power, is a resistance, 
therefore, of the “ ordinance of 
God” But will this prove, that 
powers that he really dct law¬ 
fully, or that they are ordained of 
God to exercise a power that was 
never entrusted to them?—a power, 
which those over whom they are 
desirous of exercising it, judge 
would be for their destruction, 
not for their good? —the de¬ 
struction of that which is infinitely 
dearer to them than their lives— 
their liberties. And can it be 
proved from Scripture that they 
ought, that they are, in duty 
bound, passively to submit to such 
a destructive power as this ? No. 
It might as well be proved, that 
the powers that be, here in Eng¬ 
land, have a light from Scripture, 
and might lawfully , if so they 


pleased, annihilate the rights of 
all the People ofGreat Britain, and 
convert our present limited mo¬ 
narchy into an absolute tyranny, 
or what is worse, into a degra¬ 
ding and brutal despotism, un¬ 
der the forms of liberty. 

Every GOOD government is of 
God. Nor will personal vices, 
nor slight errors in the admi¬ 
nistration of government, justify 
our resisting them. But if the 
powers that he should attempt 
what they have no authority, 
either from God or man, to be, 
not ministers for good, but minis¬ 
ters for evil , the very same reason 
binds us to a resistance of them, 
as would otherwise engage us 
for conscience-sake to obey them. 

What is the origin ofPO WE ft? 
Is the power of governors from 
God, or the People? You, Sir, 
I presume, with other advocates 
for the doctrine of passive obedi¬ 
ence, say from God. Now it is 
granted, that all power must be 
ultimately from Him, because it 
is “ in Him we all live, and move, 
“ and have our being.” But the 
real question is, whether it be 
immediately from God, or imme¬ 
diately from the People If you 
say it is immediately from God; I 
call on you to produce the char¬ 
ter, by which he hath ordained 
that particular form of govern¬ 
ment which is established in 
Great Britain, and according to 
which, even pot-boilers in some 
boroughs have a voice in the 
legislative body. To establish 
the privileges of our pot-wallop¬ 
ers, as they are called, by a jure 
divino, will he a great exploit in¬ 
deed ! W hen this is done, 1 shall 
then call on you to point out the 
particular place in these heaven- 
descended charters, which ordained 





461 ] 


May & 1817 . 


[t(12 


the arbitrary mouarchial go¬ 
vernments ot the 1 Continent, par¬ 
ticularly that of Spain, under 
Ferdinand the Beloved. In, 
short, I call on you and your fel-i 
low-advocates, to favour the! 
world with a copy of all those 
extraordinary charters, by which 
the several infinitely diversified 
forms of government which pre-j 
vail throughout the world, arc 
established by divine right. It 
w ill be necessary to be informed, 
too, whether these divine char¬ 
ters allow the supreme power to 
rule only according- to the several 
forms of government now settled , 
or whether they impart also to 
the several powers that be, a 
discretionary absolute power to 
alter the form of government 
when they please, and to mould 
it according to their own fancies. 
Whether they authorize t)ie 
powers that be, to rule with the 
sceptre of righteousness only, or 
exchange it whenever they think 
proper, for the iron rod of oppres¬ 
sion. 

But till these charters are pro¬ 
duced and duly authenticated, I 
shall take the liberty of consi¬ 
dering every particular form of 
government, and consequently 
the nature and extent of the 
power entrusted to those who 
have the management of it, as 
derived immediately from the 
People; that to the People, 
therefore, they are accountable 
for any breach of their trust; and 
that as they have no power what¬ 
ever, but which the People di¬ 
rectly or indirectly gave them, 
the People are consequently no 
longer bound to submit to their 
power, than whilst it is exercised 
lawfully , or in such a planner, 
and upon the whole, for those 


purposes of general good , for 
which this power was first given 
them.* 

Every civil government, unless 
it be established by a divine 
charter , must be founded upon 
mutual compact betwixt the 
Prince and the People, the go¬ 
vernors and the governed. There 
is no medium. Either the su¬ 
preme power under every parti¬ 
cular form of government in 
which it subsists is immediately 
from GW, or it is immediately 
from the People . If immediately 
from God, show us the charter 
establishing it. If from the Peo- 
plcy let us know what authority 
the governors have to go beyond 
the power entrusted to them, 
more than the People have to 
refuse obedience to tliem in the 
exercise of that power with 
which they are legally invested. 
What authority the governors 
have to oppress , more than the 
People have to rebel . 

The Constitution under which 
we live, it is well known, is a 
limited monarchy . The K ng, as 
first Magistrate, has his prtroga - 
lives ; the Nobles have t\\v\v pre- 

* “ According to the opinions of some, 
concerning the origin of government, go¬ 
vernment is not the creature of the Peo¬ 
ple, or the result of a convention between 
them and their rulers : but there are cer¬ 
tain men who possess in themselves, inde¬ 
pendently of the will of the People, a right 
of governing them, which they derive from 
the deity This doctrine has been abun¬ 
dantly refuted by many excellent writers. 
(See particularly Locke, and Dr. Pricstly 
on Government.) It is a doctrine which 
avowedly subverts civil liberty ; and which 
represents mankind as a body of vassals, 
formed to descend, like cattle, from one set 
of owners to another, who have an absolute 
dominion over them. It is a wonder, that 
those who view their species in a light so 
humiliating, should be able to think ’of 
themselves without regret and sbarifler.”—> 

Trice on Civil Liberty. 






Hone's Reformists’ Register. 


[464 


rogatives; and the People have 
theirs. Now, what right has the 
first Magistrate to his peculiar 
prerogatives, more than the No¬ 
bles and the People have to 
theirs? What right has the 
King to invade the prerogatives 
of the Nobility, more than the 
Nobility to invade the preroga¬ 
tives of the King ; or what right 
have either King or Nobility to 
invade the prerogatives of the 
People, even of the pot-boilers, 
more than the People have to in¬ 
vade theirs ? If it he said, the 
supreme poicer in every govern¬ 
ment must be lodged somewhere, 
and this power must he omnipo¬ 
tent and uncontrov table, I allow 
it. But the glory of Englishmen 
is, that by the English Constitu¬ 
tion, THE PEOPLE have never 
parted with this power. 

Should a bill pass both Houses 
of Parliament, and receive the 
royal assent, and it would then 
have the fullest/brwi of law, enact¬ 
ing', that for the future the King 
should be absolute, and that the 
Houses of Lords and Commons 
should no longer retain a place 
in the Legislature; would this 
be LAW ? Would this be bind¬ 
ing upon an Englishman? You 
might as well suppose, that if a 
trustee was to give away or sell 
an estate which was confided to 
his management, for the benefit 
of orphan children, who were un¬ 
able to manage it themselves, the 
estate would not be recoverable, 
nor such a villain punishable ; 
but that his act in alienating the 
estate, ought to be tamely sub¬ 
mitted to for conscience-sake, be¬ 
cause he was trustee for these 
children, empowered to act for 
them, and might therefore, per¬ 
haps, out of the abundance of I 


liis hypocrisy, plead, that he 
thought it would be better lor 
the children to be without the 
estate than with it. When the 
People are so besotted as to sub¬ 
mit to such doctrine as this, they 
will deserve to be called, as they 
have been, beas-s, &c. for they 
will forfeit all claim to the cha¬ 
racter of Raiionais* 

Before you can establish the 
doctrine of passive obedience and 
non-resistance, you must prove 
firona scripture, that absolute power, 
that is, tyranny , is conferred upon 
all those in every kingdom, who 
have the government in their 
hands, by an immediate grant 
from God. Y ou must show that 
not only that power is not commu¬ 
nicated from God to the People, 

* “ Government is in the very nature of 
if, a trust; and all its powers, a delegation 
for gaining particular ends. This trust 
may be misapplied and abused. It may he 
employed to defeat the very ends for which 
it was instituted, ami to subvert the very 
rights it ought to protect. A Parliament, 
for instance, consisting of a body of repre¬ 
sentatives, chosen for a limited period, to 
make laws, and to grapt money for public 
services, would forfeit its authority by 
making itself perpetual, or even prolonging 
its own duration; by nominating its own 
members; by accepting bribes; or sub¬ 
jecting itself to any kind of foreign influ¬ 
ence. This would convert a Parliament 
into a conclave, or junto, of self-created 
tools ; and a state that has lost its regard 
to its own rights, so far as to submit to 
such a breach of trust in its rulers, is en¬ 
slaved. Nothing, therefore, can be more 
absurd, than the doctrine which some have 
taught, with respect to the omnipotence 
of Parliaments. They possess no power 
beyond the limits of the trust, for the ex¬ 
ecution of which they were formed. If 
'hey contradict this trust, they betray their 
constituents, and dissolve themselves. All 
delegated power must be subordinate and 
limited. If omnipotence _can with any 
sense be ascribed to a Legislature, it 
must be lodged where all legislative au¬ 
thority originates; that is in the People. 
For their sakes. Government is instituted, 
and theirs is the only real omnipotence.” 

Price on Civil Liberty, 







at a is]?. 



and from the People to tlie Prince, 
whereby he becomes greater than 
any one of his subjects; but that 
independently of them, he is su¬ 
perior to them all, “and receiveth 
his power so immediately from 
God, as that there is no recipient 
between God and him, to convey 
it to him;” and consequently, 
that lie is in no respect account¬ 
able to the People for the use or 
abuse of his power; but that 
they, like fame beasts, indeed, are 
obliged to submit to his pleasure, 
he being' accountable to none 
but God. 

What astonishment must it 
excite in the minds of real 
friends of the just preroga¬ 
tives of the King, to observe, 
that under the specious pretence 
of zeal for-the British Constitution, 
and duty to the King' at the head 
of it, you, and other high church 
divine right Tories should con¬ 
tinue to advance long exploded 
doctrines; doctrines, winch if 
true, would overturn the Consti¬ 
tution from its deepest foundation, 
drive the King* from his throne, 
and condemn the Revolution of; 
1688, under King' William III. 
as a most daring', though suc¬ 
cessful invasion of the prerogative 
of God , and of the unalienable 
rights of a divinely anointed, 
tyrant. Doctrines which would 
have advanced the Stuarts upon 
the ruins of the race of Brunswick. 
Doctrines which have been so¬ 
lemnly impeached by all the 
Commons of England, in Parlia¬ 
ment assembled; solemnly con¬ 
demned by the very Bishops 
themselves, and the whole House' 
of Peers: in a word, doctrines' 
which have long since received 
their mortal wound, by the 
writings cf Lockf, Koatjlet, and 


ocher great writers; and which 
every true friend of his country 
might have hoped were buried 
to rise no more. 

1 hose, Sir, are tlie grounds 
whereon Dr. Caleb Evans, and 
all who think with him, reject 
the slavish doctrine of passive 
obedience and non-resistance, as 
wholly untenable, even from your 
favourite Idth chapter of Romans . 
1 say your favourite chapter, be¬ 
cause ail the advocates of tyran¬ 
nical power, from the first Pope 
who claimed infallibility to the 
infamous Saciieverel, and from 
Saciieverel to yourself, all of 
you make the great stand on this 
chapter. Now, then, let us see 
what you will do, when the 
ground is taken from under your 
teet. Oh ! let us hear no more 
ot it, but confess your f aults, one 
to another ,* and instead of preach¬ 
ing yourselves, preach your Bible , 
in ail faithfulness. You have 
taken to lecture us Reformists, 
and you must he lectured in turn. 
You impute principles and mo¬ 
tives to us, which we deny, and 
we have a right to scrutinize 
yours. \ oil are the steward of 


your congregation, and it is re¬ 
quired in stewards that a man be 
found faithful .f Do you. Sir, I 
ask, preach the Bible, or do you 
preach yourself? Do you tell 
the People, that the Bible is the 
rule of life? Do you implore 
them not to rely on what you 
say, but to try your sayings by 
the Bible ? Do you tell them 
that it is their duty not to 
be satisfied with what they 
hear, but that meditating and re¬ 
flecting thereon, they ought, with 
all patience, to turn over and 
search the Scriptures , and diii- 


* Janus v. 16. f 2 Cor. iv. 2. 




467] Hone’s Reformists ’Register. [468 


gently inquire are these things 
sir? * Dia you exhort them to 
do this, when you preached your 
Contentment Sermon ?■ Ours is 
an age of Bibles, and a land of 
Bibles, and few more than your¬ 
self, Sir, have laboured to make; 
it so; but a man may be elad\ 
with zeal as with a ; cloke, f andj 
yet what profit hath he that work -! 
cth in that wherein he labour.eth 4 
if he multiplieth words without I 
knowledge ? § I would rather 
believe this to be your case, I 
would rather discover that you 
had never reflected on Paul’s 
injunction as to rulers, than be¬ 
lieve that you recommended the 
odious doctrines of passive obe¬ 
dience and non-resistance, after 
reflection. And here it may fairly 
ba asked, what are your reasons 
for preaching' such doctrines at 
this time? Be candid at once, Sir, 
and confess that it was designed\ 
before the sermon was preached, 
that it should be printed; and let 
us know whether your motives are 
of the earthy earthy.\\ If they are, 
I exhort you, Sir, to forego all 
such considerations. Give up all 
thoughts about the powers that 
he. Think nothing about pleas¬ 
ing them, 't hey that are in power 
never rule the People go much 
to their minds, as when they get 
priests to ride them. An inde¬ 
pendent man will neither make 
himself, nor be made, a tool for 
political purposes; and you, Sir, 
especially, should shun not only 
the danger, but the imputation. 
Preaching before the Regent, 
either in ordinary or extraordi¬ 
nary, is not to be desired by him 
who wishes to deal faithfully 

* Acts vii. I. f Isaiah, li:*. 17. 

t Ecd. iri. 9 . § Jab, xxxv, 16. 

}| 1 Cpjr.*v.47. 


with Royal and Noble hearers, to 
give good measure , pressed down, 
and shaken together.* Church 
livings , with large endowments, 
are not to he coveted by those 
who have the cure of souls with 
large livings already. I exhort 
you, Sir, to abandon all supposing 
that gain is godliness. t I remind 
you of your text, that. “ godliness 
“ with contentment is great gain. 
“ For we brought nothing into 
“ this world, and it is certain 
“ we can carry nothing out, and 
“ having' food and raiment, let 
“ us he therewith CONTENT” 
Give up political preaching', Sir, 
until you have further studied 
Christian politics. The politics 
of our present rulers, and Chris¬ 
tianity, are a an image, composed 
of ckfy and tine gold ; the one all 
baseness, the other all purity. 

High church politics are fright¬ 
ful and alarming; they have often 
set the nation in a flame, when 
preached by proud aspiring self- 
willed men. Such a man was Dr. 
Sacueverel, who, in the year 
1709, preached a sermon, en¬ 
forcing your doctrines of passive 
obedience, and non-resistance; 
contending therefrom, that the 
Revolution of 1688 was a damn¬ 
able rebellion, and they who 
effected it rebels. Sacueverel 
was impeached for his inflam¬ 
matory sermon, and Mr. Eyre, 
the Solicitor-General , in his 
speech declared, “ that resistance 
“ was the necessary means used 
“ to bring about the Revolution ; 

“ and it carries a high reflection 
“ upon our great and glorious 
i6 deliverer (William III.), to say 
“ (as Saciieverkl did), that h* 

“ disclaimed resistance.” Sir 
John Holland, Comptroller of the 
* Luke vi, 33. f 2 Tim. vi. 5, 







469] May 3, 1817. 

Household, also defended resist¬ 


ance; and Sir Robert Walpole, 
then Treasurer of the Navif, an 
authority I presume you will not 
find fault with, said “ The very 
“ being of our present Govern- 
“ tnent is the resistance that was 
“ necessarily used at the Revolu- 
“ tion. If resistance be in no way 
“ safe to be allowed them, all the 
“ great privileges enacted in the 
44 Petition of Right are mere pre- 
44 tences. The doctrine of unli- 
“ mited passive obedience is cal- 
“ culated for absolute power,” &c. 
General Stanhope quoted Gro- 
tius,* to show that “ the People 
44 may resist tyrants, and assert 
44 their liberties.” The Earl of 
Wharton said, 44 The doctrine of 
“ passive obedience, as preached 
4t by the Doctor, was not recon- 
44 cileable to the practice of 
44 churchmen.” Doctor Hooper, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells, al¬ 
lowed the right of resistance; 
but, said the Bishop, 44 the People 
44 should be kept from the knoir- 
u ledge of their right, 37 Oldmixon 
here shrewdly inquires,! 44 Of 
“ what use is that right to them, 
44 if they know it not ? Is a man 
44 the richer for having a trea- 
44 sure hid in his house, if he 
“ knows not what it is, nor where 
44 it is—In truth, Bishop Hooper, 
44 and other Bishops, did take all 
44 possible care to keep people in 
“ ignorance, with respect to the 
44 duty they owed to their coun- 
44 try;” and the Duke of Argyle 
clenched the whole, by saying, 
44 The CLERGY,in all ages, have 
44 delivered up the rights and 
44 liberties of the People, and 
44 preached up the King’s power, 
44 in order to govern him; and 

* De Jure Belli et Pacis. 

f Seq. to Stuarts, p. 437. 


[470 

44 therefore they ought not te be 
44 suffered to meddle with pc- 
“litics.”* 

Whilst Saciieverel’s trial pro¬ 
ceeded, High Church mobs pa¬ 
raded the streets, and attended 
him every day, as he rode to the 
House in a tawdry glass chariot. 
There had not been such a ras¬ 
cally crew seen together, says 
Oldmixon, f since the days of 
John Ball, the priest, who was 
hanged for Wat Tvler’s rebel¬ 
lion. The Papists mingled with 
them, and they burned several 
meeting-houses, and committed 
great devastation amongst mode¬ 
rate Churchmen and Dissenters. 
At length Saciieverel was sus¬ 
pended from preaching for three 
years, and his sermons enforcing 
passive obedience and non-resist¬ 
ance were burned by the hang¬ 
man, at the Royal Exchange. 

Here you see, Sir, that yopr 
doctrines of passive oledieuce and 
non-resistance were declared il¬ 
legal by both Lords and Com¬ 
mons ; that a Church of England 
Clergyman was punished for 
preaching those doctrines; and 
consequently, that non-obedience 
and resistance to arbitrary power 
were sanctioned by Parliament. 
The monster Nero, to whom you 
say obedience was to be unre¬ 
servedly paid,! would have stood 
1 a bad chance of receiving obe- 

I * O 

dience here, in 1710, from any 
! but such men as Dr. Sacheverel. 
Oldmixon, commenting- on the 
proceedings respecting- him, 
says, § 44 If we look back into 
44 the Laudian times, we shall 
find the High Church Clergy 

* Deb. in Pari. 1710 . 
f Seq. to Stuarts, p. 434. 

X Sermon, p. 27. 

§ Seq. to Stuarts, p. 436. 





I Ione’s K k t o r,v. i s i s’ Register. 


4210 ■BVPHBi 

“ to bo just such men as Saciie- j 
“ vekel; and ”—I mu-oat yov r j 
Sir, to notice what be says—“ it 
“ that odious part*! should be in’! 
“ being in the <nezi a-jo '’—our 
own. age, yo r age, So - —k if that { 
“< odious party should be m being j 
“ in the next ago, posterity will 
“ iiiiil them as turbulent, as trou- 1 
•vhlesome, as wicked, ami as j 
*• dangerous, as was this inpen- | 
4 * diary , calling himself on Am-j 
“ bassador of Christ; ana •.rill j 
* 4 not take it ill that they are ; 

warned to be on their yuan? j 
“■ against them —that is, re, in : 

this age, are warned against those • 
who preach passive obedience 
and non-resistance nou\ as S a- \ 
ctieyerel did then. L for one, | 
accept this warning', and 1 repeat i 
what 1 have endeavoured to ! 
prove, that these doctrines are j 
odious, detestable, and u: holly 
an sanctioned by Scripture ; and 
are rejected by the best men, 
as degrading and hateful to all j 
who are not slaves. 

The Laudi an times, which Old- j 
Mixon speaks of, are coming j 
again,- pretty quickly. You, Sir, j 
have treated us with passive obe¬ 
dience, and non-resistance, in the | 
pulpit at London, and some dis- j 
ciples of the doctrine* are enforc- i 
mg its practice at Norwich. 
These worthy personages are the 
KNIGHTS OF BRUNSWICK, 
who, in December last, trans¬ 
mitted a declaration to Lord Sid- 
moutit, Secretary of State for the 
Home Department; in answer to 
which, J. Beckett, Esq. Under 
Secretary of State, acquainted 
the said Knights of Brunswick , 
that his Lordship could not hesi¬ 
tate to applaud their principles ,* 

* Cobuett’s Register, vo). 32 . p, (>7, &c. 


[i?2 

These Knights , forsooth, be¬ 
ing thereunto dn r raged 

]>y the amiable comic-a < on oL 
the Noble Secret- tate, 

to whom they retm letter 

of thanks, in a round ro* in, signed 
by all the Knights Members— 
these ma unanimous j -• . hit, 
flushed with their successful at¬ 
tack upon the Secret or, of 
State, whom they Dad injected 
with a due sense of their d ■ - ■/, 
determined to administer a suf¬ 
ficient quantity to His Uo\ a! 
Highness the Prince Regent. 
They came to this wise and 
glorious determination, whilst 
smoking' their , ipes at the sign of 
the Rampant Hon e public house, 

in Norwich, where they hold 

__ %! 

t lie ir Chapters—t h ei r In s < a 11 a (. ions 
—their Collar Days—and their 
Grand Meetings. They are a sort 
of club of Odd Bellows :—not that 
they w ear masks, with queer out- 
of-the-way faces, made to imitate 
brute beasts, such as bears or 
baboons, or oxen, or other fright¬ 
ful or savage countenances. No, 

o 

they have no occasion for dis- 
guises of that kind, to look 
like fools. They edify each 
other with select portions from 
the famous Address or Decla¬ 
ration of the Duke of Brunswick 
to the People of France, about 
four -and- twenty years ago, 
wherein he preached the duty of 
passive obedience and non-resist¬ 
ance , as if he had the Court ex¬ 
position of the 13th of Romans 
by heart, and enforced it at the 
end of the bayonet, by the threat 
of burning and destroying every 
place in France which resisted 
the progress of the allied troops. 
These bold Bi unswick Knights 
of Norwich, are well versed in all 
this kind of learning. Whe- 





May 




ther they wear the 
uniform, or not, I have 
information, though 
possible they may; 
do, they- are, indeed, 
lemn band of Kniqhts, 
in black, with Death’s 
cross-bones on their 
and when sitting roun 


Brunswick 
no positi ve 
it is very 
— if they 
a verv so- 
ail aresseu 
Steads and ! 
foreheads ; 
d the table, I 


at the Rampant Horse , look like , 
so many coffins set up on end, 
with the lids off. The Presiden 
of this grave assemblage, an 
apothecary, surgeon, or man mid¬ 
wife, was despatched by the 
ghostly band to London, to go 
to the Prince Regent’s Levee, 
and astonish him with an address 
of loyalty from the Rampant 
Horse , in the name and on behalf 
of the said Kniqhis, and of 
two other equally intelligent and 
important bodies, called STAG- 
ORIANS, avIio met at the Ram¬ 


pant Horse , for that purpose; 
to whom the said Knights, j 
it appears, decreed the honour 
of a sitting; and who were “ asso¬ 
ciated and affiliated with them P 
Strange as it may seem, yet it is 
not more strange than true, that ; 
the Norwich paper states, that, j 
44 At the Levee, their President 
44 was introduced bp Lord V is. 

44 Siumouth , and Lord Lake , 

44 when Ilis Royal Highness was 
44 graciously pleased to receive 
44 the Address in a most marked 
44 and condescending manner, on 
44 which occasion the President 
44 had the honour of kissing His 
44 Royal Highness’s hand” 

How all this happened, I can¬ 
not tell; but I suppose that it 
will be a precedent , and is in¬ 
deed a sort of coaxing invitation 
for Addresses to Carlton House 
from all the drinking clubs and 
smoke shops throughout the 


United Kingdom; particularly 
as the Address is actually pub¬ 
lished in the London Gazette, of 
last Saturday, and is there de¬ 
scribed as having’ been signed 
with *258 names. I do not 
see, as these Kniqhts of the 
Rampant Horse and the Stago- 
rians have sent their Chairman to 
Court, why the Good Pel lows 
under the Sun, at the Pony, in 
Warwick Lane; or the Coun¬ 
sellors under the Cauliflower, in 
Butcher-hall-lane; or the Codgers; 
or the Lumber Troop; or the 
Free and Hasp Johns; or all the 
Free and Rasies throughout the 
country, may not send their 
Chairmen to the Regent, with 
humble and dutiful Addresses 
from their respective Societies in 
General Meeting assembled: nor 
wbv the Wolves, at the (’oaf-hole; 
or the Grand Plaster of the 
Knights of the Black Jack , in 
Portugal Street; or the Chairman 
of the 44 Everlasting Society of 
44 Eccentrics , who meet *1(15 times 
44 in the year, at the Sutherland 
44 Arms, in May’s Buildings, St. 
44 Martin’s Lane/’ and who were 
Subscribers under that name to 
the Lova! Fund at Lloyd’s,should 
not also go to Court, with the 
President of the Cat and 
Shoulder of Pint ton Club , bear¬ 
ing humble and dutiful Addresses. 
Sure 1 am, that the said Addresses 
would read as elegantly as the 
Address of the smoke-shop 
Knights of Brunswick and Siago- 
rians does in the London Ga¬ 
zette of last Saturday, where, as 

*• * 

I said before, it stands printed, 
and that very conspicuously, 
with other loyal Addresses and 
Declarations from Counties and 
Corporations, and even with Ad¬ 
dresses from the Bishops and 







47.9] 


Hone's Reformists’ Register. 


KNIGHTS OF. BRUNSWICK, 
indeed ! Why ids lucky ye hap¬ 
pen to be on the right side, be- 


[480 

of all kinds; I hope yours will 
take the like direction. Recol¬ 
lect the numerous injunctions to 


cause if ye were going* on at self-denialand contentment which 
this rate on the lOToncj side, ye you have submitted to your con- 
would stand a chance of com- j gregation, and 8*. ply them to 


mitment to some distant gaoS, 
one of which I could mention, 
where, within an hour after your 
arrival, every man Jack of ye 
would have his head shaved ; ve 

4/ 

would then be stripped stark 
naked, your clothes be put into 
a hot oven,'lest there should be 
vermin about them, and with the 
same precaution, yourselves be 
tumbled into a cold bnlh—each 
of ye be then dressed in party- 
coloured close waistcoats and 
browsers, one side blue and the 
other side yellow; and thus clad 
as Sadler’s Wells clowns, and 
bald as cootes, ve w ould be put 

•t * 

into solitary cells, looking more 


>ourself. Abandon the hateful 
principles I have endeavoured to 
expose, and honestly confess your 
error. This will insure you the 
approbation of the « fc and good, 
of all persons ons ; and put it out 
of the power of those to censure 
you, who imagine motives from 
conduct, and who are apt to 
apply on certain occasions the 


following lines 


f ‘ What makes all doctrines plain and 
clear ? 

“ About two hundred pounds a-vear :— 

“ And that which was prov’d true before, 

“ Prov’d false again ? Two hundred more.* 


There is much for your con¬ 
sideration in the present sheet, 


like 258 Joey Crimaldies, in and I have still more to say, 
disgrace, than so many Rampant j which I reserve for my next. For 
Jlncumt Knights of Brunswick - the present I add no more. 


and Stagoiuans, practising* pas¬ 
su a obedience and non-resistance. 

To be grave again, if I can— 
and, in my next, l w ill duly apo¬ 
logize for not be in always 
grave—l conclude with solemnly 
protesting, Sir, against the doc¬ 
trines of passive obedience and 
non-resistance, which are de¬ 
clared by the convivial K MG UTS 
OF BRUNSWICK, at the Ram- 


I am, Sir, 

Your obedient Servant, 

WILLIAM IIONE. 

Wednesday, 30 th April, 1817. 

* Hudieras. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


pant Horse, to be their bond of | 
union, and are solemnly preached 


bv you at St. John’s Chapel, Bed¬ 


ford-row. My humble endea¬ 
vours ever have been, and will 
be, in direct opposition to slavery 


Mr. Southey, end Mr. W. Smith ; 
Mr. Wright, and the Liverpool In¬ 
formers ; are, as the Reader will sec, 
necessarily deferred, until my next 
Letter to the llev. Daniel Wilson, 
this day week. 


London : Printed by J. P. Pevvick, 46, Barbican ; Published by WILLIAM HONE, 
at 67, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS 
(post paid) should !><j addressed ; and sold at 5i, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence 
each, 1 ~~• per Hundred, on 6i. Ids. per Thousand*- 















Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No* 10.] Saturday, May 10, 1817. [You. T. 


TO THE 

PEOPLE OF ENGLAND* 


MY ARREST on Three Judge's War¬ 
rants — THREE EX-OFFICIO 
INFORMATIONS filed against me 
lit the Attorney-General—My RE¬ 
FUSAL TO PLEAD to them— 

Mu Commitment to Prison -- 

TITHES. 


FELLOW COUNTRYMEN* 

I wrote my last Register at 
home, in the midst of my family. 
Since then the reign of terror 
has commenced, and 1 now write 
from a prison. I am the first ob¬ 
ject selected by the Attorney- 
General, Sir William Garrow/ 
as a victim and an example. lie 
has filed three Criminal Informa¬ 
tions against me, and, assisted 
by the Court of King’s Bench, 
put me into confinement. The 
reader shall be circumstan¬ 
tially informed how this has been 
effected. 

On Saturday last, in the after¬ 
noon, not having been out during 
the whole of the day, I left home 
about half-past four o’clock. On 
my return, I purchased two ar¬ 
ticles from the Catalogue oi 
Mr. Major, bookseller, in Skin¬ 
ner Street—one of them written 
by Samuel Johnson, in the year 
1692 , entitled, “ An Argument , 


proving,—1st. That the People 
of England did actually abrogate 
or dethrone King James II. for 
Misgoverument, and promoted 
the Prince of Orange in his 
stead;—2dly. That this proceed¬ 
ing of theirs Was according to 
the English Constitution, and 
prescribed by it.” Just before I 
got to Fleet Lane, in the Old 
Bailey, walking towards my own 
door, 1 opened this pamphlet, to 
look at it. At the corner of the 
lane, two men rushed upon me, 
and one taking hold of me, said, 
“ You are my prisoner—l have a 
Judge’s warrant against you.” I 
was at that moment reading these 
words in the pamphlet:—“ Shall 
“ a poor pickpocket or a high- 
“ way man be hanged for a little 
“ loose money, and these whole - 
“ sale thieves , who strip a nation 
“ of their lives , liberties , and es- 
“ tateS) and all they have, not be 
“ looked after?” I shut too the 
pamphlet, and putting my finger 
between the leaves, that I might 
not lose the place, said to the 
man, “ Very well; walk home 
“ with me, and 1 will go with 
“ you.” 

Officer . “ No, 1 shall not suffer 
“ you to go home.” 

Myself “ We are going past 
“ the door. You will surely step 
“ in with me, and let me speak 
“ to my wife.” 

Officer* “ No. You must go 
with me.* 5 


















483] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [484 


Myself, “ Why did you riot 
“ call upon me ut home ? Why 
“ take me in the street?” 

Officer* iS I did not expect to 
“ find you at home.” 

Myself, 44 I am almost con- 
“ staidly at home; I am very 
« seldom out; I have not been 
44 out the whole of* the day, till 
44 lately/’ 

Officer. “ I did not call, I tell 
44 you, because I did not expect 
44 to find you.” 

Myself 44 Well, I am willing 
44 to go with vou; but I of course 
44 wish to apprise my family of 
44 what has happened/’ 

Officer, 44 I tell you, I shall 
44 not let you go home—the bail 
44 is very large—you must not go 
44 home at all.” 

Myself. 44 What has the bail 
44 A o do with my going home, or 
44 not going' home? Go along 
44 with me; I sliall not detain 
44 you, or run away from you.” 

Officer. 44 It does not signify, 
44 you shall not go home.” 

Myself. 44 Very well. Do as 
44 you please. I am in your power. 
44 Where arc you going to take 
44 me to ? ” 

Officer. 44 Here is the Judge’s 

44 warrant-Lord Ellenbo- 

44 rough’s warrant. Read it.” 

Myself. 44 No, not here. 1 will 
44 read it at the place you take 
44 me to,” 

Officer. 44 No—read it at once 
—here it is.” 

Myself. 44 There is no ne- 
“ cessity for it now', in the 
44 street.” 

Officer. 44 Yes : —you had bet¬ 

ter read it here.” 

Myself. 44 Very well.” 

[I stood against a post, and 
having read the warrant, returned 
it to him. It was dated Jlpril 


28th , five days before, and signed 
Ellenborough .] 

Officer . 44 Then now go with 

44 me.” 

Myself. 44 By all means.-— 
44 Where are you going to take 
44 me to ? ” 

[We how crossed the way, to¬ 
wards New'gafe Street.] 

Officer . 44 To a lock-up-house.” 

Myself 44 Whose?” 

The officer named one or two 
near the Bank. I objected to 
going to a lock-up-house in that 
direction; telling him, I prefer¬ 
red Hop wood’s, in Chancery 
Lane, or some other, towards 
Temple Bar, it being nearer to 
my friends. 

Officcrr . 44 I will take you to 

44 the Compter , if you do not 
44 choose to go where I tell yo*!.” 

Myself. “ I am in your power, 
44 and therefore you will do with 
44 me as you please.” 

A coach being called, I got 
in, and the officer followed, fie 
then told me he should take me 
to the Judge's chambers; and the 
coach was ordered to drive to 
Chancery Lane. As it passed my 
own house, I desired it might 
stop there, for a person to step 
out to me; and my wife coming” 
to tlie coach door, I put my head 
out of the window; and whis¬ 
pered her that I was in custody 
by a Judge’s warrant, and would 
send to her w r hen I knew how I 
was to be disposed of. As the 
coach drove along, the officer 
told me, that there were othet 
warrants against me, but they 
were not given to him; and I 
might be bailed by Lord Ellen* 
borough before 8 o’clock that 
evening. The coach stopped at 
Serjeant’s Inn Coffee-house, and 
he inquired from the coach win- 






485] May 10,1817-, [480 


dow, of the people round the 
door, for Mr. Gibbons, the head 
tipstaff: he said, in a most im¬ 
portant tone of voice, Tell him 
“ I have got Hone.” Mr, Gib¬ 
bons not appearing, we remained 
seated in the coach. I reminded 
the officer, that if I was to be 
bailed, no time should be lost. 
Mr. Gibbons not appearing, we 
got out, and found him in Ser¬ 
jeant's Inn. He desired I might 
be conducted into the Coffee¬ 
house, telling* me there were other 
Jud ore’s warrants issued, and I 
could not be bailed that night. 
On arriving at the Coffee-house, 
the officer said he should take 
me to Wilson’s lock-up-house, 
in Warwick Court, Holborn. I 
reminded him of the date of the 
warrant, and inquired why 1 was 
not taken four days before ? lie 
said he could not tell. Soon 
afterwaids Mr. Gibbons came in, 
and gave private directions to 
the officer. 3 informed Mr. Gib¬ 
bons I was very anxious to give 
bail that night. He said it was 
impossible;'that there were two 
other warrants, and there must 
be 48 hours' notice of bail; that 
I must for the present go with 
the officer, and he would call on 
me himself at half-past eight, 
and tell me every thing. 1 re¬ 
quested a person in the room, 
who knew me by sight, to ac¬ 
quaint my wife that 1 was taken 
to Wilson’s lock-up-house, in 
Warwick Court, Holborn, and 
then retired with the officer, 
who called in another to his 
assistance, and carried me to 
Mr. Hemp’s, No, 39, Serle’s Place, 
Carey Street, and there left me. 
Mr. Gibbons did not come as 
he promised. At length a person 
arrived, who fetched a ticket- 


porter; and I wrote my w ife a 
note, requesting her to send 
some one to ine froni home, im¬ 
mediately. She did so; and J 
found she had despatched mes¬ 
sengers both to Serjeant’s Inn 
Coffee-house, and Wilson’s, with¬ 
out being able to gain tidings of 
me. It was now between 9 and 10, 
and I sent this person to Mr, 
Gibbons, and a ticket-porter 
with a note to a friend. Mr. Gib¬ 
bons sent me word, nothing could 
he done that night , but he would 
see me in the morning. My 
friend informed me that he w as 
so engaged he could not come to 
me. I w r rote to another friend, 
but before my messenger could 
return, it w as 11 o’clock, at w hich 
hour Mr. Hemp's house was 
closely shut up, and every person 
retired to bed. I had previously 
inquired at Mr. Hemp’s, if I could 
have a copy of the warrant, 
which had been leftat Mr. Hemp’s, 
and was informed that I could 
not be furnished with it there . 
Shortly after I was shown to 
my bed room, the person who 
kept the door of the house, 
undressed himself for the pur¬ 
pose of sleeping in another bed, 
in the same room.—He asked if 
“ my dime was very great ?’' I 
answered by inquiring*, why he 
put the question? He said, Be- 
cause they,” (meaning* the offi¬ 
cers) “ are so very strict in their 
« orders about you.” I laughed 
at the poor fellow’s good-natured 
sympathy, and satisfied him I 
had not been guilty of murder. 
The next morning* (Sunday), Mr. 
Gibbons called, and told me he 
had two other warrants against 
me, for libel; but he could not 
recollect on what specific charge, 
or the amount of bail required : 






4S7] Ilosfi’s Reformists' Register. [ 


be said, that in all probability 
1 should be removed to the 
King’s Bench the following day. 
1 told him, that by being kept 
ignorant,not only of the charges, 
but of the extent of bail required, 
and by the mode and time of my 
arrest, I had been prevented from 
procuring' or giving notice of 
bail the evening before, and 
begged lie would inform me in 
the morning what the charges 
were, and the extent of bail. In 
the course of the day, my wife 
came to me, and I concerted with 
her what appeared proper to do. 
This arrangement was frustrated 
by what happened the next morn¬ 
ing. As soon as breakfast was 
over, two persons delivered the 
tipstaff’s authority, iu writing, to 
Mr. Hemp, requiring me to be 
surrendered to their custody, for 
the purpose of being taken to 
Westminster, to plead. 1 had not 
even time allowed me to collect 
together some papers which I 
received from home the day be¬ 
fore, and left them behind me in 
charge of a gentleman, unfortu¬ 
nately detained at Mr. Hemp’s for 
debt, who very kindly offered to 
put them up for me, which he 
did, after I was gone. I was 
hurried off so quickly, that to 
despatch a messenger to my 
wife, or any friend, to acquaint 
them of this sudden proceeding, 
was impossible : being put into 
a coach, I was rapidly d riven 
down to Westminster, placed on 
the floor of the Court, and after 
some routine business, called on 
to plead immediately to three 
Criminal Informations , which 1 
had never before heard of. 

H hat then took place will ap¬ 
pear from the following* state¬ 
ment, which 1 have drawn up 


from recollection, assisted by the 
reports in the newspapers. 

The Attorney-Gener a l moved 
that William Hone be called 
upon to plead to a criminal in¬ 
formation filed against him, for 
publishing The late John 
1 \ l lk nan Cat cch ism oj * a Min is¬ 
le rial Member , adapted to the 
present times; being a parody 
upon the Catechism, with intent 
ro scandalize and bring into con¬ 
tempt the Book of Common 
Prayer, and the Church of Eng¬ 
land, as by law established. 

Mr. Hone appeared in Court, 
in custody of the tipstaff. 

Mr. Hone immediately ad¬ 
dressed their Lordships, observ¬ 
ing, that before the information 
and libel were read, he wished 
to submit to the Court, that he 
had been illegal I v detained in 
custody since Saturday night, 
when he had been apprehended 
on a Judge’s warrant, without 
having power to give notice of 
bail; and that be was now brought 
up to plead, without a moment’s 
previous notice, without knowing* 
what the information was with 
which he was charged. 

Lord Ellen borough. You 
had better hear the information 
read, and afterwards you will 
have an opportunity of stating, 
particularly whatever you may 
think fit to complain of to the 
Court. 

The first count of the informa¬ 
tion was then read, reciting the 
whole of the tract alluded to, 
which has been so long before 
the public; and when the Officer 
of the Court came to a certain 
whimsical part of it, the Attorney- 
General apologized to their Loni- 
ships, by stating that he had re¬ 
frained from bringing this libel 






May 10, 1S17. 


before the Court sooner, that their 
ears should not be offended by 
Snch vile blasphemous libels. 

Mr. Hone observed, that the 
publication oi the alleged libel 
had been long* suspended: and 
was about to reply further to 
what had fallen from the Attor¬ 
ney-General, but was restrained 
by the Court. 

The Master then proceeded 
in reading the remainder of the 
first count. He told the De¬ 
fendant, there were other counts, 
varying- the manner of the 
charge, and then called upon 
him to plead guilty or not 
guilty. 

Mr. Hone stated to the Court, 
that he was only apprehended on 
Saturday night, and, by the mode 
of arrest , had been prevented 
from either giving notice of bail, 
or even procuring bail. He un¬ 
derstood, also, there were other 
warrants out against him, and 
having been brought into Court 
without a moment’s notice, he 
had had no opportunity of ad¬ 
vising w r ith any person as to 
what course he ought to pursue. 
He did not kno\? w hat w as in the 
information". 

The Attorney-General ob¬ 
served, that if the Defendant 
wished for time, no objection 
would be made. 

Mr. Hone. I w r ant nothing but 
justice. 

Lord Ellen borough. You are 
not required to plead immedi¬ 
ately ; you may imparl to the 
•next term. 

Mr. Hone. I wish to have ad¬ 
vice what step I shall take. 1 
have not had a moment to con¬ 
sult with any friend. 

Lord Ellfnborough. Do you 
claim imparlance to the next 


term ‘l You must make your 
election. 

Mr. Hone. My Lord, I do not 
know what imparlance is; that 
is, (lie legal effect of it* 

Lord Ellen borough. It is a 
liberty not to plead until next 
term. 

Mr. Hone. I do not know that 
so much time is necessary: I am 
not desirous of at all impeding 
the course of justice. 

The Court then informed the 
Defendant, that a shorter time 
would be allowed him, if that 
were necessary: he might be 
brought up again on that day 
se’nnight. 

Mr. Hone said, that provided 
he were furnished w r ith a copy 
of the information, he should no 
doubt be prepared to plead by 
to-morrow morning. 

The Attorney-General. I 
have already stated, that the 
offence with which this person is 
charged, is the printing and pub¬ 
lishing of a wicked and blas¬ 
phemous libel. He is now called 
on to plead either guilty or not 
guilty to that charge; and his 
pleading either one or the other 
will not prevent him from with¬ 
drawing* that plea, and substi¬ 
tuting any other, on a future oc¬ 
casion, But he has no right to 
a copy of the information, till 
he h as pleaded. 

Mr. Hone said, that it w as im¬ 
possible for him to answer on the 
sudden, when he was so unpre¬ 
pared. 

Lord Ellenborougii. The 
time of the Court must not be 
occupied in vain discussions. If 
you want time, you may have 
until next term; or a shorter 
time, if you think that sufficient* 
If you now plead not guilty, il 






I 


491] Hone’s Reform 

will not prejudice you; because, 
bn application at a future time, 
you may be allowed to retract 
that plea, and to plead other¬ 
wise. The Court, of course, can- 
hot decide now what would be 
the result of that application; 
but, in all probability , you would 
be allowed to retract your plea. 
In the mean time, if you wish for 
a copy of the information, your 
attorney may obtain it at the 
proper office* 

Mr. Hone. I have no attor¬ 
ney, my Lord. In the 'irst place, 

' I submit that the whole of the 
information has not been read to 
me— 

The Attorney-General then 
said, that he should move that 
the whole of the information be 
read; and if the Defendant did 
not afterwards plead, he should 
apply to the Court that he be 
committed. 

Mr. Hone stated that he did 
not wish the remainder to be 
read: he only wanted a copy 
of it. 

The Court. You may have a 
copy upon the usual terms at the 
Crown-Office, after you have 
pleaded. 

The Attorney-General now 
moved that the remainder of the 
information should be read. The 
Defendant was charged with 
printing- and publishing a blas¬ 
phemous libel, and the only 
question propounded to him now 
was, whether he was guilty or 
not? Surely he could have no 
difficulty in giving an answer, 
yes or no. 

Mr. Hone. The consideration 
is, whether this is a libel or not. 

LordELLENBOROUGii. We can’t 
go into that now. 

- The Master now proceeded in 


i st s’ Register* [492 

reading the remainder of the in¬ 
formation, and had advanced 
some lengtli, when he was again 
interrupted by the Defendant, 
who stated that he had do wish 
whatever that the public time 
should be wasted in reading the 
remainder of the information; 
for after it had been finished, he 
should then persist in his request 
for a copy. 

Lord Ellenborough. The 
Court has no power to give it to 
you. We have no funds out of 
which to pay for it. 

Mr. IIone assured their Lord- 
ships, that he had no funds 
either. 

Lord Ellenborough. The 
Court cannot make a law for you, 
which does not exist for the rest 
of His Majesty’s subjects. 

Mr. Hone. There may be parts 
of the information to which, upon 
due consideration, 1 may plead 
guilty, and to the rest not guilty. 

The Attorney-General. You 
cannot plead in part ; you must 
plead to the whole. 

Lord Ellenborough. You 
may certainly plead to a part, or 
to the whole, as you think fit. 

Mr. Hone. Then 1 submit, 
with the utmost deference, that 
this is a still stronger reason for 
my claiming a copy of the in¬ 
formation, that I may consider it, 
and determine the nature and ex¬ 
tent of rny plea toil. 

Lord Ellenborough. If a 
copy of the information were 
given to you, by the same rule 
every person charged with a 
crime might claim a copy of the 
indictment. [Here Mr. Hone 
bowed assent to the propriety of 
every person charged with crime 
urging such a claim.] Such a 
claim has never before been pre- 




433j May 10, 1817. [40-1 


ferred, that I know of, and cer¬ 
tainly such a claim has never 
been allowed. There cannot be 
one law for you, and another for 
the rest of His Majesty’s sub¬ 
jects. The Court is willing* to 
grant every reasonable indul¬ 
gence, if you wish for time to 
make up your mind as to your 
plea, 

A 

The Master proceeded, and 
read the remainder of the informa¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Hone. I appeal to your 
Lordships, as men, whether I, a 
man, or yourselves, in my situa¬ 
tion, subject to human infirmities, 
could be expected to remember 
the different counts in this infor¬ 
mation, and all their technical 
charges, and varied allegations, 
with such a power of recollection 
as to be enabled to say to which 
to plead guilty to, and to which 
to plead not guilty. 

The Attorney-General. The 
Defendant lias been told wliat 
course he may pursue, but he de¬ 
clines to adopt it. If the Defen¬ 
dant does not plead, I shall move 
that he he charged with another 
information. 

Mr. Hone, If there are others, 
I am certainly most anxious to 
know all the charges the Attor¬ 
ney-General has against rne; that 
is a piece of justice that I expect 
of the Attorney-General. 

The Attorney-General then 
made his motion ; and the second 
information was read. It charg ed 
the Defendant with printing and 
publishing a blasphemous libel, 
entitled, The Political Litany , 
to the great displeasure of Al¬ 
mighty God, scandalizing the 
Service of the Church of Eng¬ 
land, as by law established, and 
bringing into contempt and ridi¬ 


cule a part of the Service .in the 
Book of Common Prayer, called 
the Litany. 

The information being in part 
read, Mr. Hone said, will the 
Court permit me to sit, whilst the 
remainder of the information ia 
reading, as I am unwell—-I am 
much disordered. 

Lord Ellenborough. NO!! 

The Master now finished read¬ 
ing the information ; and called 
upon the Defendant to plead 
guilty or not guilty, 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, I sub¬ 
mit the same application to the 
Court, as in the last case.—I ask 
for a copy of the information. 

Lord Ellenborough. We can 
only give you the same answer 
as we did before. 

The Attorney-General then 
'charged a third criminal informa¬ 
tion against him, for printing and 
publishing another blasphemous 
libel, entitled, The Sinecurist’s 
Creeds or Belief; tending to 
scandalize and bring into con¬ 
tempt another part of the Ser¬ 
vice in the Common Prayer, en¬ 
titled, the Creed of St. Athana¬ 
sius. 

Mr. Hone gave no interruption 
to the reading of this informa¬ 
tion ; but when it was finished, 
he renewed his application for 
copies. He stated, that the Court 
had informed him that they had 
no fund out of which they could 
pay for these copies. Funds w r ere 
found he said to pay his Majesty’s 
Attorney-General for filing these 
informations, and he should think 
that he (an humble individual or 
Defendant), against whom they 
were filed, might he supplied 
with copies out of the same 
funds. 

The Attorney-General now 



495] 

moved that the Defendant should 
be committed. 

Mr. IIone. My Lords, your 
Lordships inform me, that I may 
plead guilty to part, if I choose ; 
but I submit that it is not in the 
power of human nature, wishing 
to do justice, as I do, to deter¬ 
mine, from barely hearing these 
very long informations read, how 
to proceed-—how so to plead. 
It is not, with me, a mere ques¬ 
tion of what form of words 1 am to 
plead in; but because 1 would con¬ 
scientiously, and standing' before 
God and man,say whether I were 
guilty of a libel or not, accord¬ 
ing to my conscience, if I really 
understood the informations. I 
don’t suppose that there ever was 
an instance known, of a man 
taken into custody so recently as 
I have been, and having three 
criminal informations filed against 
him, being called on to plead to 
them suddenly—without a mo¬ 
ment’s notice of such informations 
having been filed. / I do there¬ 
fore implore, and I demand of 
this Court (if I may use that 
•phrase, meaning it in no impro¬ 
per or disrespectful sense), copies 
of these informations; and whe¬ 
ther his Majesty’s Attorney-Gene¬ 
ral file three or three hundred 
informations, or whether I sink 
on the floor of this Court, through 
weakness, whilst hearing them 
read, I still persist in my de¬ 
mand, because I think it founded 
in justice. 

The Attorney-General. The 
course now pursued is as old as 
the Court itself. The number of 
informations against a publisher, 
depends on the extent of his 
practice in publishing seditious 
pr libellous works. I shall con¬ 
tent myself with again moving 


[4<K> 

that the Defendant be com? 
mitted. 

Lord Ellenrorough. Let the 
Defendant be committed till the 
first day of next Term. 

Mr. Hone again complained of 
the manner in which he had been 
detained in custody, and was ex? 
plaining'. 

The Court. The present is 
not the time for the agitation of 
that question. 

Mr. Hone desired to know for 
what, and how he stood commit¬ 
ted ?' but the Court remained 
silent, and he was removed out 
of Court by the tipstaffs. 

Lord Ellenborqugh stated, 
that though the Defendant was 
now committed to the first day of 
next Term, yet he would be libe¬ 
rated, in the interim, on putting* 
in sufficient bail. 

The Attorney-General. Per¬ 
haps your Lordships would inti¬ 
mate to the Defendant what bail 
will be required, 

Lord Ellenborouch. For the 
first ljbel the Defendant must be 
bound himself in £200., and 
two sureties in £100. each—the 
same security must be given in 
the second—and, in the third, 
himself in £100,, and two sureties 
in £50. each. 

Mr. Hone being recalled into 
Court, was informed by the Mas¬ 
ter of the extent of bail re? 
quired. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, I re¬ 
quest to have copies of the war¬ 
rants on which I was appre¬ 
hended. 

Mr. Justice Bayley, The Court 
has no power to grant them , 

Tipstaff. You will have that in 
the Copy of Causes. 

Mr. Hone then withdrew in 
custody of the tipstaffs. 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 




, ' \ • • 

t * 

V 

497] May 10,1817,_ [49$ 


After these proceeding's in the 
Court of King’s Bench, I was 
taken to the King’s Bench Prison, 
in St, George’s Fields, where I 
bespoke the “ Copy of Causes,” 
which the tipstaff told me, in 
Court, would contain copies of 
the Judge’s warrants, whereon 
I was arrested. The Copy of 
Causes has been furnished me.— 
ft contains no copy of the Judge’s 
warrants; and on application to 
the office of the Marshal of 
the prison, H am informed, the 
warrants are not lodged with 
him ; but the Copy of Causes is 
a most important document. 

I. 

Monday next., after One Month from 
the Feast Day of Faster, in the Fifty- 
seventh Year of King George the 
Third. 

London—The King against William 
Hone (for the late John Wilkes’s 
Catechism of a Ministerial Member.) 

Tiie Defendant being brought 
here into Court, in custody of one of 
the Tipstaffs of this Court, is charged 
with the Information tiled against him 
in this prosecution for certain misde¬ 
meanours in printing and publishing 
certain impious, profane, and scanda¬ 
lous Libels: And having heard the 
same read, he is asked by the Court, 
here, whether he be guilty of the pre¬ 
mises thereby charged upon him or 
not ? Whereupon he BRAY'S A DAY r 
to answer thereto: And it is granted 
to him by the Court, here : And the 
said Defendant having no bail, is com¬ 
mitted. by the Court, here, to the 
custody of the Marshal of the Mar- 
shalsea of this Court, FOR WANT 
OF BAIL, for his pleading within the 
first Eight Days of the next Term, to 
the said information, and personally to 
appear in this Court, upon the return 
of the postea, in case he shall be con¬ 
victed, and so from day to day ; and 
not to depart this Court, without 


leave ; to be by the said Marshal kept 
in safe custody until he shall be from 
thence discharged by due course of 
law. 

On the Motion of Mr. Attorney- 
General. 

By the Court. 

II. 

Monday next, &c. 

London—The King against William 
Hone (for the Sinecurist's Creed J 

The like Rule. 

On the Motion of Mr. Attorney- 
General. 

By the Court. 

- III. 

Monday next , &c. 

London— The King against William 
Hone (for the Political Litany.) 

The like Rule. 

On the Motion of Mr. Attorney- 

* 

General. 

By the Court. 

And is detained for no other cause, a* 
appears by the books. 

R. HILL, 

Clerk of the Papers of the 
King’s Bench Prison. 

6th May, 1817. 

Now these Rules of ^Court state 
what is not the fact. I did not 
pray for time till the first day of 
next term, to plead. I prayed 
no day to answer. I craved a 
copy of each information, as each 
was read to me, and on each a 
copy was denied me. I refused 
to plead, until I had a copy. S 
respectfully, bwt peremptorily, re¬ 
fused to plead, and stated why 
l refused to plead. When the 
first information was read, 1 told 
Lord Ellen borough and the 
Attorney-General, if a copy of 
it was given me, I would plead 
the next morning. I did not then 




499] Hone’s Reformists’ Register* [500 


know that there was more than 
that one information against me; 
but conkl copies of the whole 
three have been made in the 
course of half a dozen hours, I 
would have pleaded to the whole 
three the next morning. When 
the Attorney-General told me, 
if I wished for time , no objection 
v; on Id be made, I said, “I want 
nothing but JUSTICE.” Lord 
Ellen borough proposed, that I 
should pray for time till next 
term. 1 told him “ so much time 
was not necessary”—that “ I was 
not at all desirous of impeding the 
course of justice.” His Lord- 
ship then proposed, “ that day 
se’nnight.” I shortened that time, 
till the next morning, 'provided 
I had a copy of the information . 
I claimed copies till the last mo¬ 
ment I remained on the floor 
of the Court, wholly refusing' to 
plead till I had them, and de¬ 
clining all offers of time; when 
Lord Ellen borough said, “ Let 
“ the Defendant be committed 
* till the first day of next term,” 
I bowed to him, looked him in 
the face, and inquired, aloud, 
My Lord, for what am I com- 
**• mitted?— How, and to what end, 
do I stand committed?” Lord 
EllenBorougii looked at me, re- 
dined backwards, and made me 
no answer, nor did the other 
Judges make answer; and I knew 
not why I was committed, that is, 
for what purpose I was com¬ 
mitted. I therefore repeated my 
desire to know this, till the tip¬ 
staffs took me by the anus, and 
forced me off the floor of the 
Court. The three Rules of Court 
therefore state what is not true. 
I appeal to Sir William Garrow 
himself—to every counsel—to 
every solicitor—to every person 


present in Court, whether I 
craved any thing but copies of 
the informations—I craved this, 
and this only. I was committed 
by the Court itself, till the first 
day of next term, wholly and 
entirely against my wish and 
will. The three Rules of Court, 
therefore, state what is not the 
fact; and these untrue statements 
appear on the books of the King’s 
Bench Prison, and on the records 
of the Court of King’s Bench, as 
the true grounds of my com¬ 
mittal ! 

My arrest, which suddenly tore 
me from my family—these pro¬ 
ceedings of the Court—the in¬ 
conveniences 1 experience in this 
place—-prevent me from being 
able to say more this week, than, 
that as to the charge of bias - 
phemy , I despise the aspersion. 
I despise it, and will refute it.—- 
This I pledge myself to do , and 
to do it triumphantly—to the 
confusion and dismay of my 
enemies. 

The grounds of my refusal to 
plead to the three ex-officio in¬ 
formations, tiled against me by 
the Attorney-General, until I had 
copies, and other matters con¬ 
nected therewith, must stand 
over till next week. In the mean 
time, I content myself with say¬ 
ing, that these grounds, and 
the untrue statements in my 
commitments, are of infinite 
importance to my countrymen* 
In my next, not wholly forgetting 
the Rev. Daniel Wilson, I shall 
go into the subject, and relate 
some particulars, which, for the 
reasons just mentioned, I cannot 
do here. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

King’s Bench Prison, 

Thursday, 8th May, 1817. 




May 10, 1817. 



*** To numerous Inquirers , / 
beg to state, that the Ex-Officio 
In FORMJk TI OX'S are filed against 
the Parodies onhj , ami 
wholly unconnected with the Re¬ 
formists' Register , which 
will be written and conducted by 
me here , and pub lished as usual . 


TITHES. 

Tithes being at this time the sub¬ 
ject of much remark and consider¬ 
ation, especially in the City of 
London, my Readers will thank 
irie for presenting them with the 
following article 

TITHES; 

A LECTURE 

TO 

LORDS SPIRITUAL, 

BY THE LATE 

. REV. JAMES MURRAY, 

OF NEWCASTLE. 

xt But the tithes of the children of 
Israel, which they offer as an eve- 
offering unto the Lord, I have given 
to the Levites to inherit: therefore 
I have said unto them, Among the 
children of Israel they shall have no 
inheritance Numb. eh. xviii. 24. 

As the Levites were not al¬ 
lowed to buy lands and here¬ 
ditary possessions, they were 
thereby prevented from being 
covetous; and as the tithes were 
competent for their maintenance, 
they sought no more, nor aimed 
any higher. Were ail the priests 
in England forbidden, by an ex¬ 
press law, to purchase lands or 
estates, upon pain of losing their 
livings, it would prevent, in a 


great measure, that ruling spirit 
of covetousness which prevails 
amongst them. The priests and 
Levites depended entirely upon 
Providence, and their livings in¬ 
creased or decreased according 
as the divine bounty favoured 
the nation. It was contrary to 
the law of God, and the consti¬ 
tution of that nation, for any of 
the Jewish clergy to interfere in 
secular affairs. It would make a 
strange catastrophe if such a law 
were made in England. My 
Lords, you would be obliged 
either to part with yonr patri¬ 
monies as landholders, or give 
up your claim to the patrimony 
of the church, which w ould be a 
severe trial to many dignified 
clergymen. 

Rut what I intended to con¬ 
sider on this subject, is the doc¬ 
trine of tithes, as practised in 
the Church of England. In a 
former discourse it was observed, 
that tithes are not held by a 
divine right, and it was hinted, 
that they are not consistent with 
the spirit and genius of our free 
constitution. That they are now 
confirmed by Acts of Parliament 
of Henry VI11. and Edward VI.; 
by William and Mary, and 
George I. is not denied; but if 
will be allowed, that all the laws- 
which have been made during 
the reig'ns of those princes, are 
not exactly consistent with the 
original and fundamental laws 
of the kingdom. Some complai¬ 
sant Parliaments have passed 
bills, which have been formed 
into laws, that have done little 
honour to the legislature. Henry 
VIII. could demand of his Par¬ 
liament what he had a mind ; 
and it was w r ell known, that what 
he ordered with respect to tithes, 






5031 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [504 


was what the Pope had done 
before him; and his new laws of 
decimation differed nothing* from 
those of Rome, except that he 
claimed to himself what formerly 

4 / 

was given to the Pope. The 
favourable acts, which after 
princes have passed in behalf of 
the clergy, concerning the tithes, 
were parsed into laws, to oblige 
them to make them hold their 
peace, and to prevent them from 
interfering with matters of state, 
which they were always ready 
to do when they were not taken 
notice of: but such laws, instead 
Of being* constitutional deeds, 
were only prudential temporary 
acts, which the wisdom of Go¬ 
vernment may alter without af¬ 
fecting' the constitution. They 
have ho more relation to the 
constitutional laws of England, 
than some people may think the 
late Dog Act has. It is not sup¬ 
posed by any, that all the different 
Acts of Parliament which the 
two Houses contrive when they 
meet, and persuade die Sovereign 
to sign, are always consistent 
with the fundamental laws of 
these realms. Many of them are 
temporary expedients, designed 
to answer the present purposes 
of Government, and are often re¬ 
pealed, when they are not found 
to do good by their continuance. 
And why may not the law s con¬ 
cerning tithes be altered, when 
they arc found to injure the va¬ 
rious improvements in agricul¬ 
ture which are carrying on in 
the nation. As an evidence that 
the Legislature did not consider 
tithes as the sole property of the 
church, there are 3000 parishes 
whose tithes are impropriate, 
anti in the possession of laymen, 
who perform no church duties. 


nor pay any salary, except what 
they please. Henry ^ III. was 
allowed by his tractable Parlia¬ 
ment to give the tithes to w hom 
he pleased ; so he gave them to 
his favourites, whether clergy or 
laymen, according to his own w ill 
and pleasure; and they are stand¬ 
ing nearly in the same situation 
he left them. The fundamental 
laws of the English constitution 
would not be affected, supposing 
that all the tithes in the nation 
were given up for some ether 
consideration ; and that instead 
of receiving them in kind, a cer¬ 
tain modus might be received in 
lieu of them, w hich would answer 
all the purposes for which tithes 
in England were intended. It is 
an indisputable point, that tithes 
were once upon another footing* 
than they are now ; for they 
once belonged to the church, and 
were applied to religious pur¬ 
poses: but when Henry VJ1I. dif¬ 
fered w ith the Pope, Mis Majesty 
thought proper to take more 
than the third part of all the 
tithes of the nation into his own 
possession, and retailed them out 
in gifts to his friends and fa¬ 
vourites. Thus the foundation 
of tithes, though secured by Act 
of Parliament, appears a little 
unconstitutional. Your Lord- 
ships know, the royal grants are 
not legal tenures. The royal 
mind may change, and then 
nullum tempus occurrit Rcgi , is a 
known maxim, and may be ap¬ 
plied to tithes as well as soc- 
cages. If the King cannot 
alienate, as some late court 
maxims seem to intimate, what 
was once the property of the 
crown may be recalled ; and why 
may not these tithes, which were 
given away by former princes, be 




50'.] May-H 

again resumed l.v their sue- 
cessors? This is, perhaps, what 
the clergy would desire; for hi 

such a case thev would bo more 

_ 

likely to return all back again 
to the churcij, when they come 
into the hands of him who is 
head thereof. But as there has 
been such a tergiversation in 
disposing of tithes, it would 
argue, that there were no fun¬ 
damental laws with regard to 
their being received in kind. 
The rights of the church are 
secured by Magna Chart a : but 
the question is, whether tithes 
in kind, or tithes at all, be her 
right l l For it appears unreason¬ 
able that the church should have 
so much land of her own, and at 
the same time have a claim for 
the tenth part of the produce 
of what belongs to every other 
person. 

This provision, which is made 
for the church bv tithes in kind, 
cannot certainly be the iutention 
of the constitution; for it cannot 
be supposed, that, for the sake 
of supporting one body of men, 
a bar should be put in the way 
of national improvements, which 
tend to the advantage of all 
ranks. No Act of Parliament 
was ever intended, however some 
of them may be expressed, to 
put a stop to improvements in 
agriculture, in which the real 
strength of the nation consists:— 
nor can we suppose that our laws 
can refer to objects, which the 
Legislature, who formed them, 
did not so much as conceive 
would ever exist. The industry 
of farmers has produced what 
none of the Parliaments which 
enacted laws concerning tithes 
ever imagined would exist in 
Great Britain ;—and it is cer- 


,1817. • [500 

tainly unreasonable, that indus- 
trious men should sink their 
money and bestow their labour 
on others, who are at no expense, 
to carry away the tenth part of 
their profits. But ev en the tithes 
are far from satisfying the ava- 
ricous desires of the clergy; for 
besides tithes in kind of every 
thing the earth produces, which 
is profitable, they exact a fax 
from both the living and the 
dead. Church fees must be paid, 
both by those who go to church 
and those who do not. For mar¬ 
riages, funerals, and Easier 
reckonings, the clergy receive 
near another tenth of all our 
substance. You are, my Lords, 
much obliged to Popery for your 
large endowments. The whole 
form of your church emoluments 
as well as a great part of your 
worship, are the maufacture of 
the man of sin. The Jewish 
clergy, from whom the Homan 
church and yours would make 
us believe you take your pattern, 
had no such privileges as you 
enjoy: they had no other inheri¬ 
tance except tithes, nor were 
they allowed to buy lands, or 
interfere in secular affairs; and 
every third year they were ob¬ 
liged to divide with the stranger, 
and the fatherless, and the widow; 
but after you have divided all 
the tithes among yourselves, you 
saddle the public with a poor- 
rate into the bargain. You 

_ _ w 

ought certainly to supply the 
poor with the tenth part of the 
nation’s substance. Instead of 
this, the very poorest ranks of 
people are obliged to contribute 
to the luxury of the clergy. 
Every poor day labourer, with a : 
small family, must pay for his own 
head, and every one in his house, 



507] Hone’s Reformists ‘Register. [508 


provided they be sixteen years 
of age, though they should bor¬ 
row the money, or their family 
starve. This is hard, my Lord, 
very hard; and you ought to 
consider it. 

But suppose you have some 
patched-up human laws for your 
tithes, and some other customary 
offerings, it is unfair to receive 
wages when you do not work. 
You ought certainly to do some 
good for your money. It is true, 
you sit in Parliament; but the 
priests who first received tithes 
did not aspire so high : they did 
not meddle with civil affairs. 
The matters of the Lord and those 
of the King were in those days 
kept distinct.-—But as the Jewish 
dispensation is finished, it is 
amazing that you, who pretend 
to be Christians, should still re¬ 
tain the Jewish system. Why 
do you not pursue it throughout, 
and offer sacrifices, as the priests 
of the law did? You would 
have a right to the fat, as they 
had, if you performed their set- 
vice; but you can eat the fat, and 
do no service at all, which is 
highly unreasonable. 

.it appears something’ strange, 
that a Protestant Church should 
claim the privilege of laws w hich 
were intended to establish the 
.Church of Rome. Henry I. Ed- 
ward III. and Henry VIII. ratified 
no laws in behalf of the church, 
but with a view to support per¬ 
fect Popery. It is not a little 
suspicious in your characters, my 
Lords, that you should insist on 
the execution of laws for the pay¬ 
ment of tithes, which no Protest¬ 
ant can execute without first 
turning Papist. There is not, at 
this day, a Protestant church un¬ 
der the protection of any govern¬ 


ment which holds tithes upon the 
tenure of Popish laws, as your 
church does; nor do the clergy 
intermeddle in state affairs, or 
have any share in the civil go¬ 
vernment of the nations where 

they reside. In Denmark aud 
%/ 

Sweden, the clergy assemble m 
Parliament, but do not meet as 
Lords Spiritual along with the 
Temporal Lords; their business 
is only to attend the affairs of the 
church, or to advise in things per¬ 
taining to religion; but they do 
not, in the character of Barons 
and Spiritual Lords, sit with the 
Nobles to determine in civil de¬ 
cisions of the legislature, 

_ IV 

But to conclude this discourse 
concerning tithes, it is undoubt¬ 
edly contrary to the welfare 'of 
those lands for the clergy to be 
rich, or to be paid with tithes in 
kind. They never can enjoy the 
love of the landed interest, while 
they insist upon this mode of decir 
mation. And it must have the ap¬ 
pearance of greediness of filthy 
lucre for them to prefer tythes, to 
the love of the people. It will be 
impossible for them to edify those 
w ho consider them as selfish inte¬ 
rested men, who w ould not save a 
single soul from perdition, unless 
they were sure of being extrava¬ 
gantly paid for it. 

Prudence ought to direct you, 
my Lords, to be moderate in this 
particular, otherwise I may ven¬ 
ture to pronounce that your ex¬ 
istence will not be long. The 
laity are become wiser than in 
past ages, and mankind are not 
so much priest-ridden as in for¬ 
mer times. If the Commons and 
Lords in England should consi¬ 
der their ow n interest, it is easy 
for them to vote you into non¬ 
existence. You have only one 









C>09] May 10, 1817. [510 


thing- at present to save you; a 
number of the Nobles are yom 
friends; and second brothers 
think a bishoprick a very good 
auxiliary to a small estate. But 
as relig-ion is not fashionable, as 
in former times, this may also be 
overcome. 

It will be your wisdom to be 
discreet in the article of tithes, 
and not to insist upon the rigour 
©f the law, lest by stretching 
your power too far, the legisla¬ 
ture should find reason to take it 
from you. There is a period ap¬ 
proaching, when you must rank 
with farmers, and other poor sin¬ 
ners, whom ye now despise. 
What a mortification will it be to 
the gentlemen in lawn sleeves to 
be reduced to the level of poor 
country farmers, and to be 
obliged to answer for the abuse 
of the tenth part of the national 
emoluments. Souls, an't please 
your Reverences, may be edified 
for less money than the tenth 
part of the produce of the lands 
of England. It would certainly 
be better to appoint certain com¬ 
petent sums for the maintenance 
of the clergy, and dispose of all 
the chapter lands and tithes, to 
help to pay the national debt. 

According to the words of the 
text, if you insist upon having 
tithes, you ought in conscience 
to give up all other inheritance 
in the nation, and make tithes 
serve you, The Levites had no 
inheritance among their brethren, 
but received tithes for all ; they 
were the inheritance of the Lord, 
and held their livings by a char¬ 
ter from him, which undoubtedly 
was a better foundation than the 
charter of Ethelwolplius. 

No priests in those days pos¬ 
sessed estates of thousands and 


hundreds a-year: they were all 
obliged to depend upon the Al¬ 
mighty, who only could make 
tithes turn to their advantage. 
But -* as Ethelwolphus has said 
nothing concerning clergymen 
having estates, nor has Ingulphus 
recorded any thing concerning 
this subject, it is supposed that % 
his charter does not exclude 
Bishops from having as large 
temporal estates as they can pro¬ 
cure. But this charter, as it 
proceeded from a source no way 
respectable, had never the sanc¬ 
tion of the Parliament of Eng;- 
land till the reign of Henry VIII. 
and from a very different inten¬ 
tion from what the first charter 
supposes. 

But what makes tithes more 
intolerable is, that they do not 
serve the church ; for instead of 
tithes, in many places, the clergy 
have the whole estates, tithes 
and all, to support a number of 
men, who are of no real service 
to the church, having no cure of 
souls, nor any other office, except 
once a month, to preach a ser¬ 
mon to a few people, who are 
very indifferent about hearing 
them. 

To conclude, my Lords, I can 
assure you, that I do not envy 
you your temporal emoluments ; 
for 1 think that you buy them 
dear enough, at the expense of 
truth and conscience. I am sure 
I am not singular in my opinion"; 
thousands of your ow n disciple's 
declare as much. \S hen you 
consider that there, is no warrant 
in the Scripture for such a prac¬ 
tice of decimation, you cannot 
help concluding in your own 
mind, that you eat the bread rtf 
violence, unrighteousness, and 
oppression. ' 7m- 



511] 


Hunk's Reformists* Register. 



TITIIE-LOVING PRIESTS, 

ALSO BY THE 

REV. J. MURRAY. 


The love of money is the root of 
all evil , and the passion for it pre¬ 
vails no where more than near 
the altar . Ah, ye priests! ye 
make us pay for all things; ye 
catch us as soon as we come into 
the world, and ye never lose 
sight of us till we return to dust. 
Our mothers must pay yon for 
hearing of us, our fathers for har¬ 
ing- us baptized. When we are 
married, and when we are buried, 
ye must he paid . When we come 
into the world, and when we go 
out of it, ye set a price upon our 
heads. And did these two de¬ 
mands satisfy you, wc might for¬ 
give you; but as long as our 
Leads are on our bodies, we must 
satisfy you every year for the 
use of them ; we may truly say 
all our things are yours. You 
must taste of all our substance: 
the tithe of all wc have that is 
valuable, and suitable for you, is 
yours. You say tithes were ap¬ 
pointed under the law for the 
tribe of Levi, and the sons of the 
priesthood: but remember, ye 
Levites, Jesus Christ was not of 
your tribe: be belonged to a 
tribe that did not serve at the 
altar ; and be did not institute 
any priests , nor give any laws 
concerning tithes . As we are 
Christians, you can have no just 


demands upon usjj let such as 
observe the Jewish religion pay 
tithes, butwhat have we to do with 
the sons of Levi under the gos~ 
pel. Gracious and merciful Sa¬ 
viour,thou came to set Christians 
free from bondage and slavery, 
and to give them deliverance 
from the law of Moses, but we 
are still laid under a load ol 

slavery, that has no foundation in 

•/ * , _ 

thy yospel , but is fixed upon us 
by that law. Thy apostles re¬ 
ceived no tithes , for they were 
Christians , and meek and hum¬ 
ble like thee: they loved to set 
men free, but not to oppress 
them. They testified against the 
ceremonial law at the peril of 
their lives, and told Christians 
that it did not profit and to 
such as observed it Christ did 
profit them nothing* Rut circum¬ 
stances are much altered since 
their time,—and we have reason 
to believe not at all for the better* 
but for the worse . It is a hard 
matter that Christians are still 
obliged to support a Jewish 
priesthood under the gosf)el 
priesthood ! I must go far back 
to find this office;—there have 
been none since Jesus Christ 
finished transgression , and put an 
end to sin. It is an Old Tes¬ 
tament office. Now, under the 
gospel\ all the Lord's people 
are priests, in the language of the 
New Testament: ye are a royal 
priesthood. But what does it sig¬ 
nify what the New Testament 
says ; the liturgy of some churches 
say , we have priests, and they 
must have tithes . 


London ; Printed by Thomas Osborn, 11, Princes Street, Bridgewater Square; Published 
by WILLIAM HONE, at G7, Old Bailey, three doors from Ludgate Hill; where 
COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be addressed ; ;yid sold at 55, Fleet Street— 
Puce Two-Pence each, r*s. per Hundred, or 51. lUs. per Thousand. 


V 









Pi •ice Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 17.] Saturday, May 17, 1^17. [Vol. X. 


CONTENTS. 

Earl Grey, and my Case--Mr. CAN¬ 
NING'S PARODY from the Com¬ 
mon Prayer Book—Imitation to 
him to exchange Places with me— 
My Letter to the Marshal— Mr. 
Jeremy Bentham’s Reform Cate¬ 
chism—A Lecture to Bishops, on 
Hospitality , Teachings , Filthy Lucre, 
and Covetousness, by the Rev. J. 
Murray, of Newcastle—Governors 
and the Governed. 


TO THE READER. 

I have been attacked with ill¬ 
ness, and am now lying on a sick 
bed in this prison. My disorder 
was preceded by a stupor of 
mind, just as I w as about to begin 
this Register. As my indisposi¬ 
tion has suddenly become vio¬ 
lent, I am nimble to w rite. 

>' ' ^ 


Thursday, 15th May. 

Earl Grey, in an able speech, 
prefacing a motion which was 
negatived, for a copy of the case 
laid before the Crown Lawyers, 
w hereon Lord Sidmoutii justified 
his Circular Letter, mentioned 
inv case, as appears by the fol¬ 
lowing extract from his Lord- 
ship’s speech, in the Times 


a This disposition to profane 
parodies had been used for certain 
purposes on former occasions; 
and improper and profane as they 
w r ere, they were pretended by 
some to be made in support of 
religion. lie would recommend 
the Noble Lord, and the friends 
who surrounded him, to consider 
well the case of sending persons 
before a Magistrate on charges of 
this nature. This was pretty 
well shown in the publication 
called the Anti-Jacobin , which 
contained a parody of this de~ 
scription, and which the Noble 
Earl w ould take the opportunity 
of reading to their Lordships 

** Couriers and Stars, sedition’s evening 
host, 

il Thou Morning Chronicle and Morning 
Post, 

“ Whether ye make the rights of man your 
theme, 

u Your country libel, and your God blas¬ 
pheme, 

(( Or dirt on private worth and virtue 
throw, 

“ Still blasphemous or blackguard, praise 
Lepaux! 

“ And ye five other wandering bards that 
move 

“ In sweet accord of harmony and love, 

“ Coleridge, and Southey, Lloyd and 
Lariibe, and Co. 

(i Tune all your mystic harps to prafce 
Lepaux ! 

« Priestley, and Wakefield, bumble, holy 
men, 

“ Give praises to his name with tonguf’ 
and pen l 

“ Thelwall, and ye that lecture as ye gc, 
“ And, for your pains, get pelted, prank 
Lepaux 1 


___ - - _ _ _ A — 

Printed by W. Hone, G7, Old Bailey, Londons 
















515] Hone’s Reformists’ Registry. [51G 


ii Praise lura, each jacobin, or fool, Or 
knave, 

“ And your cropped heads in sign of wor¬ 
ship wave! 

f< All creeping creatures, venomous and 
low, 

“ Paine, Williams, Godwin, Holcroft, 
praise Lypaux ! 

*• --and -with -- join’d, 

“ And every other beast after his kind. 

And (hou, Leviathan ! on ocean’s brim 
41 Hugest of living tilings that sleep and 
swim ; 

V Thou, in whose nose, by Burke’s gigan¬ 
tic hand, 

“ The hook has fixed to drag thee to the 
land, 

With —*——, -~> and -, in 

thy train ; 

44 And-* wallowing in the yeasty 

main, 

( * Still as ye snort, and puff, and spout, 
and blow, 

4 * In puffing and in spouting, praise Le- 
paux!’’* 

* It is attempted to be denied that the 
verses quoted by Lord Grev, out of the 
Jnti- Jacobin, and given in this paper in 
Our report of the debate, are a parody of 
any part of Holy Writ; though they are 
allowed to bear a resemblance to Milton’s 
Celebrated Morning Hymn. The truth is, 
that so far as the verses are a parody, they 
are a parody both of the Bible and Prayer 
Book, in one ; and of Milton also, who 
copied, for other purposes than those of 
ridicule, the expressions of the sacred 
text. The origin of the verses, and of 
Milton’S Hymn, is to be found in the 
143th Psalm : this was imitated in that 
canticle which is now but seldom read in 
our churches, entitled, “ Benedieite om¬ 
nia opera tua;” and which stands after 
the Te l>eum. Who can deny, that the 
line, 

44 Ail creeping creatures, venomous and 
low, 

<( Paine, Williams, Godwin, IJolcroft, 
praive Lcpaux,” 

% 

is a parody of ‘^ Beasts and all cattle, 
creeping things and flying fowls, praise 
the Lord:” The iteration also of the 
expression, “ praise Lepau'x,” in the place 
of praise the Lord, leaves no doubt of 
the parody. The lines about.putting the 
hoefk into the nose of the Leviathan, are in 
allusion to a passage in Job, “ Canst 
th«u draw out 4iie Leviathan with a hook ? 
* * 4 *. Canst thou put a hook into his 
lto.se?’’ ch, xli. b. 1st und 2d. 


Now it appeared lliat a Mr* Honk 
was proceeded against for pub¬ 
lishing some blasphemous paro¬ 
dy ; but he had read one of the 
same nature, written, printed, 
and published, some years ago, 
by other people, without any no¬ 
tice having been officially taken 
of if. He wished to learn what 
the distinction was that was to be 
made respecting- such produc¬ 
tions by the Government and the 
Attorney-General* If a publisher 
was now to he proceeded against 
for such publications, as insult¬ 
ing- religion and undermining the 
safety of the state, he appre¬ 
hended that the authors of the 
Anti-JacoRin, whether they were 
in the Cabinet or in any other 
place, Mould also he found out* 
and visited with the penalties of 
the law.’’— -(Hear, hear !) 

The verses are a Parody on the 
Benedieite in the Common Prayer 
Book, and are attributed to the 
Rf. Hon. George Canning. [ 
entreat the JJttorney-General, that 
he will send Mr. Canning here, 
to bear me company. But, alas! 
1 have no hope of this; for Mr* 
Canning is a Cabinet Jllinist&r , 
with places for himself, and pen¬ 
sions for his relations; whilst 
William Hone is a humble book¬ 
seller, with a large family, and 
scarcely means to keep them.— 
“ This comes of aping oue’s bet- 
“ ters,’’ as folks say; or, as 8an- 
c ho would observe, “ What is 
“ on#man's meat, is another man’s 
“ poison.” If the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral will not listen to my call, I 
invite Mr. Canning to exchange 
places with me. I have really 
the vanity to believe, that Mere 
he in the King’s Bench Prison, 
and I in the Cabinet, the affairs 
of the nation would not go on 











517] May 17,1817- [518 


the worse, because one Parody- 
maker became a Minister instead 
of another* 

x411 that I ask and demand, is 
JUSTICE ; but things are ag'ainst 
me. “ For many years,” Earl 
Grey emphatically remarks in 
his speech, “ 1 have seen with 
“ pain, that all things have tend- 
5< ed to the establishment of mili- 
“ tarv dominion; our habits have 
“ been entirely changed, and in- 
*• stead of being a pacific or 
“ naval nation, we have been gra- 
54 dually converting ourselves 
“ into a warlike and a military 
<s people. If the country still 
“ proceeds in this fatal course, 
i4 one of two things must inevi- 
* tably happen—-either the Peo- 
* 4 pie will be driven to open vio- 
44 lence to regain their freedom, 
u or, a military despotism will 
“ be established on the ruins of 
w the Constitution.” 


On awaking this morning, and 
finding' my fever abated, 1 ad¬ 
dressed the following letter to the 
Marshal of this prison. 

King’s Bench Prison, 
May 15, 1817. 
Sir, 

I have a motion to make in 
my case, and wishing to do this in 
person, you will oblige me by 
taking requisite steps for my go¬ 
ing into Court for that purpose 
to-morrow. 

I am, Sir, 

Your most obedient Servant, 

William Hone. 

William Jones, Esq. 

Marshal, &c. &c. 

Whatever my fate may he, I 
am resolved to use every effort in 


my present situation which may- 
lie of use to my country. I am 
so fatigued by writing this trifle, 
that I must conclude. Some ex¬ 
cellent selections complete the 
sheet* 

WILLIAM HONE. 

P. S. I have since had an in¬ 
terview with Mr. Jones, the Mar¬ 
shal, who informs me that he 
never had such an application 
made to him before, and that he 
has no pow er to take me intoCourt, 
hut by an Order of the Court; 
to obtain which I shall immedi¬ 
ately write to Mr. Litchfield, 
Solicitor to the Treasury; to Sir 
William GARROw,late Attorney- 
General, now a puisne Baron of 
the Exchequer, who filed the 
three informations against me; 
to Sir Samuel Shepherd, the 
present Attorney-General, who 
prosecutes the informations; and 
to Lord ELLENUOROUGH,the Chief 
Justice of the Court of King’s 
Bench, wdiere they are filed. My 
motion in Court will be for a 
rule to show cause why I should 
not he immediately discharged 
out of custody, on the grouud 
of my committal being illegal. 


Mr. JEREMY BENTHAM. 

This wise and valuable man 
has just published a work, en¬ 
titled, 44 Plan of Parliamentarg 
Reform , in the form of a Cate¬ 
chism, with reasons for each 
article ; and an Introduction, 
showing the necessity of radical, 
and the inadequacy of moderate 
Reform.” I notice the work thus 
early, for the purpose of giving 
its first pages. 1 shall speedily 
resume attention to it. 





519] Hone’s Reformists Register. [520 


INTRODUCTION 

To Mr. Jeremy Be^tt ham's 
Reform Catechism. 

. The following little tract was 
written as long ago as in the 
year 1809. It was offered at the 
time to one of the time-serving 
daily prints, in which other pa¬ 
pers on the same subject had 
already found admittance. No 
name was sent with it: and, the 
weathercock being at that time 
upon the turn, insertion was de¬ 
clined. 

From that time to the present, 
despair of use kept this, together 
with so many other papers, upon 
the shelf. In a state of things, 
such as the present, if in any, 
they possess a chance of finding 
readers.—Sad condition of human 
nature! until the cup of cala¬ 
mity, mixt up by misrule, has 
been drunk to the very dregs, 
never has the man a chance of 
being heard, who would keep it 
it from men's lips. 

For a long time past had the 
* necessity,—and not only the ne¬ 
cessity, but supposing it attain¬ 
able, the undangerousness,—of a 
Parliamentary Reform, and that 
a radical one, presented itself to 
any mind, if not in a light as yet 
sufficiently clear for communica¬ 
tion, at any rate in the strongest 
colours. • Long had this sole pos¬ 
sible remedy against the other¬ 
wise mortal disease of misrule, 
been regarded by me as the 
country’s only hope. Long had 
1 beheld, and not long after did 
1 delineate the road to national 
ruin, in the ecomony of Edmund 
Bui 'ke> adopted and enforced 
under William. Pitt , by the pen 
of his confidential adviser Mr. 


Rose. The first of these sketches 
is already before the public;* 
the other will soon be so. 

Drawn on, in the road to that, 
gulf, from those times down to 
the present,—the country, if my 
eyes do not deceive me, is already 
at the very brink: reform or con¬ 
vulsion, such is the alternative. 
How faint soever the hope of 
its being attainable,—I for one, 
under the disease under which I 
see the country lingering, cannot 
discover any other than this one 
possible remedy. Of the com¬ 
position of it—such as in my 
conception it must be, to be pro¬ 
ductive of any effect—some con¬ 
ception was and is now endea¬ 
voured to be given in the ensuing 
little tract. On the subject of 
the necessity, more than a few 
introductory pages cannot at 
this time, and in this place, be 
spared. To give any adequate 
conception of it would require a 
much larger work. 

For the destruction of every 
thing by w hich the Constitution 
of this country has ever been dis¬ 
tinguished to its advantage, no 
additional measures need be em¬ 
ployed; let but the principles 
already avowed continue to be 
avowed—let but the course of 
action, dictated by those princi¬ 
ples, be persevered in—the con¬ 
summation is effected. 

Gagging Bills—suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act—inter¬ 
diction of ail communication be¬ 
tween man and man, for any 
such purpose as that of com¬ 
plaint or remedy—all these have 
already become precedent—all 
these are in preparation—all 
these are regarded as things of 
course. 

* In the Pamphleteer, No, 17, for Jan.1817* 





£31] May 17, 1817. [532 


The pit is already dug: one 
after another, or all together, the 
securities called English Liberties 
will be cast into it. With the 
sacred name of Reform on their 
lips, and nothing better than riot 
or pillage in their hearts, let but 
a dozen or a score of obscure 
desperadoes concert mischief in 
a garret or an alehouse, fear will 
be pretended, prudence and wis¬ 
dom mimicked—-honest cowards 
will be made to acquiesce and 
to co-operate by feigned cow¬ 
ardice -for the transgression of 
the dozen or the score, the 
million will be punished, and 
from the subjects of a disguised 
despotism will be made such 
under a despotism in form, to 
which disguise is no longer ne¬ 
cessary -such is the state of 
things, for which it is time for 
every man to prepare himself. 

As for the Habeas Corpus Jlct , 
better the statute-book w'ere rid 
of it. Standing' or lying as it 
does, up one day, down another, 
it serves but to swell the list 
of sham-securities, with which, 
to keep up the delusion, the 
pages of our law books are de¬ 
filed. When no man lias need 
of it, then it is that it stands:— 
comes a time when it might be 
of use, and then it is suspended. 


A LECTURE TO BISHOPS. 

A Bishop must be blameless—given to 
hospitality—apt to teach;—not gree¬ 
dy of filthy lucre;—not covetous .— 
1 Timothy, cli. iii. ver. 2, 

Hospitality, my Lords, is a 
scriptural qualification of a 
Bishop ; and without being given 
or inclined to the practice there¬ 
of, no person has a right to that 


office. OjTu?!** or signifies a lover 
of strangers, or persons who 
can be of no advantage by 
either their interest or favour to 
a Bishop, Its primitive signifi¬ 
cation was expressed by the 
practice of the first Christians, 
and their Bishops. When stran¬ 
gers came recommended by other 
Christian Churches to the Elders, 
and members of any distant 
Church, they were received by 
the overseers and members 
thereof, with as much love and 
affection as if they were resi- 
denters among them ; they were 
kept free of all expenses while 
they stayed, and set forward in 
their travels by the pastors and 
members ©f the churches where- 
ever they came. This duty is 
more especially recommended to 
Bishops, because they ought to 
he examples to others to stir 
them up to humanity and bro¬ 
therly kindness. In such a 
wealthy Church as that in which 
your Lordships have the honour 
to be Bishops, there is much in 
your power, and much to be ex> 
pected at your hands. If you 
are Christians, hospitality will be 
your study; you will be given 
to it, and practise it constantly. 
It is a noble feeling, which arises 
from the reflection of doing good 
to others, especially the distress¬ 
ed, The chief objects of Chris-, 
tian hospitality are the poor ; to 
those your Lordships ought to 
be kind for the sake of him who 
came to save them, and who, 
during his residence here on 
earth, >vas poor himself, and 
showed a peculiar regard to the 
poor, that we through his poverty 
might be made rich,. Your Lord-, 
ships must undoubtedly know 
that it is not hospitality to enter** 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [5*24 


tain the rich; and those elegant 
entertainments which are to be 
met with at the tables of modern 
Bishops, deserve rather the name 
of luxury than hospitality. It 
is not hospitality to entertain 
Dukes, Lords, and Gentlemen ; 
for those are abundantly able to 
entertain themselves. The pre¬ 
cept extends to the poor, who in 
equity have a claim upon all per¬ 
sons of substance for supply, es¬ 
pecially upon you who have large 
benefices , and ought, according' 
to your profession, to live mo¬ 
derately. The expense of your 
tables and retinue is altogether 
superfluousit may waste your 
substance, and shorten your lives, 
hut can do you no real service. 
How much more pleasure would 
you have in feeding' the hungry, 
and clothing' the naked !—Aud 
mind, my Lords, that he who 
giveth to the poor, lendeth to the 
JLord ; and that which he giveth , 
he will repay him, again ♦ If the 
words of our Saviour can have 
any weight with the successors 
of the Apostles, I shall s^t before 
you the true method of hospita¬ 
lity, as recommended by himself. 
Whai thou makest a dinner or a 
supper, call not thy friends, nor 
thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen , 
Dior thy rich neighbours ; lest they 
also bid thee again, and a recom¬ 
pense be made thee . But when 
thou makest a feast, call the poor, 
the maimed, the blind: and thou 
shall he blessed ; for they cannot 
:recompense thee: for thou shall 
the recompensed at the resurrection 
of the just.* There, my Lords, 
is a very simple and plain me¬ 
thod of hospitality, which is 
worthy of your serious conside¬ 
ration; it is reasonable and ju- 

** Luke Jiiv. -IS* 13., el. 


dicious, and the authority enjoin-? 
ing it is of the highest nature. 
You dare not presume to say, 
that our Lord's authority is not 
sufficient to authenticate this 
practice of hospitality. Why 
then is it not observed by such 
as call themselves his disciples? 
The alternative is plain; you 
must either give up all claim to 
the character of ChristianBishops, 
or practise this divine scheme of 
hospitality. But the resurrec¬ 
tion of the just, yoit will say, is 
long- credit; but it is sure; the 
word of the faithful and true 
Witness will never deceive. It 
is all you have for the fonnda? 
tion of your hope of salvation; 
and if you rest the expectation 
of your future happiness upon 
the word of our Lord, why may 
you not trust him with the re? 
compense of your hospitality? 
If he shall pay you in spiritual 
happiness, for the good you do 
to his poor children, you will be 
well recompensed. 

It is amazing, my Lords, that 
our Saviour has not required the 
smallest degree of your tempora? 
lities, without promising you 
better things at the resurrection 
of the just, The very changing 
of those vile bodies of yours, 
which you are so anxious to pam¬ 
per in this life, will be of far 
more value than all your bene? 
flees, though you should part 
with them all;—and to have them 
fashioned like to Christ’s glorious 
body, is an amazing privik'ge. 
Ah, my Lords, we seldom hear 
of any of your rank engaged in 
this noble Christian practice. 
—There are many accounts of 
grand entertainments at your 
several palaces, when many No¬ 
blemen and dignified Clergymen 




Ml Y 



are present, who devour as 
much in one day as would sup¬ 
ply the wants of many poor hun¬ 
gry Christians for a month. This, 
by some of your friends, is ac¬ 
counted hospitality; but it de¬ 
serves another name. You should 
call it rioting and drunkenness, 
chambering and want mm ess. But 
lest I should offend you or your 
friends with Scripture phraseo¬ 
logy, I shall call it great luxury. 
—Luxury, the bane of the age, 
and of which you, my Lords, are 
the most notable examples. The 
poor, the halt, and the maimed, 
are cloistered up in poor houses 
and hospitals, as if they belonged 
to another class of beings, and 
treated with all the austerity and 
disrespect that ignorant over¬ 
seers and haughty church¬ 
wardens please to exercise over 
them:—and, Sirs, they seldom 
or never have the pleasure of 
your visitation. There isamaxim 
concerning true and undefiled 
religion, given by an Apostle, 
which all Bishops ought to re¬ 
member. Pure and undefiled re¬ 
ligion is to visit the widow an d the 
^fatherless in their affliction ; and 
it is added, and to keep yourselves 
unspotted f rom the world. Your 
Lordships seldom observe this 
maxim. It is a pity, my Lords, 
for it is a noble one, and worthy 
of every Christian’s attention. It 
is a glorious hospitality to re¬ 
lieve distress, and make glad the 
hearts of the poor ; it is God-like, 
and worthy of Christian Bishops. 
Be ye merciful, as your Father 
in Heaven is merciful. Could you 
desire a more excellent pattern? 
You certainly say. No; but why 
do ye not imitate it? Your reli¬ 
gious character obliges you to 
the practice thereof, and your 


large benefices put it iu your 
power to do it; you are there¬ 
fore inexcusable if you neglect 
it. But what can be expected 
from such poor sinners as you 
are, who wilfully pervert the 
laws of Jesus Christ, and seek 
after the honours of this world, 
and the pleasures of sense ? 
When your Lord corneth, my 
Lords, all these honours will 
avail you nothing. You must 
give an account of your hospita¬ 
lity. You must appear not as 
Lords Spiritual before his throne, 
but as those who must give an 
account. 

Allow me to suppose for once, 
that the history of your hospi¬ 
tality should be inquired into, 
what would you answer? Will it 
be sufficient to say, that his 
Grace of Canterbury always kept 
a good bouse at Lambeth and 
Croydon;—that Ins Grace of York 
entertained elegantly at Bishop 
Thorp ;—that Carnham Castle 
was always open for Dukes and 
Lords ;—that Bishop Aukland 
was a ready receptacle for Deans 
and Prebendaries;—and Durham 
Palace open to receive the Judges 
of assize ?—You stare at the sup¬ 
position !—but you will look more 
aghast, when you bear from the 
mouth of the Lord, I teas an 
hungry, and ye gave me no meat; 
l was thirsty , and ye gave me no 
drink ; I was naked, and ye 
clothed me not; I was sick, and 
in prison, and ye did not visit me. 
Christian hospitality, or doing 
good to the poor, is, in truth, my 
Lords, the only true testimony 
that you, or any who profess 
Christianity, can give, that you 
love Jesus Christ. Your learned 
men 
your 


may dispute concerning 
different theories of rejigb 





' Hone’s Reformists’Hegister. [528 


pus sentiments; but if you are 
deficient in this particular, you 
are no more than a sounding brass , 
or a tinkling symbol; the rest of 
your religion is no more than a 
blank in the sight of the Al¬ 
mighty.—When you neglect hos¬ 
pitality, you are neither New 
Testament Bishops, nor true 
Christians, If you think this 
conclusion severe or unjust, I 
appeal to the New Testament, for 
the plain meaning of your Sa¬ 
viours words, ami those of his 
Apostles.—And if you say, who 
is to be judge of the meaning of 
those sacred dictates? My Lords, 
I could even appeal to your own 
judgment; but to deal fairly, I 
Will appeal to any Bishop in 
England, provided he has death 
and the other world in his eye. 
Let me see a Lord spiritual on 
his death-bed, and I will stand 
by liis view of the meaning of 
Scripture; but ii is so plain, 
that lie who runs may read it; 
A Bishop must be given to hos¬ 
pitality . 

2. A Bishop must be apt to 
teach. According to the Apos- 
tolick sentiments, the office of a 
Bishop and a Teacher is all one. 
The Greek word signifies, one 
qualified to instruct, or to re¬ 
ceive instruction ;—to instruct 
the ignorant, or to receive advice 
or instruction from the members 
of the church. No man is qua¬ 
lified to be a Bishop, who is not 
ready to receive advice; for if 
lie is not apt to receive instruc¬ 
tion, he is not fit to teach others. 
My Lords, it is ordinarily a 
maxim with Diocesans, such as 
you, to conclude, as soon as you 
are installed in your office, that 
the members of the church are 
implicitly to -submit to your de¬ 


terminations ; but this is to sup- 
pose, that all the rest of the 
members of the church are in¬ 
capable to judge for themselves, 
and that you are lords over their 
consciences. Such an idea de¬ 
clares plainly, that you are not 
lit to teach; for New Testament 
teachers are not like school** 
masters, who teach children in 
things which they do not know 
at all; but are remembrancers, 
who put them in mind of what 
they have already an opportunity 
to know'. No man is truly qua¬ 
lified for the office of a Bishop, 
who wants to impose his own 
dictates upon others, without first 
offering evidence and proof for 
his doctrine;—and even when 
he has done this, he has no right 
to say that others are obliged to 
receive it. He is apt to teach, 
who is endued w ith the gift of 
comparing spiritual things witij 
spiritual, in such a manner as to 
represent (o the minds of others, 
the plain and true spirit of Divine 
Revelation. 

The Apostles, who must be 
allow ed to be possessed of this 
qualification, did not pretend to 
teach dogmatically, by imposing 
their own opinions upon the 
chinches ; on all occasions they 
appealed to the writings of Moses 
and the Prophets , and the private 
judgment of every individual, 
i he Christians at Berea are ac¬ 
counted more noble than others, 
because they did not receive the 
Apostolick doctrines implicitly, 
but examined the Scriptures, to 
see if those doctrines w hich the 
Apostles taught, were consistent 
with what had been before 
written in the Scriptures. Apt¬ 
ness to'teach, which the Apostles 
w r ere chiefly endued with, con- 







629] 


May 17,1817. 


sisted in a readiness to show, in 
a plain manner, the consistency 
of the gospel dispensation, with 
the promises and prophecies 
which went before concerning 
the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
The Apostles of Christ taught no 
new doctrines; all those truths 
and practices which they de¬ 
clared to the churches, were long 
before spoken of by some of 
those extraordinary men, whom 
God had raised up to inform 
mankind, what in some future 
period should be made more 
plain. The gospel is only a new 
dispensation of ancient truths, 
which were but more darkly 
revealed to the church.—And all 
the Bishops in England may be 
challenged to show any truth 
ct doctrine taught by Jesus 
Christ, or his Apostles, of which 
there are not some hints given 
in the ancient Scriptures.—Our 
Lord and his disciples did indeed 
make the spirit of the Old Tes¬ 
tament writers more plain, and 
showed what none before was 
ever able to do, namely, that 
what happened to him, and what 
was now accomplished, was the 
spirit and intention of the Old 
Testament.—The qualification of 
a Bishop, mentioned in the text, 
consisted of an ability in the 
teacher, to show the agreement 
of the writings of the Apostles, 
with the words of Jesus and the 
prophetic declarations.—And no 
man is fit to be an overseer in a 
New Testament church, who is 
not qualified to show the spirit 
and design of the Prophets and 
Apostles of Jesus Christ. My 
Lords, it is too often the case for 
men who assume the office and 
character of Bishops, to consider 
the benefice more than the qua¬ 


lifications that belong to the 
office ; and this is the reason 
why the churches are filled with 
ignorant and unlearned men ; 
for, with all deference to your 
ordinations, there are many who 
mean to be Bishops, abundantly 
ignorant. Does not every Cler¬ 
gyman who receives Priests 
orders, expect, some time or 
other, to wear the mitre?—There 
is nothing to hinder any Priest 
from being* advanced to lawn 
sleeves, except the want of 
friends at Court. 

To be apt to teach require* 
great skill in the Scriptures; 
and every Bishop must under¬ 
stand the word of God, other¬ 
wise he must be considered as a 
person who loves the benefice, 
but not the duty which belong® 
to the office. 

3. A Bishop must not be greedy 
of filthy lucre. This is a nega¬ 
tive qualification of a New Testa¬ 
ment overseer in the Church. 
The Greek word sig¬ 

nifies shameful gain , or emolu¬ 
ments obtained dishonourably; 
such as a Bishop enjoying a bene¬ 
fice by the interest of friends , 
without teaching those who are 
under his charge. A Bishop 
may truly be said to be greedy 
of filthy lucre, w hen his maiu de¬ 
sign is to obtain a living - , with¬ 
out the least intention of doing 
his duty. But such men, my 
Lords, ought not to be Bishops, 
according' to the apostolick 
maxim. I know r that such re¬ 
flections as these will sit but light 
upon the minds of those w ho are 
in the possession of so many 
thousands a year :—but you can¬ 
not always keep a hold of tftose 
w r ages of unrighteousness—Your 
systems of sensations must soon 





SO I ] Hones Reformists* Register. [532 


be dissolved, and truth and duty 
will appear to you in a different 
point or light.—It is undoubtedly 
mean to strive to seek after those 
tilings with anxiety, which in a 

few’ years you must he ashamed 

«/ *> 

of. It argues a real forgetfulness 
of the life to come, for men to be 
striving about temporal emolu¬ 
ments under the cover of reli¬ 
gious offices, which they never 
intend to fulfil; for a Bishop, who 
enjoys some thousands a year, to 
covet a Prebend in a Collegiate 
Church, where he seldom does 
duty, argues a prodigious greed 
of filthy lucre. Such gain is 
really shameful, and unworthy of 
any religious character. My 
Lords, it cannot be proved that 
the Church is one degree the 
better of such greedy teachers 
as ye are. The money which ye 
devour might do a great deal of 
service, provided it were applied 
to relieve the poor and the dis¬ 
tressed : for men who have large 
patrimonies of their own, to thirst 
after gain so greedily, under a 
pretence of serving the Church, 
savours rank of unbelief and co¬ 
vetousness. It is impossible for 
any persons who believe the 
Bible, to go on as you do ; it can 
be nothing* but a spirit of infi¬ 
delity which makes you thus per¬ 
vert the Scriptures, and flee in 
the face of Revelation .—A Bishop 
must not be greedy of filthy lucre , 
is a positive maxim ; and while 
it stands recorded in the New 
Testament, ought carefully to be 
attended to. 

4. A Bishop must not be covet¬ 
ous .—The Scripture calls covet¬ 
ousness idolatry; and it would 
be very unbecoming in a New’ 
Testament .Bishop to bow down 
to an idol. It is of small conse¬ 


quence whether a .Bishop be 
worshipper of mental or molten 
images ; an idol in the affections, 
of whatever quality, is an abomi¬ 
nation in the sight of Cod. Co¬ 
vetousness in tlie sight of God is 
the same as idol-worship. Co¬ 
vetousness, according to the 
text, signifies a love of money. 
A Bishop should not love money, 
nor set his affections upon the 
sordid things of this world. If he 
has a heart disposed towards 
riches; if money,or the pleasures 
of ease, employ his affections, 
he is unworthy of the office of 

V 

a Bishop : for how can he teach 
others to deny the world, if he 
himself is a lover of the things 
thereof. The heathens consider¬ 
ed the love of money, and an 
anxious pursuit after worldly 
things, as both wicked. and mean. 
—You know, my Lords, that 
Ovid calls it 

-Amor sceleratcs habendi j 

which is a sentiment big with 
meaning. 

It is a palpable sign of covet¬ 
ousness, for any person who en¬ 
joys a fortune of his own, suffi¬ 
cient to make any Christian man 
live comfortably, to thirst after a 
Church living, and undertake an 
office which he is not either qua¬ 
lified to fulfil, or never intends 
to discharge.—It is a proverb 
among the common people, that 
the clergy are always greedy: 
and, my Lords, I remember a 
Prophet of the Lord added the 
epithet of dogs to a set of clergy 
not unlike yourselves. To make 
you understand covetousness a 
little better, I shall give the Pro¬ 
phet’s opinion at large. His 
watchmen are blind: they are all 
ignorant , they are all dumb dogs. 







533] May K 

they cannot hark; sleeping, lying 
down , loving to slumber! Yea, 
they are greedy dogs, which cart 
never have enough , and they are 
shepherds that cannot understand: 
they all look to their own way, 
every one for his gain , from his 
quarter . Come ye , f/it??/, I 

will fetch wine, and we will fill 
ourselves with strong drink ; and 
to-morrow skull be' as this day , 
find much more abundant .* 

Those clergymen thus charac¬ 
terised by the Prophet, were not 
mean men, nor insignificant 
country Curates, as you may ima¬ 
gine. They were lligh Priests, 
like you, and the very heads of 
the national establishment; and 
the Lord, by the Prophet, calls 
them dumb dogs ? because they 
did not speak his word to the 

S le, but lived at ease, and 
ected their duty, which they 
were bound to perform for re¬ 
ceiving such large perquisites. 
When they were living in the 
absolute neglect of every duty 
belonging- to their office, they 
could never have enough; and 
everyone of them was zealous in 
looking after his gain from his 
quarter. I will be sorry to say, 
my Lords, that these Jewish 
Priests were types of you; but 
there is certainly some resem¬ 
blance, in the matter of covetous¬ 
ness, between you and them. 
They were fonder of increasing 
the revenues of the Church than 
fulfilling the offices that they 
were engaged to perform; they 
tithed every thing, but did no¬ 
thing-, except what they ought 
not to have done. Instead of 
watching, they slept ; and when 
they should have fasted and 
prayed, they rioted in luxury, 

* isaiah lvi. 10. 


1811 v [53 1 

and drank wine and strong drink. 
Covetousness is a naughty qua¬ 
lity in any person, but it is altoge¬ 
ther unseemly for a Bishop. 

v * 


GOVERNORS 

, AND 

THE GOVERNED, 

(Written in the year 1752); 

A Dialogue between Lord l 7 —, 
just come ofi Age — Mr, 1 )—, a 
Gentleman of Fortune — Air, C\, 
bred to the Law.—-In a mixed 
Company. 

Lord F, Pray tell me, you 
who know, what is this other 
book—this answer to Burke, 
that I have been bored with?— 
Somebody wanted me to read it. 
but I had neither patience nor in¬ 
clination. it seems from the ac¬ 
count other people have given 
me, to be very seditious—I won¬ 
der they don’t punish the author, 
who they say is quite a low sort 
of fellow. What does he mean 
by his Rights of Man, and his 
Equality? What wretched and 
dangerous doctrine to dissemi¬ 
nate among the Lazarroni of 
England, where they are always 
i;eady enough to murmur against 
their betters ? I hope our Go¬ 
vernment will take care to silence 
such a demagogue, before he 
puts it into the heads of the sans 
culottes in England, to do as they 
have done in France, and even 
before he gets some of the rag¬ 
ged rogues hanged. They rights ! 
poor devils, who have neither 
shirts nor breeches. 

Mr. D. Suffer me to inquire 
whether these men, whom your 
Lordship calls Lazarroni , may 







585 } Hone’s Reform 

not be urged to revolt by those 
very miseries which expose them 
to your contempt ? and whether 
such extreme poverty and wretch¬ 
edness does not show the neces¬ 
sity of some alteration in the Go¬ 
vernment where they exist ? If 
Government be allowed to be for 
the benefit of the governed, not 
the governors, surely their com¬ 
plaints should be heard. 

Lord F. Why, what would 
you have Government do ? How 
can it prevent such sort of things? 
By what means can it obviate 
these discontents, and remove the 
complaints these stupid dogs 
make in their libellous pamphlets 
and papers ? Would you have 
the Minister keep a slop shop, 
to suppply the sans culottes with 
their necessaries gratis? [This 
convincing argument, which the 
whole company applauded with 
a loud laugh, gave the Right 
Hon. speaker such confidence in 
his own.powers, that without per¬ 
mitting a reply, he proceeded.} 
—I insist upon it that there is no 
cause of complaint in this coun¬ 
try ; nobody is poor unless it be 
by their own fault, and nobody 
is oppressed : as to the common 
people, the mob, or whatever you 
please to call them, what were 
they born for, but to work ? And 
here comes a fellow, and tells 
them about their rights—they 
have no rights—they can have 
none, hut to labour for their su¬ 
periors; and if they are idle his 
their own faults, and not the 
fault of the Constitution, in which 
there are no imperfections, and 
which cannot by any contrivance 
be made better, 

Mr. I). Your Lordship, whose 
comprehensive mind probably 
looks forward to the time when 


iists’ Register. [536 

you will yourself make one of 
that illustrious body that Mr, 
Burke describes as the Corinthian 
pillar of polished society, has I 
dare say, in travelling through 
other countries, made the Go? 
vernment of your own your pe¬ 
culiar study; and by contrasting 
it with those you have seen, you 
have learned to appreciate its 
value. But although I think our 
form of government is certainly 
the best—not that can be ima¬ 
gined—but that has ever been 
experienced; I would have our 
boast of her excellence just- 
riot the mere cant which we have 
learned by rote, and repeat by 
habit ; though, when we venture 
to think about it, we know that 
it is vanity and prejudice, and 
not truth, when we speak of its 
wonderful perfection; and that 
even those who are its jnost de¬ 
cided partizans, are continually 
betrayed into an acknowledg¬ 
ment of its defects. Boswell, 
in his Life of Johnson, says, 
“ that in the British Parliament, 
any question, however unreason¬ 
able or unjust, may be carried by 
a venal majority,” If this be so, 
it follows, that while the means of 
corruption exist to an extent so 
immense, there must be a venal 
majority; and of course, every 
question, however ruinous, will 
be carried. While this is the 
case, and while every attempt to 
remedy this original sin of the 
Constitution is opposed—though 
the necessity of that remedy has 
been allowed by the greatest 
statesmen of our country-—while 
every proposal to make it really x 
what it is only nominally , raise* 
a cry as if the subversion of the 
whole empire was intended—I 
cannot agree to unlimited praise \ 




587] May 17 

and thoug'li I should he willina - 
to allow that a greater portion of 
happiness is diffused among the 
subjects of the British Govern¬ 
ment, than among any other peo¬ 
ple upon earth; yet this would 
rather prove that their condition 
is very wretched, than that ours 
is perfectly happy. Let those 
who boast of the 'perfection of 
our Constitution, consider the 
dreadful contrasts in the condi¬ 
tion of the people under it. Who 
can walk through the streets of 
London without being shocked 
by them ? Here , a man who 
possesses an immense income, 
which has been given him for his 
servile attendance, or his venal 
voice—-an income which is paid 
from the burdensome imposts 
laid on the people, is seen driv¬ 
ing along in a splendid equipage, 
his very servants clothed in pur- 
le and fine linen, and testifying 
y their looks that they fare 
sumptuously every day. There , 
extended on the pavement, lies 
one of those very people whose 
labour has probably contributed 
to the support of this luxury, 
begging wherewithal to continue 
his degraded existence of the 
disgusted passenger, who turns 
from the spectacle of his squalid 
wretchedness. In our daily prints 
this shocking inequality is not 
less striking. In one paragraph 
we are regaled with an eulogium 
on the innumerable blessings, 
the abundant prosperity, of our 
country; in the next, we read 
the melancholy and mortifying 
1st of numerous bankrupts, or 
unhappy debtors, &c. 

To-day, we see displayed in 
* tinselled panegyric, the superb 
trapping, the gorgeous orna¬ 
ments, the jewels of immense 


, 1817, [538- 

value, with which the illustrious 
personages of our land amaze 
and delight us. To-morrow, we 
read of a poor man, an ancient 
woman, a deserted child, who 
were found dead in such or such 
alleys or streets, supposed to 
have perished through want and 
the inclemency of the weather— 
And is it possible to help ex* 
claiming— 

-“ Take physic, pomp— 

“ Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel; 
“ So shall thou shake the superflux to them, 
“ And show the heavens more just.” 

Shakespeare. 

Lord F. Well, Sir! and what 
then ? Have we not laws by 
which our poor are amply, mag¬ 
nificently provided for ? 

Mr. IX That they were intend¬ 
ed to be so, I believe; but how 
those laws are perverted, let 
the frequent, the meritorious, but 
unsuccessful attempts to amend 
them, bear witness. Their abuse, 
the heaviness with which they 
press on one part of the commu¬ 
nity, without relieving the other, 
and their tendency to create po¬ 
verty by their very operation in 
order to reduce it, are amongst 
the greatest evils we complain 
of. But here, as in twenty other 
instances, every attempt at re¬ 
dress is silenced by the noli me 
tangere , the touch-me-not , which 
our Constitution lias been made 
to say, and which has been 
echoed without inquiry by all 
who have either interest in pre¬ 
serving’ the inviolability even of 
its acknowledged defects, or who 
have*been brought up in preju¬ 
dices, that make them believe 
our ancestors were so much 
wiser thair we are; that it is a 
sort of sacrilege to doubt the per¬ 
fection of the structure they raised, 





hno] 

and (o imagine an edifice of 
greater strength and simplicity. 
If these prejudices are enforced 
and continued—if every attempt 
to repair what time has injured, 
or amend what is acknowledged 
to be defective, is opposed as 
dangerous, and execrated as im¬ 
pious, let us go on till the build¬ 
ing falls upon our heads, and let 
those who escape the ruins con¬ 
tinue to meditate on the prodi¬ 
gious advantages of this holy re- 
verence, and to boast of the hap¬ 
piness of being Englishmen! 

Mr. C. 1 should be glad, Sir, 
since you at least seem to have 
none of this respect; 1 should be 
glad, if your sagacity would point 
out some of those other defects 
in the structure of the English 
Constitution, which doubtless 
you have discovered. 

Mr. D. That is not very diffi¬ 
cult ; and I should begin by say¬ 
ing, that its very foundation is 
defective, from the inequality of 
representation, were that asser¬ 
tion not allowed by every one as 
an incontrovertible truth; and 
had not there been such repeated 
mockeries, such frequently re¬ 
newed farces acted, to amuse us 
with the pretended efforts at a 
reform, which never was intend¬ 
ed, nor can ever be carried into 
effect, but by the unanimous and 
determined perseverance of the 
people. To turn to another very 
common subject of acknowledg¬ 
ed complaint—I mean the penal 
laws—laws, by which the pro¬ 
perty and the life of the indivi¬ 
dual are put on an equal footing, 
and by which murder, or a rob¬ 
bery to the amount of 40s. are 
offences equally punished with 
death. Is it possible to reflect 
without horror, an the numbers 


[540 

that are every year executed* 
while every year’s experience 
proves that this prodigality of 
life renders the punishment fami¬ 
liar, and prevents not crimes? 
Is there a session at the Old Bai-> 
ley, where boys from 15 to 20 
are not condemned ?—Boys, who 
deserted from their infancy, have 
been driven by ignorance and 
want, to violate the laws of that 
society, which 

“ Shakes her incumbered lap, atid throw 
them out.” Cowper. 

Why do we boast of the mild-* 
ness and humanity of law s, which 
provides punishment instead of 
prevention ? And can we avoid 
seeing, that while they give up 
yearly to the hands of the execu¬ 
tioner greater numbers than die 
the victims of public justice in 
all the other European countries 
reckoned together, we must, in 
spite of our national vanity, ac¬ 
knowledge, either that the Eng¬ 
lish are the worst, and most un¬ 
principled race of men in E urope, 
or that their penal laws are the 
most sanguinary of those of any 
nation under heaven. Attempts 
have been made to remedy this 
enormity, which I cannot help 
calling a national disgrace ; but 
like every other endeavour at par¬ 
tial correction of abuses, these 
humane efforts have been baffled 
on the usual principle, that no¬ 
thing must he touched, nothing 
must be changed. 

Mr. C. Really, Sir, yon are a 
most able advocate for beggars 
and thieves. 

Mr. I). At least, Sir, I am a 
disinterested one; for I plead 
for those w r ho cannot fee me-—but 
it is not for beggars and thieves* 
as you are pleased to say, that I 
plead ; it is for the honour of my 


tloNffs Reformists’ Register 





1 ] May 17 

country—for the reform of the 
laws which occasion beg gars and 
th ieves to exist in such numbers, 
while we ostentatiously boast 
that those laws are the best in 
the world. Nor is it only the 
penal laws that seem to want al¬ 
teration. From the continual 
complaints of the defects of our 
law, as it relates to the protection 
of property, it does not seem to 
deserve the praise of superiority 
which we arrogantly claim. We 
hear every day of suits in which 
even success is ruin; and we 
know that far from being able to 
obtain in our Courts that speedy, 
clear, decisive and impartial jus¬ 
tice, which from their institution 
they are designed to give, a vic¬ 
tory, obtained after being sent 
through them all, is often much 
worse than a retreat—the remedy 
more fatal than the disease. So con¬ 
scious are even the lawyers them¬ 
selves of this, that if one of them, 
as may happen , has a personal 
regard for his client, and is wil¬ 
ling to wave pechniary advantage 
in his favour, such a lawyer will 
say—“ I)o any thing—submit to 
any compromise—put up with 
any loss, rather than go to law.” 
One of our Courts is called that 
of Equity, where the widow, the 
orphan, the deserted, and the 
unhappy of every description— 
who have money —are to hud pro¬ 
tection and redress; yet it is too 
certain, that such are the delays, 
such the expenses in this Court, 
that the ruinous tediousness of a 
Chancery suit, is become prover¬ 
bial—the oppressed may perish, 
before they can obtain the reme¬ 
dy they seek ; and where, under 
the direction of this Court, liti¬ 
gated property comes to be di¬ 
vided. it continually happens, 


■ 1817 . [ 54 & 

that by the time a decision is oh* 
tamed, there is nothing to divide. 
—The poet I just now quoted, 
says, 

- (t In this rank age 

“ Mach is the patriot’s weeding hand re¬ 
quired.” Thompson. 

But, alas! especial care is taken, 
that neither reason nor patriotism 
shall touch too ruddy. 

c ‘ The toils of law, where dark insidious 
men 

Have cumbrous added to perplex tke truth, 
Aud lengthen simple justice into trade.” 

Ibid. 

And yet, 

{< How glorious were the day that saw these 
broke. 

And every man within the*reach of right.” 

Ibid. 

Mr. C. As to your poets, 
there’s no bringing argument 
against their flowery declama¬ 
tion : fine sounding words, about 
rights and liberties, are imposing 
to superficial understandings, but 
cannot convince others—fine flou¬ 
rishing words are not arguments. 

Mr. D. Nor does there need 
argument. What I have assert¬ 
ed are matters of fact, not of opi¬ 
nion—truths which cannot be 
denied, and which would require 
some skill to palliate. 

Mr. C. As to truth, Sir, it is 
not always proper to speak it; 
nay, it is not always safe to the 
well-being of a state. The ques¬ 
tion, I think, is not whether a 
thing be exactly conformable to 
your Utopian and impracticable 
schemes, but whether it be ex¬ 
pedient. We know r that indh is 
not expedient ; and that it is the 
business of Government to en¬ 
force obedience, without which it 
would not go on ; not to listen to 
the reasoning of every wild dog- 
mafcist, w ho fancies himself"a phi- 





54S] Hone’s Reformists’ Register* [544 

lesopher, and able to mend what jsont la paste d’un etat. 5> *-—With 


is already good—all such should 
be prevented from disseminating 
their pernicious doctrines, which 
serve only to make men discon¬ 
tent with their situation, to raise 
murmur, and to clog the wheels 
of Government. 

This sentence, most conse¬ 
quentially delivered, was ap¬ 
plauded by all the party J and 
as Mr* D. had nothing to of¬ 
fer against it, but that truth 
which had just been pronounced 
to be inexpedient, he declined 
the contest, saying only,—If 
truth is not to be spoken in a 
Government, calling itself free, 
lest it should be understood by 
the people, who are governed, 
and prevent their freely supply- 
• ing the oil that facilitates the 
movement of the cumbrous ma¬ 
chine—if facts, which cannot be 
denied, be repressed; and rea¬ 
son, which cannot be controvert¬ 
ed, be stifled; the time is not 
far distant when such a country 
may say, adieu, liberty! Let our 
rulers therefore, if they are con¬ 
tent to do so, begin with expel¬ 
ling those who dare speak truth, 
and are so impudent as to reason. 
44 Tons ces gens qui raisonnent 


these persons, all those who rea- 
son> are the pests of a state* 

* Voltaire. 


The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year, have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume’s History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
be at one half the price; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year. 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects ift which he 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested ; and the contents of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a TVeeh, 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve SkiU 
lings. 


*** Applications for the Reformists’ 
Register should be made to the different 
persons who sold Mr. Cobuett’s Weekly 
Political Pamphlet. 

Country orders addressed to Mr. Hone, 
67, Old Bailey, with remittances, or ap¬ 
pointing payment in London, and men¬ 
tioning the conveyance pareels are to be 
sent by, will be punctually executed, and 
bills and placards to hang at doors and shop 
windows enclosed. 

i he Reformists’ Register is charged 
Twelve Shillings. iper Hundred, or 51. 10s. 
per Thousand. 


London: Printed for and Published by WILLIAM HONE, at 67, Old Bailey three 
doors from Ludqate Hill;, where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be 

addressed; and sold at 55, Fleet Sueet-Priee Two t'ence each, i2s.J r Hundred! 
or lA, 1 os, per iftua&aud, * 







Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 18.] Saturday, May 24,1817, [Vol. I. 


MY MOTION IN COURT, 

AND 

The state 

OF THE 

HONOURABLE HOUSE. 


FULL PARTICULARS of mij going 
from the King's Bench Prison, and 
moving the Court for mij DIS¬ 
CHARGE, #c., with Copies of Let¬ 
ters, Affidavits, &,c.—Lord SID- 
MOUTII) and the Cry of BLAS¬ 
PHEMY—Renewal of my Pledge 
to refute it—A correct and COM¬ 
PLETE VIEW of the State of 
PARLIAMENTARY PATRON¬ 
AGE and INFLUENCE, through¬ 
out the Kingdom ; showing by whose 
Nomination and Influence 487 out 
of the 658 Members get into the 
House of Commons. 


In my last Register, I stated that I 
should move the Court of King’s 
Bench to discharge me out of the 
custody of the Marshal—that having 
addressed a letter to the Marshal, re¬ 
questing him t,o take steps for my 
going from this prison into Court for 
that purpose, he informed me he had 
no power to take me to Westminster 
Hall, without an order of Court—and 
that, in order to effect my purpose, I 
intended to write to the Solicitor to 
the Treasury, the Attorney-General, 
and the Lord Chief Justice. This I 
accordingly did, in the following 
terms 


(Copy) 

King’s Bench Prison, 
15 May, 1817. 

The King v. William Hone, on three 
Informations. 

My Lord, 

I, the Defendant, having a motion 
to the Court, which I desire to make 
in person, and the Marshal of this 
prison acquainting me that he has no 
authority or power to take me into 
Court for that purpose, I solicit that 
the requisite measures may be taken 
for my appearance in Court forth- 
with. 

The object of my intended motion 
is the immediate discharge of my 
person from the custody of the Mar¬ 
shal, on grounds which I shall submit 
on affidavit. 

I have written to the Attorney- 
General, Sir Samuel Shepherd, and 
the Solicitors to the Treasury, who 
conduct the prosecutions, to the like 
purport. 

I am, my Lord, 

YourLordship’s most obedient servant^ 
WILLIAM HONE. 

To the Right Honourable Edward Lord 
EllknboRougm, Lord Chief Justice of 
the Court of King’s Bench. 

Copies of the above letter, merely 
varying the style of address, being 
likewise sent, on Thursday evening, 
the 15tli instant, to Sir Samuel Shep¬ 
herd, the new At torney-General, and 
Messrs. Litchfield and HoUnousE, 
Solicitors to the Treasury, I received 
the following the next morning, Fri¬ 
day, tfye 16th instant, between 8 and 
9 o’clock, from Mr. Litchfield, who 
sent over one of his clerks with it. 


Printed by and for W. Hone, 67, Old Bailey, London. 


/ 
















547 ] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


(Copy) 

Lincoln's Inn, May 15, 1317. 

s' 

Upon application to the Clerk of 
the Rules on the Crown side of the 
Court of King’s Bench, you may 
have a Rule of Court for bringing 
you into Court, according to your 
wish. I am your obedient servant, 
li. C. LITCHFIELD. 

Mr. Wm. Honk, 

King's Bench Prison. 

Shortly afterwards, Mr. Jom-es, fhe 
Marshal, acquainted me, that he had a 
tipstaff in readiness to go with me to 
Westminster, as ^oon as the Rule ar¬ 
rived ; and very politely re-assured 
me, that nothing should be wanting 
on his part for my accommodation, 
whilst I remained in his custody. I 
had previously despatched the follow¬ 
ing letter to Mr. Dealtry, whose 
name I did not then know, at the 
Crown - Office, agreeably to Mr. 
Litchfield’s letter, which 1 gave to 
the Messenger to produce. 

(Copy) 

King's Bench Prison, 
16 May, 1317. 

The King v. Myself, on three ex- 
officio Informations. 

Sir, 

Having yesterday applied by letter 
to the Solicitors to the Treasury, to 
His Majesty’s Attorney-General, and 
(to-day) to the Lord Chief Justice, 
respectively, to be brought into Court, 
in order to move for the immediate 
discharge of my person from the cus¬ 
tody of the Marshal, on grounds 
which I shall submit on affidavit; I this 
day received a letter from Mr. Litch¬ 
field, Solicitor to the Treasury, ac¬ 
quainting me, that on application to 
you I may have a Rule of Court, for 
bringing me into Court, according to 
my wish. I accordingly hereby re¬ 
quest a Rule to bring me into Court 
to-morrow. I am. Sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

WILLIAM HONE. 

l o the Clerk of the Rules on the Crow 7 i 

Side oj the Court of King's Bench. 


[548 

My messenger obtained the 7 hilt 
at the Crown-Office, in the evening, 
for which he paid 7s. and I caused it 
to be left with one of the turnkeys 
immediately, keeping the following 

(Copy) 

Friday on the Morrow of the Ascension 

of our Lord, in the fifty-seventh 

Year of King George the Third. 

London—The King against William 
Hone. 

It is ordered, that the Marshal 
of the Marshalsea of this Court, or 
his Deputy, do bring the Defendant 
into this Court on th,e morrow, to 

undergo , $ c. 

Side Bar. 

By the Court, 

As I was now going to move the 
Court, I prepared the affidavit on 
which to ground my motion j and the 
Court, when I was committed, having 
refused to listen to my complaint of 
undue detention, because the coni' 
plaint was not stated by affidavit, I 
also prepared an affidavit of such un¬ 
due detei^ion, and copied them oa 
half-crown affidavit stamps. 

The following morning (Saturday, 
the 17th) I left the King’s Bench 
Prison with a tipstaff. As soon as I 
entered the Court of King’s Bench, 
Westminster Hall, I handed my affi¬ 
davits to the Crier, who swore me 
thereto, and I paid him Is. 6d. for 
each oath. 

Mr. Attorney General. My 
Lord, I do not rise to make any mo¬ 
tion to the Court myself, but I under¬ 
stand that Mr. William Hone, who 
is in custody upon informations, 
charging him with certain blasphe¬ 
mous libels, has given notice of his 
intention to make a motion either for 
his discharge, or some other purpose. 
I am informed that Mr. Hone is now 
in Court, and perhaps your Lordships 
will hear him. 

Lord Ellenborough. He may 
as well move now. 

Mr. Hone now rose and bowed. 
My Lords, 1 have to thank the Court 




649] 


May 24,1817, 



and the Attorney General, as well as 
the Solicitor to the Treasury, for the 
promptitude with which I have been 
brought into Court, to enable me to 
make the motion I have to submit. I 
perceive that the Rule for ray appear¬ 
ance here says,It is ordered that the 
“ Marshal of the Marshalsea of this 
Court, or his deputy, do bring the 
Defendant into this Court, on the 
morrow, to undergo , fife.” The Rule 
not expressing the purpose for which 
I am brought here, the words " to 
undergo, &c.” imply something which 
I do not understand. I trust I have 
not incurred the displeasure of the 
Court, which I infer may be the case, 
from these words ({ to undergo , §c. r 

The Court hesitated a moment. 

Mr. Dealtry (the Clerk in Court, 
.on the Crown side). They are words 
of course, mere words of form. 

Mr- Hone bowed and proceeded. 
My Lords, I feel myself a little at. a 
loss to introduce the motion I have to 
make. In requesting the attention of 
the Court, your Lordships will per¬ 
haps recollect, that wheu I was last 
before the Court, I complained of 
having been taken into custody in such 
a manner, and at such a time, as to 
prevent me from giving due notice of 
bail, in order to obtain my liberation in 
as short a time as possible, and which 
I submit I ought to have had the power 
of doing. When I stated this to the 
Court, I was told, if I had any 
.complaint to make, I must do it by 
affidavit. I have now an affidavit in 
my hand. My Lords, 1 was taken 
into custody on the 3d of May, in the 
open street, in the Old Bailey, a few 
doors from my own dwelling-house, 
where no application had been made 
by the officer, and where he might 
have found me the whole of the. week, 
or at any time that day ; for I had 
been home until about half-past four 
o’clock, and was returning home when 
I was apprehended. The officer re¬ 
fused to go home with me to allow 
me to confer with my wife, and speak 
to my family, previous to his taking 


me to the place where he afterwards 
did. On his proposing to take me 
into the heart of the City, and on my 
remonstrating, he threatened to take 
me to the Compter. I consider, my 
Lords, this to have been very harsh 
treatment to a man in my situation. 
I was not guilty of murder; I was 
not guilty of felony your Lordships 
know the charge which is allege*! 
against me. I thought it particularly 
harsh treatment at that time, and s q 
I do now ; I had no opportunity of 
seeing my wife, when 1 was taken, 
into custody, except just as I was 
passing the door—not being suffered 
to enter the house. I was taken tq 
a coffee-house, and from thence to a 
lock-up-house, where Mr. Gibbon*, 
the tipstaff, promised to come to me 
at half-past eight that evening. He 
did not come. I previously desired, 
both of Lennar d and the tipstaff, t q 
know the amount of bail required; 
but they merely said it was large — 
that there were two other Judge’s 
warrants against me, and could say 
nothing about the bail. Thus being 
taken on the Saturday evening, with¬ 
out knowing, or being able to learn, 
to what amount bail would be required, 
and 48 hours’ notice being necessary, 
I was detained till Monday, without 
the possibility of doing any thing tp 
effect my liberation. There was only 
one warrant in the possession of the 
officer at the time of my arrest, 
but when 1 saw Mr. Gibbons, on 
Sunday, he told me there were 
two other warrants against me ; 
though he could not then tell me oil 
what charges, or the amount of bail 
required. Thus ignorant, f remained 
in custody until Monday morning, 
when I was brought down to this 
Court, and was there, by Sir Wil¬ 
liam Garrow, the late Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral, charged with informations, 
which I for the first time heard of, 
and was required to plead to them. 

! I hope, my Lords, you will see in these 
proceedings, that 1 have reason to 
complain of not having had the means 





551 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [552 


of giving notice of bail. Not wishing 
to detain your Lordships, I submit my 
affidavit. 

1 then handed up the affidavit. 

(Copy) 

IN THE KING’S BENCH. 

London —The King against William 

IIone, on Three Ex-officio Infor¬ 
mations. 

WILLIAM HONE, late of No. 67, 
in the Old Bailey, London, now a 
prisoner of this Court, in custody of 
the Marshal of the King’s Bench 
Prison, maketh oath and saith, that 
on Saturday, the 3d day of May in¬ 
stant, he, this Deponent, was arrested 
in the Old Bailey, in the open street, 
about thirty doors from your Petiti¬ 
oner’s residence, by an officer named 
Lknnard, and another man, by virtue 
of a warrant thin produced by Len- 
nard to this Deponent, dated the 28th 
day of April last, and purporting to 
be signed by the Right Hon. Lord 
Ellenborougii, Lord Chief Justice 
of this Court, directed to Mr. Gibbons 
and another tipstaff; and that this 
Deponent, upon being carried to Ser¬ 
jeant’s Inn Coffee-house, Chancery- 
lane, was informed by Mr. Gibbons, 
that there were other Judge’s warrants 
against this Deponent, and that there¬ 
fore Deponent could not be bailed 
that night—that 48 hours’ notice of 
bail would be required ; but that lie 
would call on Deponent where he 
would be in custody, at half-past 
eight the same evening, and inform 
Deponent further. Deponent was 
thereupon carried by Lennard and an 
assistant to Hemp’s lock-up-house, 
in Serle’s-place, Carey-street, and 
there Deponent requested Lennard. 
to inform him with all despatch of 
the other warrants, and the amount 
of bail required, that he might take 
steps for procuring bail, and giving 
notice thereof that night, in order 
that he might he liberated on 
Monday, which information Lennard 
assured Deponent would speedily be 
furnished to him; and Lennard 


t 


then departed, leaving this Deponent 
and Lord Ellenborough’s warrant 
in custody of Miss Hemp. Deponent 
thereupon requested of Miss Hemp, a 
copy of the waVrant, which she in¬ 
formed Deponent she had no power to 
grant. And this Deponent saith, Ml*. 
Gibbons not calling on, or sending to 
Deponent, that night. Deponent was 
deprived of the means of procuring 
or giving notice of bail tor Monday ; 
but on Monday morning this Depo¬ 
nent, without a moment’s notice, was 
hurried away in a coach to Westmin- 
ster Hall, and there on the instant 
charged with, and had read to him, 
and was required to plead to, ex-officio 
informations, filed against Deponent 
by the Attorney-General, the existence 
of which informations Deponent had 
not been informed of until they were 
rCctcl 

WILLIAM HONE. 

Sworn in open Court, at Westminster, 

the Seventeenth Day of May, 1817. 

By the Court. 

Mr. Dealtry. My Lords, it ap¬ 
pears that there is a little irregularity 
in the affidavit; it is entitled as in 
three informations, and has only a 
single stamp. 

Mr. Hone. I trust, my Lords, if 
there is irregularity, you will impute 
it to my ignorance, and that I may be 
allowed to amend it; I have every 
wish to conform to the usage of the 
Court. 

Lord Ellenborougii. It must be 
set to rights. 

Mr. Dealtry. You may entitle 
the affidavit as on one information. 

I made the requisite alteration. 

Crier. You must re-swear the 
affidavit. 

I re-swore it. 

Mr. De'altry then read the affi¬ 
davit. 

The affidavit was handed up to the 
Court, and read by Lord Ellenbo- 
rough and the other Judges. 

Lord Ellenborougii. What mo¬ 
tion would you make } 







553] May 24,1817. [554 


Air. IIone. I have to complain, 
that through the officers of tTie Court 
I was deprived of the means of giving 
bail. 

Lord Ellenborough. You must 
make some substantive motion. 

Mr. Hone. I can only submit 
myself to your Lordships’ advice in 
. this case. ' 

Lord Ellenborough. The Court, 
has too much to do, to become the 
. advisers of all persons who may con¬ 
ceive themselves aggrieved. 

Air. Hone. My Lords, I throw 
myself entirely on your Lordships. 

Lord Ellenborough. No, we 
cannot do that 3 the Court would 
have too much to do, if they were to 
direct every person who choose to 
plead ignorance. 

Afr. Hone. Will your Lordships 
say what I ought to do ? 

Lord Ellenborough. You must 
' state your injury, and by whom done. 

Air. Hone. I .consider, my Lord, 
the injury I have sustained has pro¬ 
ceeded from your Lordship’s warrant 
originally, and I throw myself en¬ 
tirely on your Lordship. Eor the 
circumstances of the injury, I submit 
my affidavit 3 and your Lordship will 
there see from whom I am to receive 
redress, if anv address is allowed me. 
I place myself entirely in the hands 
of your Lordship. 

Lord Ellenborough. If we were 
to give you advice, then every sub¬ 
ject in the realm might come here, 
to know what he was to do j—it is 
really not our business to give such 
advice. You must submit to make 
your affidavit in the way all other 
subjects do, and state what motion 
you wish to make. 

Air. Hone. I humbly submit to 
the Court, with all respect, that the 
Court is my Counsel on this occa¬ 
sion. I am the prisoner of the Court 3 
1 have no Attorney 3 I have no Coun¬ 
sel 3 I have applied to nobody. I 
know not, therefore, whether my re¬ 
medy should be by action or motion. 

Lord Ellenborough. The busi¬ 


ness of the Court must not stand still. 
1 have told you what the proceedings 
of the Court are, and we must go on 
with other business. 

Lord Ellenborough then called 
on Mr. Serjeant Hullock to go on 
with other business. 

Mr. Hone (to Air. Serjeant Hul¬ 
lock). Sir, I entreat pardon for 

interrupting you-Aly Lords (to 

the Count) 1 have a motion to sub¬ 
mit to the Court, for which purpose \ 
obtained the Rule, and of which I 
gave notice. 

Lord Ellenborough. What is 
it ?— Now let us have a motion. 

Air. Hone. It is a motion. Aly 
Lords, when I was in the Court be¬ 
fore, I applied for copies of the war¬ 
rants— 

Lord Ellenborough. Your bet¬ 
ter course is at present to state your 
motion. 

Air. Hone. Aly Lord, what I am 
about to say applies in the way of ex¬ 
planation. 

Lord Ellenborough. Yes 3 but 
then it must be relevant matter. 
State your motion in the most perfect 
manner you can. 

Air. IIone. I will, my Lord—rely¬ 
ing upon the Court to be heard 
shortly, by way of observation, after¬ 
wards. Aly motion is, that I be imme¬ 
diately discharged out of the custody 
of the Alarshal of the Alarshalsca, 
upon grounds which are stated in an 
affidavit I now hold in my hand. Your 
Lordships will please to recollect, that 
when I was here last, as I was about 
to leave the Court, I applied for co¬ 
pies of the Judges’ warrants, whereon 
I was apprehended 3 which copies, your 
Lordships informed me, you had no 
power to grant. Your tipstaff then 
said, in Court, copies of the warrants 
should be given me, in the Copy of 
Causes. 1 now have the Copy of 
Causes in my hand, without copies ot 
the warrants of arrest, which are not, 
deposited with the Alarshal 3 and upon 
this Copy of Causes, and the affidavit 
1 also have, I ground my.present mo* 


l 





55&] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [55$ 


iion; This Copy of Causes purports 
to contain the copies of three Rules 
bf Court, which authorize the Mar¬ 
shal to detain me, and are in fact war¬ 
rants of committal of my person to 
his custody. I have always under¬ 
stood, my Lords, and I humbly pre¬ 
sume, with truth, that every commit¬ 
tal authorizing a goaler to detain a 
prisoner, should clearly and fully ex¬ 
press the true grounds of his committal. 
If my conception is wrong, I hope 
that I shall be corrected by your Lord- 
ship, when I state, that I conceive 
such committal should distinctly ex¬ 
press the true grounds of committal, 
and if it does not express the true 
grounds—if it assigns grounds which 
are untrue, then such committal is 
void. The Copy of Causes, on which 
I found my motion, states, that I, 
having heard the Informations against 
ine read, and being asked by the 
Court whether I was guilty of the 
premises thereby charged upon me 
or not, did thereupon pray a day to 
answ r er thereto, and it was granted to 
me by the Court) and that having no 
bail, 1 Was committed by the Court 
to the custody of the Marshal of the 
Marshalsea of the Court, for want 
of hail, for my pleading within 
eight days of the next terrii. Your 
Lqrdships will be pleased to call to 
your recollection, that when the infor¬ 
mations were read, I applied to your 
Lordships for copies of them 5 that I 
did not require time to plead ) that I 
did not pray a day to answer 5 but that 
I distinctly * refused to plead—for 
causes assigned—until a particular 
thing was done which I asked. 1 sub¬ 
mit, therefore, that as the law requires 
that the cause of a prisoner’s committal 
'should be explicitly stated, and as 
these Rules of Court state, as a ground 
of committal, whatis not the fact, that 
I am entitled to my discharge, w hich I 
therefore accordingly move. 

I then put in an affidavit, for which 
I have not room here. It stated the 
prosecution to be on three informations. 
Having only a single stamp, it was 


objected to, and I was altering it as 
the former, by striking out these three 
words, and re-swearing it, when the 
Court addressed me thus :— 

Lord Ejllenborough. Not having 
prayed a day to plead, the Court in¬ 
fers that you are indifferent about the 
day. If you do not plead when called 
upon, you in fact ask further time ) 
further time is allowed you, and you 
are told you may come in to plead 
immediately, if you have any inten¬ 
tion to plead. After that statement, 
by your not pleading, you implicitly 
consent to imprisonment. Really; 
the Court cannot have its time taken 
up so. 

Mr. Hone. Really, my Lord, if 
your Lordship will please to recollect, 
I did not ask for time. 1 did not 
plead, and I stated why I did not 
plead. 1 wish to state nothing offen¬ 
sive) but the Court will surely re¬ 
member—— 

Lord Ellijn boro ugh. Do yt>u 

mean to plead, or do you not ? 

Mr. Hone. I did not imagine that 
question would have been asked me.* 

Lord Ellenborough. Then re¬ 
mand him. 

My object in making the above mo¬ 
tion for my discharge^ was to keep the 
practice of the Court close; to give it 
an opportunity of stating the precise 
and real grounds of my committals, by 
retracing its steps, amending its error, 
cancelling the present committals, and 
adopting such other course as seemed 
fit to it. Certainly, my present com¬ 
mittals, by saying I prayed a day to 
answer, state what is not the fact 3 
therefore, 1 still contend, that they 
are illegal. I was preparing to go 

* The Observer Sunday newspaper makes 
me answer in those words, “ I did not 
come here to be asKed that question.’* 
This was not my answer. I have stated 
the answer I made to Lord Elx enborough , 
in the very Words I used. No paper has 
reported my answer to begin with the im¬ 
pudent “ I did not come here , fyc. except 
the Observer , and those who copied after 
it. 1 hope this was an inadvertence of the 
reporter to the Observer, 








May 24,1817. 


into the subject with the Court, 
When Lord Ellenborough, whilst I 
was accommodating the affidavit to the 
stamp, by an alteration, which did not 
occupy more than two thirds of a 
minute, ordered me to be remanded, 
without its having been read. 

Various circumstances connected 
with my three prosecutions and im¬ 
prisonment, render them of great pub* 
lie importance; I shall therefore re¬ 
late every matter connected with these 
ex-officio proceedings as they occur. 
As to the merits of the case, they re¬ 
main untouched, and for the present 
must. But all the hirelings, tools, 
and needy expectants of sops from the 
people in power, are eager to echo the 
word blasphemy , and bandy it about 
without end. Lord Sidmquth, the 
Secretary of State, both as a man and 
a Minister, ought to take a large share 
of shame to himself, for the manner 
in which he has used this word, con¬ 
sidering when and where he has used 
it. Under his administration, I have 
three ex-officio informations filed 
against me, for alleged blasphemous 
libels, and am sent to prison; whilst 
his Lordship, in the House of Lords, 
repeats blasphemy , with all stage effect, 
until, during a whole debate, it is in 
the mouth of every speaker, on both 
sides of the House} and thus, by the 
mere sound of the word, by ringing 
(the changes upon it, blasphemy is 
(< the common cry of curs/’ from one 
end of the country to the other. I, in 
prison, before either of my trials, be¬ 
fore even I have pleaded, am, in fact, 
tried, condemned, and sentenced, by 
a common jury of fools, knaves, 
bigots, and hypocrites, especially im- 
pannelled, throughout the whole king¬ 
dom. 

Mr. Wooler, tfie editor of the 
Black Dwarf, who the Attorney Ge¬ 
neral also delighteth to honour by j 
his agreeable attentions, and whose 


trial comes on, at Guild Hall, London, 
next week, remarking on my prose¬ 
cutions for the Parodies , has made 
some excellent observations on their 
alleged blasphemy, which 1 am obliged, 
for want of room, to omit. 

I have said that I will repel and 
refute this scandalous and senseless 
charge of blasphemy. In my present 
situation, with the purse of the Trea¬ 
sury, and all the power of an Admi¬ 
nistration, t( the cut-pursc of the 
empire,” against me, 1 must be al¬ 
lowed to choose my time and place 
for doing it} but I will do it, and, 
I repeat it, to the confusion and dis¬ 
may of my enemies. 

Knowing pretty well how Sir 
Francis Burdett’s Reform motion 
would be disposed of by the Honour¬ 
able House, I determined to give as 
complete a view as possible of its 
construction, and I have done it in this 
sheet, at full length. The reader will 
there see how 487 out of 658 members 
get in. It is almost unnecessary to 
say, that Sir Francis Burdett made 
an admirable, an unanswerable speech, 
which was thrown away upon the 
House—'* It was like singing psalms 
to a dead horse,” said an auditor in 
the gallery. I shall re-print Sir 
Francis’s speech in my next number, 
verbatim, with other matters relating 
to it. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

King's Bench Prison, 

No. 12 in 4, 

Thursday, 22 d May, 1817. 

*** I have a multitude of Corres¬ 
pondents to notice, which I will do 
by degrees. 


Country Agents must send re¬ 
mittances, cr the Register will 
not he sent • 






559] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [560 

A CORRECT AND COMPLETE VIEW 

OF THE 

PATRONAGE AND INFLUENCE 

OF PEERS, COMMONERS, AND GOVERNMENT, 

IN THE 

HOUSE OF C03I3I0NS. 


Extracted from Oldfield’s Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland^ 

1816, 6 vol. 8vo. 


©itglaittr anU 

PEERS. 


, / 


PATRONS. 

Prince of Wales 
Duke of Norfolk 


.... Richmond 
.... Grafton 
.... Beaufort 

.... Leeds 
.... Bedford 

.... Devonshire 

.... Marlborough 

«... Rutland 


.... Portland 
.... Manchester 
Duchess of Dorset 
Duke of Newcastle 

.... Northumberland 

/ 

Mar. of Buckingham 
f .. of Lansdown 


Nombiate 

Influence the Return of > 

Members for 

Members for 

2 Steyning 

2 Plymouth 

2 Hereford 

2 Arundel 

1 Gloster j 

2 Horsham 

1 Carlisle / 

1 Thetford 

1 St. Edmunds Bury 

2 Helstone 

2 Tavistock 

1 Shoreham 

1 Sussex 

1 Chichester 

} 

1 Gloucestershire 

1 Monmouthshire ( 

1 Monmouth J 

1 Bedfordshire 

^ ‘ V 

1 Bedford 

2 Knaresborough 

1 Derbyshire 

2 Woodstock 

1 Derby j 

1 Oxfordshire I 

1 Bramber 

1 Oxford j 

1 Leicestershire A 

I Scarborough 

1 Cambridgeshire > 

• 

2 Cambridge J 

r 

1 Nottinghamshire 

2 East Grinsted 

1 Huntingdonshire 

X 

2 Aldborough (York) 

2 East Retford I 

2 Boroughbridge 

1 Newark j 

2 Launceston 

2 Newport (Cornw.) 

1 Northum. Co. 1 

2 Buckingham 

1 Buckinghamshire 1 

2 St. Mawes 

2 Caine 

1 Aylesbury J 


2 

11 


2 

4 

4 

4 


L 

1 

2 

7 

5 

6 
2 










5fil] 


May 24,1817. 


[5® 


PATRONS. 

Nominate 
Members for 

Influence the Return of | T 
Members for 

Marquis of Stafford 

• 


1 Staffordshire 

1 Litchfield \ 

2 Newcastle (Staf- y 



ford) j 

/ ' 

% 

1 Brackley J 

»• • • Townshcnd 

1 Tamworth 

1 Yarmouth (Nor- \ 

folk) . J 

.... of Batli 

2 Weobly 

1 Bath 

.... Cornwallis 

2 Eye 


„... of Hertford 

2 Or ford 

1 Totness 

.... of Bute 

' 

1 Cardiff 

.... of Exeter 


2 Stamford 

.... of Northampton 


1 Northampton 

.... Camden 


1 Brecknockshire 

.... of Anglesea 

2 Milborne Port 

1 Anglesea 1 

1 Carnarvon J 

.... Cholmondely 

1 Castle Rising 

4 ! 

Earl of Derby 

■ 


1 Lancashire "i 

1 Preston j 

.. .. of Pembroke 

2 Wilton 


.... of Bridgewater 


1 Brackley 

.... of Westmoreland 

2 Lime Regis 

.... ofThanet 

1 Appleby 


.... Sandwich 

1 Huntingdonshire 1 

2 Huntingdon J 

.... Carlisle 


l Morpeth 

.. .. of Shaftesbury 


1 Dorchester 

.... Paulet 


2 Bridgewater 

.... of Bristol 

i St. Edmunds Bury 


.... of Portsmouth 

1 Andover 

.... of Wai wick 

* 

1 Warwick 

.... of Buckingham! 


1 Lincoln 1 

.... Eitzwilliam 

1 Higliam Ferrers 

1 Yorkshire d 

% 

2 Malton 

2 Peterborough / 

.... of Egremont 

• 

1 Sussex \ 

1 Chichester / 

.... of Guildford 


1 Banbury 

.... of Hardwick 

1 Ryegate 

1 Cambridgeshire 

.... of Darlington 

2 Winchelsea 

2 Tregony 

2 Camelford 

,D ™ } 

.... of Radnor 

2 Downton 

1 Salisbury 

.... Bathurst 

2 Cirencester 


t ... of Aylesbury 

2 Marlborough 

2 Great Bedwin 

} 

.... of Clarendon 

• ' ' 

1 W otton Basset 

.... Grosvenor 


1 Chester 

,,,. of M«^intedg- 

1 Bossiny 

i 

eombe 

1 Fowey 

1 Plimpton 
| 2 iestwithiel 

l 

1 

> 

• 

j 

i 

i 


5 


3 

2 

3 
1 
2 
1 
1 

4 
1 

2 

2 

J 

2 

1 

3 

i 

1 

o 

w 

1 

1 

1 

1 

6 

2 

1 

2 


3 

Q 


l 

1 

*• 

a 














563] 


Hones Reformists’ Register. 


PATRONS. 


Earl of Beverley 
.... of Onslow 
.... of Powis 

.... Manvers 
.... of Orford 
.... of Lonsdale 

i 

2- j 

. of Harrowby 
.... of Caledon 
.... Brovralow 
.... of St. Germains 

.... of Mulgrave 
.... of Bradford 
.... of Hare wood 

.... of Beauchamp 
Viscount Bolingbroke 

.Falmouth 

. Sydney 

.. . t.. . Middleton 

.Bulkeley 

.Curzon 

.Anson 

Lord Clinton 

.... Petre 
.... Middleton 
.... Monson 
.... Foley 

.,.. Dynevor 
.... Somers 
.... Dundas 
.... Yarborough 

.. .. Calthorpe 

.... De Dunstanville 
.... Cawdor 
.. .. Carrington 

.... North wick 


Nominate 
Members for 

2 Beeralston 

1 Montgomery 

2 Bishops’ Castle 

I 

2 Cockermouth 
2 Haselmere 

1 Appleby 

2 Old Sarum 

1 Clitheroe 

2 Liskeard 

2 St. Germains 
1 Scarborough 
1 Wenloek 
1 Northallerton 


1 St. Michael 
1 Whitchurch 
1 Whitchurch 
1 Beaumaris 
1 Clitheroe 

1 Ashburton 

2 Callington 


2 Droit wich 


1 Ryegate 

2 Richmond 

1 Newton (Hants) 

1 Hmdon 

1 Bramber 

2 Bodmin 

2 Midhurst 
2 Wendovcr 


Influence the Returns of 
Members for 


2 Guildford 
2 Ludlow 

1 Nottinghamshire 
1 Lynn 
1 Cumberland 

1 Carlisle - - 

2 Westmoreland 
2 Tiverton 


} 

} 


, 


1 Yorkshire 
1 Pomfret 
1 Worcestershire 

1 Wot ton Basset 

2 Truro - 


1 Carnarvonshire 
1 Litchfield 


1 Thetford 
1 Newark 
1 Lincoln 
1 Worcestershire 
1 Herefordshire 
1 Carmarthenshire 


1 Lincolnshire 

2 Grirnsby 


l Penryn 
1 Carmarthen 
1 Nottingham 
1 Leicester 
1 Evesham 


} 

} 


} 

} 

} 

} 


} 


[564 

Total 

2 

2 


1 

1 


2 

2 

1 


1 

1 


1 

1 
3 
1 
1 

2 
1 
1 


1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

2 


3 

1 

6 

1 


Members returned by 87 PEERS, in England and Wales only 

COMMONERS. 


218 


T. T. Drake, Esq. 

Sir C. C. De Crespigny 
Mr. Ralph Etwall 


i 


2 Agmondesham 
2 Aldborough (Suffolk) 


1 Andover 


2 

2 

i 






















665] 


1 

M 


& 


PATRONS. 

Sir Lawrence Palke 


Charles Palmer, Esq. 

Mr. Roberts 

J. A. Stuart Wortley,! 

Esq. J 

Sir Charles Morgan 

ThoS. Whitmore, Esq. 

.Sturt, Esq. 

Lord Lisburne 
Rich. Howard, Esq. 
John Maitland, Esq. 
Charles Brooke, Esq. 
TheRt. Hon. George q 
Rose J 

Henry Banks, Esq. 
Rt. Hon. N. Bond 
Hon. F. West 
Edward Coke, Esq. 
Joshua Smith, Esq. 

T. G. Estcourt, Esq. 
Rob. Williams, Esq. 
Snowdon Barne, Esq. 
Lord Huntingfield 
Sir Edward Buller 
Sir Thomas Mostyn 
Sir W. W. Wynne 


William Rashleigh 
Sir Mark Wood 
Sir William Manners 
Edward Milward 
Lord Kensington 
Mr. L. Iveson 
Sir W. P. A Court 
Wm. Beckford, Esq. 
Mr. Flood 
Mr. Townsend 
R. A. Crickitt, Esq. 

Sir. Christo. Hawkins 

% 

Sam. Stephens, Esq. 
Sir M B. Folkes 
Mr. Coleman 
Sir James Graham 
J. H. Everett, Esq. 
Sir H. B. Neale 
J. II. Strutt, Esq. 


May 24,1817. 


[566 

\ M 

Nominate 

Influence the Return of 

q r, _ a _ 1 

Members for 

Members for 

-1 otal 

1 Ashburton 


i 

i 

1 Aylesbury 

i 

2 Bletchingley 


2 

'■ - ■ " ■ 

1 Bath 

1 


1 Bewdley 

1 

1 Bossiny 

t 

* - 

1 


1 Monmouthshire 1 



1 Brecknock j 

Ad 


2 Bridgenorth 

-2 


1 Bridport 

l 


\ Cardigan 

l 

1 Castle Rising 

•- 

1 

1 Chippenham 


1 

1 Chippenham 


l 

2 Christchurch 

1 Southampton 

3 

1 Corfe Castle 


1 

1 Corfe Castle 


1 


1 Denbigh 

1 

■ 

Y Derby 

1 

- 

1 Devizes 

1 


1 Devizes 

1 


1 Dorchester 

1 

1 Dumvich 


1 

1 Dunwich 


1 

2 East Looe 


o 

dd 


1 Flintshire 

1 


1 Montgomeryshire q 



1 Denbyshire > 

3 


1 Flint J 

* 


1 Fowey 

» 

1 

2 Gatton 


2 

2 Ilchester 

1 Grantham 

3 

2 Hastings 

* 

2 

r 

1 Haverfordwest 

I 


2 Heydon 

2 

2 Heytesbury 

# •» 

2 

1 Hindon 


1 


1 Honiton 

1 


1 Honiton 

r 


1 Ipswich 

l 

1 St. Michael 

2 Grampound \ 

A 

.1 St. Ives 

J 

C t 

1 St. Ives 


1 


1 Lynn 

1 


2 Leominster 

2 

l Ludgershall 


1 

1 Ludgershall 


1 

2 Lymington 


2 


Malden 

1 


i v 











567] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


PATRONS. 


Joseph Pitt, Esq. 
Owen Williams, Esq. 
J. F. Luttrell, Esq. 
W. Qrd, Esq. 

SirL. T. W. Holmes 

Thomas Leigh, Esq. 
Sir John Barington 
Henry Peirse, Esq. 
Albany Savilc, Esq. 
Sir John Owen 

Hylton Jolliffe, Esq. 
P. T. Treby, Esq. 

B. Lester, Esq. 

John Jeffrey, Esq. 

S. Horrocks, Esq. 

Mr. Alderman Carter 
Miss Lavrrence 
Sir Cholmondeley 

Deering 
Sir G. N. Noel 

T. P. Lambe, Esq. 
John Buller, Esq. 


} 


G. P. Jervoise, Esq. 
John Leach, Esq. 

C. R. Ellis, Esq. 

John Dynely Esq. 

J. F. Barham, Esq. 
George Porter, Esq. 
Sir J. Cox Hippisley 
Sir Robert Peel 
Sir T. B. Lethbridge 
SirThos. Frankland 
Hon. W. J. V. Pawlett 
John Calcraft, Esq. 

J. P. Tudvray, Esq. 

C. W. Forester, Esq. 
Sir M. M. Lopez 
Sir G. F. Johnstone 

Sir R. H. Leigh 
John Hodson, Esq’. 

Sir PI. C. S. Mildmay 
Sir Thomas Baring 
Sir J. D. King 


Nominate 
Members for 

2 Malmsbury 
2 Marlow 
2 Minehead 

1 Morpeth 

2 Yarmouth (Hants) 
2 Newport (Hants) 

2 Newtown (Lancas ) 
1 Newtown (Hants) 

1 Northalerton 

2 Oakhampton 


2 Petersfield 
1 Plympton 


} 


2 Ripon 
2 Romney 


2 Rye 
2 Saltash 
2 West Looe 

1 Seaford 

1 Seaford 

2 Shaftsbury 

1 Stockbridge 
1 Stockbridge 

1 Tam worth 

2 Thirsk 

2 Wareham 

1 Werilock 

2 Westbury 
4 Weymouth 


} 


and "I. 
Melcombe Regis J 


Ivjiuence the Return 
Members for 

1 Cricklade 


of 


1 Pembrokeshire 
1 Pembroke 


1 Poole 
1 Poole 

1 Preston. 

2 Portsmouth 


1 Rutlandshire 


1 Salisbury 


1 Sudbury 
l Taunton 
1 Totness 
1 Wells 


} 


1 Wigan 

1 Wigan 

2 Winchester 

1 High Wycombe 
1 High Wycombe 


[568 

Total 

3 

2 

2 

I 


2 

1 

1 

o 

W 

2 

o 

w 

1 

1 
1 

1 

o 

2 
o 

w 

1 

o 


1 
1 
1 

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 

4 

I 

1 

2 
1 
1 


Members returned by 90 Commoners, in England and Wales only 137 


/ 








[570 


509] 


May 24,1817. 


GOVERNMENT. 

Treasury , 2 Dartmouth, 1 Dover, 2 Harwich, 2 Hythe, 1 Windsor, 

2 Hampshire, i Yarmouth (Norfolk) 

Admiralty, 1 Queenborough, 1 Rochester, 2 Sandwich 4 

Ordnance, 1 Queenborough 1 


} 


11 


Members returned by Government, in England and Wales only 16 


*** Oxford, Retford, New castle-under-Line, Totness, Tregony, JVotten 
Basset, and one member for St. Ives, were carried against the influence of the 
Patrons at the last general electionbut, with the exception of Oxford and 
Newcastle, we are sorry to add, it w T as not the amor patriae, nor the zeal of 
honest independence that prevailed upon this occasion. 

Oxfordshire has, since the last general election, returned an independent 
member, after submitting to the nomination of the Duke of Marlborough 
for sixty-two years. 


^rotlantr. 


PEERS. 


PATRONS. 


Duke of Hamilton 

.of Buccleugh 

Marquis of Queensberry and 
Earl of Hopetoun 
Duke of Buccleugh and 
Mr. Dun das of Arniston 
Duke of Buccleugh 


of Gordon 
of Argyll 


} 

} 


.of Athol 

..... of Montrose 

Marquis of Queensberry 
Marchioness of Stafford 

Marquis of Bute 

Earl of Eglintoun 

.... of Home and 

Mr. Home of Widderburne 

Earl of Galloway 


of Lauderdale 
of Kintore and 
of Fife 
of Seafield 


} 


} 


Influence the Return of 
Members for 


1 Lanark County 

1 Dumfries County 

• 

1 Edinburgh County 
1 Edinburgh City 
1 Selkirk County 
1 Selkirk District 
1 Aberdeen County 
1 Argyll County 
1 Ayr District 
1 Perth County 
1 Dumbarton County 
1 Sterling County 
1 Dumfries District 
1 Sutherland County 
1 Tain District 
1 Bute County 
1 Ayr County 

1 Berwick County 

1 Kirkcudbright County 
1 Wigtown County 
1 Stranraer District 
1 Hadington District 

1 Banff District 

1 Elgin County 


} 

} 

} 

} 

} 


} 


Total 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 









6?1] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


patrons. 


Influence the Return of 
Members for 


Earl of Hopetoun 


e ... of Minto 
Lord Dundas and 
Sir William Honymaii 
Baroness Abercromby 
Lord Cawdor 


1 Hadington County 
1 Linlithgow County 
1 Stirling District 
1 Roxburgh County 

J 1 Orkney County 

1 Clackmannan County 
1 Nairn County 



} 


Total. 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 


Members returned by 21 Peers and Peeresses in {Scotland 

COMMONERS. 


Sir George Abercromby 
General Wemyss 
Hon. William Maule 

Charles Grant, Esq. 

/ 

Mr. Barclay, of Urie 
Sir James Montgomery 
Sir Michael Shaw Stewart 
Late Lord Seaforth’s Heir 
James Farquhar, Esq. 

Sir John Anstruther 
Sir John Maxwell and 
Archibald Campbell, Esq. 
General Ferguson 
Sir David Wedderbume 


1 Banff County 
1 Fife County 
1 Forfar County 
1 Inverness County 
1 Inverness District 
1 Kinkardine County 
1 Peebles County 
1 Renfrew County 
1 Ross County 
1 Aberdeen District 
’ 1 Anstruther District 

^ 1 Glasgow District 

1 Kinghorn District 
' 1 Perth District 


Members returned by 14 Commoners in Scotland 
Members returned by 2 1 Feers and Peeresses in Scotland 


31 


1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

l 

1 

1 

1 

. 1 

14 

31 


45 


When the county of Caithness returns a Member, he is nominated by Sir 
John Sinclair. The county of Cromarty is under the influence of Henry 
Davidson, Esq. j and the county of Kinross , of Thomas Graham, Esq. 

The Treasury have a controuling influence nearly over the whole of the 
Scotch representation. The late Lord Melville always boasted, that he 
could return 3$ cut of the 45 Members representing the whole kingdom of 
Scotland! The Duke of Montrose is now considered as the patron-general 
for the Treasury of ail Scotland. 


Hrelantr. 

PEERS. 


PATRONS. 

Archbish. of Armagh 
Duke of Leinster 
..... of Devonshire 


Nominate 

Influe tee the Return of 

Members for 

Members for 

1 Armagh City \ 


. I 

1 Kildare 

1 Dungarvon 


Total. 

I 

1 

1 














573] 

PATRONS. 

Marquis of Waterford 

.of Downshire 

... of Donegal 

. .of Headfort 

..of Sligo 

..of Ely 

..of Abercorn 


May 24, 1817. 


p • • • 


....... of Hertford 

Earl of Ormonde 


of Granard 
Fitzwilliam 
of Bcssborough 
of Shannon 
of Roden 
of Longford 
of Portarlington 
of Farnham 
of Enniskillen 
of Clare 
of Londonderry 
of Conyngham 


o • • • 


p • • 


of Landaff 
O'Neil 
of Bandon 
of Donoughmore 
of Rosse 


.... of Charleville 
,... of Gosford 
Viscount Dillon 

,..' .D’Vesci 

..Northland 

Lord De Clifford 


P • • .• 


Kenmare 


Nominate 
Members lor 


1 Colerain 


1 Belfast 


1 Wexford (Boro.) 


1 Lisburne 


l Youghall 
1 Dunkald 

1 Portarlington 

1 Enniskillen 


1 Bandon Bridge 


1 Carlovr Borough 


1 Dungannon 
1 Kinsale 
1 Downpatrick 


Influence the Return of 
Membei** for 

l Londonderry (Co.) 

1 Waterford (Co.) 

2 Down (County) 

1 Meath (County) 

1 Mayo (County) 


} 


[574 

Total. 


2 

1 

1 

1 

1 


} 

} 


1 Donegal (Co.) 

1 Tyrone (Co.) 

1 Antrim (County.) 

1 Kilkenny (Co.) 

1 Kilkenny (City) 

1 Longford (County) 

2 Wicklow (County) 

1 Kilkenny (County) 
1 Cork (County) 

1 Louth (County) 

1 Westmeath 

1 Cavan 
1 Fermanagh 
1 Limerick (County) 

1 Londonderiy (Co.) 

1 Clare (Co.) 

1 Donegal (Co.) J 
1 Tipperary (County) 
1 Antrim (County) 


} 


1 Cork (.City) 

1 King’s County 
1 Longford (Co.) 

1 King’s Co unty 
1 Armagh (County) 
1 Mayo (County) 

1 Queen’s County 


2 Kerry (County) 


} 


Members returned by 36 Peers in Ireland only 


2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 


1 

1 

l 

1 


2 

1 

i 

i 

i 


Wm. Browniow, Esq. 

COMMONERS. 

l Armagh 

Mr. Cavannah 


1 Carlow (County) 

Sir Edward O’Brien 

1 Ennis 

1 Clare 

Rt. Hon. John Foster 


1 Louth 

Mervyn Apchdall, Esq. 
Rt. HonTD.B.Daly 


1 Fermanagh 

1 Galway (Borough) 


Sir Edward Denrty 

1 Tralee 

1 Leitrim 

jFL J. Clements, Esq. 



51 


1 

1 

o 

** 

I 

1 

1 

I 

1 




















575] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[576 


PATRONS. 


John Latouche, Esq. 
Mr. Smith 
Mr. Cowper 
Owen Wynne, Esq. 

Rti Hon. Win. Bagwell 
Mr. Pennefather 
Mr. Rochfort 
Mr. Hon.Wm. Hand-\ 
cock J 

Mr. Tottenham 
Mountiford Long- 
field. Esq. J 

Mr. Jephson 


Nominate 

Influence the Return of 

Total. 

Members for 

Members for 

JL V Leaf m 


1 Leitrim 

1 

. • i ¥ » 

1 Limerick (City) 

i 


1 Sligo 

1 

1 Sligo (Borough) 


1 

1 Glonmell 


1 

1 Mounteasliel 


1 


1 Westmeath 

1 

1 Athlone 


1 

1 New Ross 

'-•*■** 

1 


1 Cork City 

1 

1 Mallow 


1 


Members returned by 19 Commoners in Ireland only 20 


RECAPITULATION. 


Members returned by 87 Peers in England and Wales 218 

By 21 Peers in Scotland 31 

By 36 Peers in Ireland 51 

Total returned by PEERS 300 

Members returned by 90 Commoners in England and Wales 137 

By 14 Commoners in Scotland 14 

By 19 Commoners in Ireland • 20 

Total returned by COMMONERS 1/1 

Nominated by Government 16 

I 1 -j * * o * ;; * 

Total returned by Commoners and Government 187 

TOTAL. ~‘“ 

Returned by NOMINATION 487 ' 

Returned INDEPENDENT of nomination, only 171 

Total of the House of Commons 658 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67 , Old Bailey, three doors from 
Lhdcate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be addressed; 
and sold at 55, Heet Street—Price Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51, 10s. 
per Thousand. 

• j ( - ■ - • J 

■ 

«■ . . I 


1 











Pr ice Two-Pence, 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY, 

No. 19.] Saturday, May 31, 1817. [Vol. T* 


CONTENTS, 


I. 

LORD COCHRANE, and the Four¬ 
teen Executions in his House at Holly 
Hill, Hampshire, for the Ilomton 
Treating; or the rare Adventure of 
the Great Ass, and the Siege of 
the Enchanted Castle. 

II. 

SIR F. BURDETTE 
SPEECH 

ON R E F Q R M. 


LORD COCHRANE. 

¥ The following facetious Narrative 

has been put into my hands from a 
quarter which leaves no doubt in my 
mind of its authenticity. Although 
it came late, 7 cannot deny my read¬ 
ers the pleasure of its perusal now. 
The subject will , I believe , be agi¬ 
tated elsewhere. 

w. IIONE. 


Lord Cochrane, shortly after his 
arrival from a successful cruize in the 
Pallas frigate, in an evil hour offered 
himself as a candidate to represent the 
rotten borough of Honiton in Parlia¬ 
ment, of which, Mr. Oldfield, in his 
Representative History, says, “ The 
“ Members are generally strangers, 
“ sought out by individuals, properly 
“ instructed, or recommended by the 
< ' f Treasury. Previous to a vacancy, 
“ these, dealers La corruption eadea- 


vour to find a candidate suited to 
their purpose, as rich (and iiiiex-* 
“ ceptionable) as possible, who, de- 
“ positing a certain sum of money, is 
“ sure of having every art ar,d effort 
“ exerted in his favour. This bribery 
<e continences and continues in pro- 
portion to the activity of the agents 
of a third party. The mode pur- 
“ sued, is that of giving to each voter 
“ from five to fifty guineas, according 
to the emergency of the contest j 
“ to their wives, meat, clothes, &c. 

&c. • and also by opening inns, for 
“ which purpose, a considerable 
“ number arc permitted to exist. 
“ The number of votes influenced by 
“ these, and other private considera? 
“ tions, are nineteen out of twenty. 
<( The sum necessary to purchase a 
C{ seat may vary from two to eight 
“ thousand pounds. T\yo attornies, 
“ who reside in the place, have the 
lc entire controul of the borough.” 

Shortly after Lord Cochrane’s ar¬ 
rival in this hopeful town, he was 
conducted to a person named Town¬ 
send, the foreman of a gang, who 
vend their votes in retail to the highest 
bidder, who may dispose of his pur¬ 
chase zuhclesale to his Majesty’s Mi¬ 
nisters, for sinecures, places, pensions, 
and the like; or niore privately to the 
Treasury, for secret service money* 
and other pickings, well known in 
and about St. Stephen’s Chapel.— 
Thus, honourable gentlemen are 
trained to follow the leader, to pop in 
Treasury ballot lists, cut and dry, no¬ 
minating select and secret committee^, 
to frame Reports, and justify the sus¬ 
pension of the Constitution, and the 
enactment of arbitrary laws, whereby 
the subject may be immured in dun- 


printed by and for YV. Hone, 6 t '> Old Bailey, Condon. 























570] IIo ne VR l:form r sts’ Register. [580 


gcons, aiul deprived of pen, ink, and 
paper, without intercourse with any 
human being, on mere suspicion ! 
Thus are Bills passed for purposes 
which must be nameless; thus the 
Constitution, the boast of our ances¬ 
tors, is subverted—thus the freedom 
and birth-right, of Britons, are basely 
bartered for gain! 

Lord Cochrane, who had been 
bred at sea from his youth, knew lit¬ 
tle of this traffic. He found Town¬ 
send and his gang cold, suspicions, 
doubtfuldepending, as the gang 
freely confessed, on Mr. MOST to 
decide their wavering opinion, whom 
they expected to be present, as usual, 
on the day of election. 

Lord Cochrans finding that 
nothing could be done amongst such 
people without money and feasting ; 
and having fed the LEADERS and 
tithing-men for some time, and paid 
them from 1001. to 201. a-piecc, the 
ft eh nan, with his bell, proceeded 
through the borough to Summon the 
voters to the said Townsend, to re¬ 
ceive ten pounds each ; which was at¬ 
tended with the usual formalities of 
(C O*! yes!" and “ God save the 
King ! ” These proceedings,however, 
were adopted too late; for those booked 
in the interest of the candidate op¬ 
posed to Lord Cochrane, could not 
eonsciejiciojushj vote for his Lordship, 
under any circumstances ; the nature 
of their previous engagements .pre¬ 
cluding tjiein from doing more to¬ 
wards his Lordship’s election, than 
absenting themselves from the poll, 
for the sum of three guineas more than 
that which they got for going to it .— 
But even this could not secure Ins 
Lordship’s election. lie could take a 
ship with less difficulty, than a seat in 
Parliament: his adversary was re¬ 
turned ; and thus his Lordship’s, first 
attempt to get into the Honourable 
House was unsuccessful. 

Not dismayed by discomfiture, on 
this occasion. Lord Cochrane re¬ 
tained to the charge, at the general 
election, which soon after took place. 


He then received the most flattering 
assurances of success, from the said 
Townsend, w ho, by that time (in ad¬ 
dition to his own troops), had taken 
upon himself the command of all the 
auxiliary forces, who, under various 
leaders, had flocked to his standard, in 
consequence of the proclamation of 
the belman. 

An avowed agent, who was to do nv- 
thing, had been regularly nominated, 
and due notification thereof publicly 
made, in order to shield the real 
agents from the Bribery Acts ; and, 
probably to secure Townsend’s sine¬ 
cure Barrack-Mastership of Horse, 
and sinecure Clerkship, the thing went 
swimmingly on. The precaution 
might have been spared—one party 
was as deep in the mud as the other in 
the mire. 

Lord Cochrane, whose political 
sentiments were unknown, and not 
inquired about, having, by the procla¬ 
mation of the belman, and by other 
means, acquired the appellation of the 
“ Golden Captain,” now ranked in 
estimation next to Mr. MOST. 

With such warm feelings in the 
breasts of the independent electors— 
for so they called themselves—their 
favoured candidate was solicited to 
meet*' his friends" at supper on the 
night of the general election. O ! if 
some of his brother naval officers had 
been present, how they would have 
envied the applause he received, 
though they might have been too pru¬ 
dent. to have earned it so dearly. Not 
a hand suffered his Lordship’s to 
escape a hearty squeeze ; the females, 
—and" Honiton girls are famed for 
beauty—were not backward in de¬ 
monstrations of esteem—laudatory 
songs were sung—all w as hilarity and 
mirth ! Short-sighted mortals that 
we are! w ho could have anticipated 
mischief lurking under such a scene ? 
Of what materials is the heart com¬ 
posed, that could plot the plunder of 
another, under the simulated mask of 
friendship ? And yet such scenes arc 
not uncommon in such places 1 





581] May 31 

The supper ceremony being over, 
and the damsels and voters thanked 
for their kind favours (which, though 
they bestowed freely, they did not 
undervalue) Lord Cochrane retired,- 
little dreaming, when he laid his head 
on the pillow, that the supper bills 
would occasion so much dispute— 
seeing, too, that the said Townsend 
had in his hands a sum of money 
belonging to Lord Cochrane, of 
which he has rendered no other ac¬ 
count, than that it was spent at the 
election. 

A long period had elapsed, when a 
gentleman, now a Member of Par¬ 
liament, who had been at Honiton 
with Lord Cochrane, and who had 
done him the favour to settle all the 
bills delivered, expressed a doubt 
whether the supper bills, which had 
been withheld, formed part of the 
asserted disbursements of Townsend ; 
whereupon farther inquiry was made, 
but neither the bills nor any satisfac¬ 
tory account could be obtained, assur¬ 
ance being given as often as appli¬ 
cation was made, that they, th eHoni- 
toniahs, deemed Lord Cochrane’s 
credit as good as gold ! And so it 
appeared } for when the bills at last 
came in, though Mr. Cavendish 
Bradshaw, who was the other can¬ 
didate, gave his supper to half ot this 
rotten borough on the very same 
night, yet supper was charged tor the 
whole town, tag-rag, and bob-tail ! 
—those booked to vote against his 
Lordship, as well as those tor him } 
and not at seven shillings, but at a 
guinea a head. 

Astonished at so unreasonable a 
demand, Lord Cochrane objected to 
paying more than he had stipulated, 
namely, seven shillings a head tor his 
228 voters, amounting in the whole 
to 791. 16s. } but to free himself 
from farther trouble, he afterwards 
increased his offer to half-a-guinea, 
which was rejected} and Townsend, 
who is one of those attornies alluded 
to in Air. Oldfield’s recent pub¬ 
lication, was himself employed to 


,1817. [582 

bring thirteen separate actions for 
tlie supper. 

Air. Wratislaw, Lord Cochrane’s 
solicitor at that time, to do his me-* 
mory justice, uniformly advised Lord 
Cochrane not to contest these claims, 
but to put up with the loss, adding, 
that he had experience in such matters, 
and knew that his Lordship would 
come oft' with the whole expenses to 
pay, in addition to their demand; 
for, to use a sea expression, they 
woidd swear through a nine-inch plank. 
And so indeed it proved, but not en¬ 
tirely from their conduct, but because 
Air. Wratislaw had unaccountably 
neglected to pay the seven shillings 
a head into Court, whereby his client 
became responsible for costs of suit, 
though he should prove the iniquity 
of nine-tenths of the demand. 

Alarmed at this, yet unwilling to 
defeat that part of their claim which 
appeared just, by pleading the Bribery 
Act, Lord Cochrane submitted to an 
arbitration, which was proposed as 
a means of doing justice to both 
parties j but these people and their 
attorney, as they anticipated, thus 
obtained an opportunity to ring the 
changes with tha THIRTEEN Plain¬ 
tiffs. Each Plaintiff alternately de¬ 
posed, as appears by the minutes of 
arbitration, not only to the justice 
and moderation of the other Plaintiffs’ 
demands, but that “ the bills delivered 
were too low, and ought to be dou¬ 
bled .” Thus their exhorbitant claims 
were legally established. Each Plain¬ 
tiff, at the house of his respective 
neighbour publican, heard Lord 
Cochrane order punch, wine, or 
some other beverage, bid his hearty 
friends make merry, and call for 
what they pleased ! Consequently their 
demand was increased, and could not 
be limited to the sum of seven 
shillings.— Townsend confiimed the 
whole, by denying that -any stipulated 
price had been agreed to, or that the 
number of persons supping could be 
limited, though lie, and others, by 
hi* orders, had biiletted all the voters 




583] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [584 


by written lists. It is not to be 
supposed that the nature and obliga¬ 
tion of an oath was not understood— 
the whole town of Iloniton took the 
oath against bribery at the previous 
election ! 

Persons who are acquainted with 
the law will not be astonished that 
the 791. 16s. is now raised to 32951. 
12s. 7d., not including 7301. of his 
Lordship’s own law expenses.—Thus 
increasing the original 791. 16s. to the 
sum of Four thousand and twenty-jive 
pounds, twelve shillings and seven-pence! 
to which must be added the demand 
of Pearce, Townsend’s partner, 
who prosecuted Lord Cochrane, as 
one of his law agents, although 
Lord Cocurane never had the least 
suspicion that Pearce was in any 
way connected with the law, nor did 
he know that he was a partner of 
Townsend’s, until THEY gave in a 
joint bill several years afterwards, on 
which, at the arbitration of the pub¬ 
licans’, they obtained an award for 
ALL the items, except those which 
were clearly proved to have been 
charged for services which never had 
been, because they never could have 
been, performed! 

This law bill of Messrs. Townsend 
and Pearce is the more flagrant, as 
two of the CLICK, named Hayman 
and Gidley, had before made out and 
recovered the amount of similar bills, 
though Lord Cochrane, by the ad¬ 
vice of Townsend, had sent for and 
employed professional men from 
Taunton and Exeter, under the im¬ 
pression that there was not a person 
in the town of Iloniton capable of 
writing any thing above a muster list 
of the voters. 

To obtain the amount of these 
vamped-up demands, fourteen execu¬ 
tions lately issued against Lord 
Cochrane, who was thereby com¬ 
pelled to leave the question of the 
admissibility of his affidavit, in the 
Court of Admiralty, contested by Lord 
Game if, n, to his counsel ; for, having 
learned that trunks and boxes, contain¬ 


ing valuable papers, and all the Ilonito- 
nean manuscripts, being bribery bills 
and receipts, had been broken open by 
persons sent to enforce t]iese iniqui¬ 
tous claims in his house at Hollyhill, 
his Lordship mounted the Ports¬ 
mouth coach, from the propitious 
Golden Cross, and while the intruders 
sent by the loyal Sheriff of Hants 
were on the lawn, hunting FLAMING 
a great jack-ass, which had broken 
loose, he re-captured the trunks, and 
recovered the Honitonean manuscripts. 

No sooner had the consequences of 
the chase of the great ass become 
manifest to his pursuers, by the shut- 
ting-too of the door whence they 
had sallied, than he who had been in 
possession of the manuscripts, set off to 
inform the High Sheriff that the door 
was shut, leaving his companion to 
blockade the castle, who being inter¬ 
rogated as to his authority, marched 
off. In the interim, the castle being 
in possession of his Lordship, a few 
pillows were tied together, which, 
with a black line—of charcoal—pro¬ 
ceeding therefrom, were reconnoitred 
with due precaution by the enemy w ith¬ 
out the w’alls. Nothing worthy of 
notice occurred until the following 
morning, when the enemy having 
captured and confined the great ass , 
forced his quarters, drove him from 
the stall, and occupied the very 
ground on which he had stood. 

Having thus far succeeded in 
taking up a position, vigorous opera¬ 
tions were threatened, and various 
summonses w T ere sent, demanding un¬ 
conditional surrender of the castle ; 
all of which were treated with the 
contempt in which an enemy occu¬ 
pying such a position should be held-. 
He appeared, however, in force, some 
days after; hut towards dusk drew 
off 24 out of 26 of his troops, leaving 
only two parties as a corps of obser¬ 
vation, with strict orders not to ap¬ 
proach the magical lines, which w ere 
supposed to connect with the said 
conjuror’s bags. 

'I he High Sheriff having learut the 




585] May 31, 1817. [586 


increased dangers of a siege, the 
difficulties of a blockade, and the 
peril to which his Majesty’s liege 
subjects would inevitably be exposed, 
by an attempt to regain possession of 
the enchanted castle, proceeded im¬ 
mediately to the great city, to obtain 
instructions from the Court, wherein 
the King presides—-whence having 
returned^ he called out the posse co- 
initatus, and selected one hundred and 
fifty men to capture and destroy, if 
possible, the magical bags. 

Various councils of war were held, 
but nothing occurred to the High 
Sheriff, whereby t.o'effect so desperate 
a purpose. It was, however, suggest¬ 
ed by an officer of horse, who had 
seen some service, that no plan was 
more likely to accomplish the object 
they all had in view, than procuring 
sailors, provided with longboat-hooks, 
to pull the magical bags through the 
lower embrasures ; which he hoped 
might be done without much danger. 

This argument, had its due weight 
with the High Sheriff. “ It, was no 
sooner said than done.” Seven fu¬ 
rnished raggamuffins were quickly 
found in the streets of Southampton, 
whose bellies being quite empty, a 
glass of gin produced as powerful an 
effect, as if the High Sheriff - had 
given them a quart upon a full sto¬ 
mach—they had the additional con¬ 
solation, that however fatal might be 
their enterprize, jsudden death was 
better than starving. 

Boat-hooks and battering-rams, 
muskets, bayonets, swords, pistols, 
pikes, and pitchforks, being procured, 
the HIGH Sheriff (who is a very 
little man), mounted on a tall horse, 
repaired to the castle gate to demand 
a parley—as Knights, or Knights 
expectant , on such great occasions do 
—his head uncovered. Thrice he re¬ 
peated, with expressive alternations 
of tone and countenance—his eyes 
fixed on an embrasure, whejice a gun 
on the preceding evening had been 
fired at a rabbit— -“ I am the HIGH 
Sheriff of Hants receiving no 


reply, his cheeks inflated, his gallant 
heart swelled, or seemed to swell, 
within his breast, and at last lie utter¬ 
ed, “ In his Majesty’s name, 1 de¬ 
mand admittance, or the doors shall 
be forced.” The forlorn hope was 
ordered to prepare and advance, and 
the HIGH Sheriff, having granted ten 
minutes delay, clapped spurs to his 
steed, and took up an advantageous 
position, close to an oaken tree, 
whence he might perceive the effects 
of the simultaneous attack of the 
boat-hooks and battering-rams, and 
issue orders with deliberation for 
storming the castle. 

During this awful suspense, all was 
silent as the grave l The boat-hooks 
grasped—the battering-rams with¬ 
drawn beyond their poise arrested, 
stood ready to effect their desperate 
purpose; and the HIGH Sheriff sat 
with his mouth wide open, pausing 
to pronounce the fatal command ! 

The moment of attack at length 
arrived. All eyes were fixed on the 
HIGH Sheriff, mounted on his toll 
horse, with a stop-watch in his hand ! 
Mute-—he. waved his hat as the 
signal of assault, and looked to Hea¬ 
ven; but whether to implore assist¬ 
ance, or to catch a last glimpse of 
the castle, expected to disappear in 
the air by means of the enchanted 
bags, repiains still doubtful; certain 
however it is, that he continued in 
the same position until a loud and 
general shout announced the success 
of the forlorn hope. 

On entering the castle, the com¬ 
mander and all the garrison seemed 
enchanted ;—the first was sitting in 
the position of one reading, his head 
leaning on his right hand.—He who 
held the key of the great gate was 
standing in the hall, and the cook- 
maid was in the kitchen ! —All—all 
were torpid, or regardless of their fate 
—not a muscle of their countenances 
moved, though cocked muskets and 
pistols ,bayonets, and pikes, and swords, 
were presented to their breast, and 
thrust in their faces—though dragged 

l T* w 



687 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register* [ 58 $ 


before the castle gate, where shackles 
were tried on, and pockets rifled ! 

Of the attacking force, the drunken 
sailors alone seemed insensible—a 
blush shed itself over the cheeks of 
the men of Hants, which speaking 
volumes, did honour to their hearts. 

Thus endeth the rare adventure of 
the great ass —the siege of the en¬ 
chanted castle! 



SPEECH 

OF 

SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, 

IN THE 

HOUSE OF COMMONS, 

On Tuesday, May 20th, 1817. 

Sir FRANCIS BURDETT felt it 
to be a very arduous duty, in the 
present circumstances, to make the 
motion of which he had given notice. 
In any former period, it would have 
been sufficient to lay evidence before 
that House of the existence of cor¬ 
ruption in elections—it would have 
been sufficient to show that a prac¬ 
tice so baneful in itself, and so hos¬ 
tile to the laws and Constitution of 
this country, existed—in order to ob¬ 
tain redress. In any former period, 
it would have been sufficient to ex¬ 
pose a practice destructive of the vital 
interests of freedom and justice, in 
order to ensure a remedy : it would 
have been sufficient to point out the 
evil, and to propose a remedy ade¬ 
quate to that evil, in order to have it 
adopted. But now, what would have 
been formerly denounced as corrupt 
and ruinous, was by a new doctrine 
recommended as necessary for con¬ 
ducting the affairs of the nation. 
What was formerly regarded as a 


seed whose fruit was productive of 
disease and death, was now main¬ 
tained to be the seed of a tree whoso 
fruit yielded nourishment and strength, 
and under whose shade security and 
repose were to be found. He telt it 
peculiarly aukward to complain be¬ 
fore those very persons who were the 
objects of complaint, arid to apply tor 
redress to those very persons who 
were the authors of the grievance. 
He felt it most aukward to call upon 
those who must be supposed to be 
the corrupt, to redress corruption ; but 
the general voice of the nation was so 

O 

manifestly and so strongly for this 
mea.sure, that it claimed their utmost 
regard. The petitions presented to 
Parliament—of which many were re¬ 
jected, but not on that account less 
expressive of the wishes of those who 
signed them—for the redress of the 
great grievance of an unequal and 
corrupt representation, were more nu¬ 
merous than ever were presented on 
any other occasion whatever. When 
formerly motions were made on this 
subject, as had been done for several 
years back, it was always asked,— 
Where arc the Petitions for it ? Where 
are the Petitions from Birmingham? 
Where from Manchester? Petitions 
were now presented from all parts of 
the kingdom. Petitions were pre¬ 
sented from Birmingham, and from 
Manchester. They had Petitions laid 
before them with more than one mil¬ 
lion of signatures. Whether, there¬ 
fore, the complaint of those Petitions 
was well or ill founded—whether re¬ 
dress can or cannot be given, the 
House was bound to institute some 
inquiry into grievances so generally 
telt, and so generally complained of. 
The prayer of those Petitions was said 
to be wild and visionary : they were 
represented as praying for what was 
never sanctioned by the laws, and 
never recognized by the ■ practice of 
this country : they were charged with 
having invented novel grievances, and 
demanded novel remedies. Under this 
charge came Annual Parliaments. 








May Bh 1817. 



It was quite clear and incontrovertible, 
that Annual Parliaments were the 
law and the practice of this country, 
even beyond any history we have of it. 
For centuries before any history was 
written of the events of this country, 
but of which tradition has handed 
down some facts. Annual Parliaments 
were in constant use. It might, in¬ 
deed, be replied, that the question 
was not what existed in ancient times, 
but what ought to be adopted now : 
but it'gave great weight to the claim, 
that it was sanctioned by remote 
antiquity ; and it formed a complete 
answer to the charge of its being a 
new and new-fangled doctrine. It 
was then as old and older than Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror. Our earliest, 
writers mention it as the practice 5 
the oldest book, he believed, which 
alluded to any part of our history, 
was “ The Mirror of Justice,” which 
Coke mentioned in terms of commen¬ 
dation. There it appeared evident, 
that it was the undoubted law of the 
land, that Parliaments be annually 
called. Before the name Parliament 
was given to them, this was the prac¬ 
tice. It. was a matter of course that 
they should meet twice every year j 
the King’s writ was a necessary part 
of the process ; but it was necessary 
by the law that they meet twice in the 
year, oftener if there w T as occasion : 
this law William the Conquerer was 
sworn to observe. Is was no answer, 
that he was a perjured monarch : this 
was the law, and this was the practice 
during the whole history of England, 
till we came down to the reign of 
Henry III., when the greatest abuses 
of various kinds were committed 3 
}et, during his reign, Parliaments 
were annual. In the time of Edward 
I. and III. and IV. Parliaments were 
corstantly of annual duration. That 
theft were abuses in those reigns was 
undeniable ; but from that he had a 
righCo infer, that the People had in- 
variahy insisted upon annual Parlia¬ 
ments. In the reign of Edward III. 
laws exp-essly enact that Parliaments 


be called every year. It was made a 
question ..whether this necessarily im¬ 
plied a new election every year. For 
an answer to this question, let the prac¬ 
tice of the time be looked into during 
the long reign of Edward III., and a 
more constitutional and more glorious 
reign was not to be found in English 
history: not one Parliament was con¬ 
tinued beyond one year ; but anew 
Parliament was called every year. It 
was not indeed necessary that every 
Parliament continued a year. They 
often continued but for a month, or 
two months ; and there was an in¬ 
stance of five new elections in one 
year. It was, therefore, the consti¬ 
tutional, legal right of the People of 
England to have a new Parliament 
every year ; it was imperative upon 
the Kings of England to call a new 
Parliament every year. So many 
gentlemen of great ability and pa¬ 
tient research had fully investigated 
and clearly traced the history of this 
practice, and yet not one instance 
have they found of a Parliament pro¬ 
rogued or continued beyond one year, 
down to the 23d year of the reign of 
Henry VI. In the time of the civil 
wars between the Houses of York 
and Lancaster, the party that happen¬ 
ed to prevail, could do every thing or 
nothing ; yet even then the rights of 
the People were so far respected, that 
Parliaments were not prorogued or 
continued longer than a year. Hehry 
VIII. was the first who violated this 
express law ; and the time when he 
did it was deserving of consideration. 
It was when he wished to divorce his 
Queen ; and on this account quarrel¬ 
led with the Pope, with the Church, 
and with the People. Then he con¬ 
tinued Parliament for five years. 
The reason was very obvious. He 
wished for his own purposes to effect 
what was called the Reformation. 
The generality of the nation were not 
then for that measure 5 it was only a 
party that fayoured it ; and it was for 
this reason he had recourse, unconsti¬ 
tutionally, to a Parliament of longer 





Hone’s Reformats’ Register* 



duration. Bishop Burnet related, 
that the King was at great, pains to 
manage the elections > and it was 
Very evident that the elections were 
first influenced, and Members after¬ 
wards corrupted, till he effected his 
double purpose of divorce and plun¬ 
der. In the reign of Edward VI., 
when the Prdtestaut interest, still the 
minority of the nation, prevailed, the 
same course was followed, and his 
Parliament continued nearly five 
years. The next reign was that of 
Queen Mary, a reign held up to 
horror and execration, and justly, on 
many accounts: but when the Catho¬ 
lics, who had been plundered and 
persecuted, came again into power, 
smarting with their ill usuage, it was 
not surprising, it w as not justifiable, 
but it was not astonishing, that they 
bad retaliated: yet the first thing she 
did was to repeal the Acts of construc¬ 
tive treason that had been passed, and 
to place the security and freedom of 
the subject under the protection of 
25tii Edward III. The People of 
this country were at this time, so far 
as life and liberty w r ere concerned, less 
secure than under the bloody Mary, 

as she was called. [ Hear , hear, 

heart] —She, proclaiming that the 
People had been deprived of their just 
tights, and of the great security for 
their liberty, had recourse to short 
Parliaments. Her Parliament did 
not continue for one year; it was 
dissolved at the end of nine months. 
The reign of Elizabeth exceeded all 
praise. Too wise to force, too ho¬ 
nourable to impose upon the People 
a system of government inconsistent 
with the principles and practice of the 
constitution ; without millions of 
inoney to corrupt, without laws to 
oppress, without a standing army to 
overpower j she gained the affections, 
and insured the obedience of her Peo¬ 
ple, by the wisdom and vigour of her 
administration. In her reign there 
were two long Parliaments. When 
the Stuarts came to the throne, the 
same practice was continued. James I. 


kept his Parliaments a long time. 
The People were not then jealous of 
that encroachment. They had suf¬ 
fered all the evils they had experienced 
from other abuses, and they thought 
themselves perfectly safe in the hands 
of Parliament, because no previous 
evil had been felt, and no present 
evil was apprehended from them. He 
had now come to the eventful reign 
of Charles I. He had not learnt the 
principles of the English const!tu- 
tion, and studied not to rule accord¬ 
ing to its laws and usuages ; he tried 
to establish a government without 
Parliaments. This innovation he 
supported, too, by the authority of 
Westminster Hall. [/Tear, hear , 
hear /],—The judges of that time 
lent themselves, the subservient tools, 
the industrious servants of despotism. 
The greatest law’yers of that age, or 
of any age, sanctioned the unprece¬ 
dented, unconstitutional, arbitrary 
attempts of Charles. [Hear, hear /} 
Charles failed only because he had 
not a standing army. If he had had 
a standing army, there could be no 
question moved at the present day, 
whether we should reform Parliament ? 
When be w as obliged to hold Parlia¬ 
ments, because he had not millions to 
be employed in corrupting them, he 
could not effect his purposes : how 
they were elected did not signify : 
how many years they continued was 
of no importance; it was impossible 
to find any set of men capable of sur¬ 
rendering the rights and interests </£ 
the country to the arbitrary will of a 
tyrant. They were connected with 
their fellow subjects j they had a 
common interest with them; there 
was nothing to make it their interest 
to sacrifice the liberty of the People 
[Hear, hear /] We know how tie 
contest between Charles and his Pa'** 
liament ended. A few individuals 
having gained the aseendercy, 
thought that the Parliament thattmd 
resisted the intrigues and the viofence 
of Charles, and had preserve* and 
protected the liberties of the ration. 







5»:i] Mav si 

ought to be continued; and an Act was 
passed, something like what was 
afterwards done on different princi¬ 
ples, and for different purposes, 
for protracting the period of the du¬ 
ration of Parliament. It was then 
thought proper and salutary, that a 
Parliament that had acted so merito¬ 
riously and so successfully, that had 
fought the great battle of the nation, 
and obtained a glorious victory, 
should continue to be the guardians of 
national liberty. Afterwards, it was 
thought gain to the nation, that one 
great man should protect the liberty 
and ensure the security of the nation. 
Yet Oliver Cromwell was a Parlia¬ 
mentary Reformer (a laugh), and pro¬ 
posed a plan of Reform, so just, so 
fair, and so suitable, that even Lord 
Clarendon said it deserved to have 
proceeded from a better—a more war¬ 
rantable, was his Lordship’s expres¬ 
sion—from a more warrantable quar¬ 
ter. But when Cromwell found that 
he must either lose his place, which to 
him would be to become a victim to 
tlie gallows, or support by the sword, 
what he had acquired by the sword, 
he naturally preferred the latter alter¬ 
native. The People, always attached 
to the Constitutional Government of 
Kings, hailed the restoration of 
Charles II. It might have been ex¬ 
pected, that he, from gratitude to the 
nation, for the zeal and affection with 
which they received him, would re- 
store and confirm all their rights and 
laws ; but he w as not of that, generous 
character; he was of a cold, unfeeling 
disposition, he forgot the claims, and 
trampled upon the rights of the nation. 
But though the People had neglected 
* the necessary precautions, through joy 
in receiving their banished Monarch, 
his cold and cruel heart only availed 
itself of this to enslave them ; and for 
this purpose he attempted to corrupt 
the House of Commons 5 and this was 
the first deliberate attempt at that mode 
of controlling the wishes and the inte¬ 
rests of the People. The nation had 
been guilty of the generous folly of re- 


, 1817. [5.94 

ceiving him without the stipulations 
necessary, both for the security of 
the State, and for the safety of tha 
Crown ; and took back, uncondition¬ 
ally, one that otherwise 'would have 
lived a wanderer upon the face of the 
earth. In return, he attempted to 
corrupt their House of Commons. 
Charles II. continued Parliament for 
16 years j yet this Parliament, this 
pensioned Parliament, as it was called, 
would not sacrifice the interests of the 
nation, or sell the liberties of their fel¬ 
low-subjects, and it was therefore dis¬ 
solved. During the remaining part of 
his reign, struggles were revived and 
continued as in his father’s reign. 
James II. committed many outrages, 
but none more flagrant or more offen¬ 
sive than attempting to corrupt elec¬ 
tions, and he was in consequence 
obliged to abdicate the throne. He 
now reached the period of our Revo¬ 
lution : this surely was not too rehiote 
to be appealed to 5 the doctrines it ex¬ 
pressly avowed were not to be branded 
as new, and new-fangled. They would 
find in the Declaration of William, 
among his reasons for coming with 
an army into England, that law was 
not properly administered, that legal, 
corruption deprived the People of jus¬ 
tice and redress ; this was a very great 
evil, and called loudly for a remedy. 
Another reason, and a very strong 
one certainly, was, that Juries, the 
great bulwark of the liberty of and 
safety of the subject, were not fairly 
chosen, but selected for the purpose of 
serving the Crown ; but the main rea¬ 
son, the reason assigned in the very 
front of this Declaration, was the cor¬ 
ruption of the House of Commons ; 
that the Parliament were not allowed 
to be freely elected, or to consult inde¬ 
pendently what was for the benefit of 
the nation 5 that tampering was used in 
electing and influencing them 5 that un¬ 
due means were applied to procure com¬ 
pliance with the will of the Sovereign. 
The Revolution was principally, there¬ 
fore, in order to procure a full, and 
free, and fair Parliament; this was 




5951 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [596 


proved by the admission of James II. 
himself, who knew what was right, 
though he did not practise it. Many 
Noblemen who were attached to him, 
and anxious to support his reign, 
petitioned for redress of many abuses: 
above all, for a Parliament “ tree in 
all its circumstances.” fie answered, 
that he could not get a Parliament so 
elected, unless the Prince of Orange 
were removed from the kingdom. It 
was then, at all times—it was by the 
laws of this country, it was by the 
practice and history of the nation, 
always a high crime to corrupt the 
Parliament, or use any means to make 
them subservient to arbitrary pur¬ 
poses. It was one of the charges of 
impeachment against Richard 11. and 
one of the. reasons for dethroning 
him, that he had packed Parliaments. 
During the whole of our history 
to that period, Parliament, sat little 
more than live months} then there was 
anew one. There were few instances 
of proroguing; and when this viola¬ 
tion of the law was attempted, it was 
always moderately. Richard II. and 
James II. lost the throne for their 
abuse of it. While such signal in¬ 
stances were recorded in our history, 
while the Bill of Rights recognized 
our claims, could it be contended that 
we were not entitled to a free election 
of Parliaments \ An election neces¬ 
sarily implied that it should be free. 
How then could this essential part of 
the Constitution be reconciled with 
individuals appointing Members of 
the Ilmise of Commons i He here 
begged leave to read from a Petition 
presented in 1793, for a Reform in 
Parliament, by a most enlightened and 
most respectable society : the con¬ 
stitution of that House was so well 
dissected, if he might use the expres¬ 
sion in the Petition, that he was asto¬ 
nished so many years as have since 
passed could have elapsed without 
any inquiry into its justice and truth. 
The Petition had been so frequently 
and so well known, that he would not 
trouble the House with the whole of 


it j he would only read the following 
part of it :-r-The Petit ion, after men¬ 
tioning several other grievances and 
inconveniences resulting from the 
state of the representation, and re¬ 
quiring redress, stated that 84 indi¬ 
viduals do, bv their own immediate 
authority, send lb/ Members to the 
House of Commons 5 and that this 
the Petitioners were ready t# prove 
at the bar of the House, if the fact was 
disputed, and to name the members 
and the patrons.” The Hon.Baronet 
asked if the nominees of such indivi¬ 
duals could he supposed to be a free 
representation of the People ? And 
yet, perhaps. Members so returned 
constituted nearly three fourths of 
those who now heard him. The Pe¬ 
tition went on to state, “ that in 
addition to the 157 members so re¬ 
turned, 150 more, making in all 307, 
are returned bv the recommendation 

V 

of 70 powerful individuals added to 
the 84 before mentioned, and making 
the number of patrons altogether 154, 
who return a decided majority of the 
House.” One hundred and fifty-four 
individuals thus claimed and exercised 
the right of disposing, by their agents, 
of the lives, liberties, and property of 
the millions of inhabitants who com¬ 
posed the subjects of this kingdom. 
Did not this seem in itself an usur¬ 
pation } Did it not seem a grievance 
which called loudly for a remedy ? If 
he were required to submit to any 
arbitrary power that had interests 
contrary to that of the People; if 
oppression were to be permitted from 
any quarter, he would rather endure 
it from the Grown, than from indivi¬ 
duals who could controul the CroWn— 
w r ho keep both the King and the 
People in bondage ; who destroyed 
the Constitution, and united in them¬ 
selves all th* powders and prerogatives 
which it ought to possess.—We could 
not read the opinions of any of the 
authors who had spoken of our Con¬ 
stitution, without finding that their 
authority was in favour of a change 
of system, and that they declared 




597] 

against the present state of things. 
Mr. Justice Blackstoile, who, in his 
own time, was regarded as rather a 
courtly lawyer, but whose book now 
(so much had our opinions been 
altered within the last half century) 
might almost be considered as speak¬ 
ing jacobinism, had laid down prin¬ 
ciples which showed the necessity of 
a Reform. He had said, that there 
were three powers in our mixed Le¬ 
gislature—the King, Lords, and Com¬ 
mons ; that these three powers ought 
to be kept, distinct; and that the 
latter especially, as the guardian of 
the People’s rights, ought not to be 
under the influence of the former; 
for, added he, if the other two 
branches influenced the House of 
Commons, which emanated from the 
People, and constituted their natural 
protectors, there was an end of the 
Constitution. So firmly convinced 
was the learned commentator, that 
the People ought to be represented, 
and thus had a right to govern them¬ 
selves by delegates elected by them¬ 
selves, that he conceived the force of 
laws and the necessity of obedience 
resulted from this principle. “ The 
lawfulness of punishing criminals 
(said he) is founded on this principle, 
that the law by which they suffer 
was made by their own consent.” 
Was it to be borne, then, that instead 
of being governed by laws made by 
our own consent, instead of seeing a 
full and free representation, instead 
of seeing the majority of the People 
deputing those who were to legislate 
for them, the nation was to be ruled 
by a few borouglimongers ? Would it 
be said that no representation of the 
People was intended, but that those 
men were to enjoy all the powers of 
the Constitution in their own hands, 
that they were to be the real sove¬ 
reigns of England, and dispose of 
our lives, liberty, and property, at 
their pleasure ? Different writers, ac¬ 
cording to their taste, their education, 
or their peculiar bias, had pointed out 
the advantages, and supported the 


[59$ 

excellence of different species of 
Government. The republican, the 
aristocrat.ical, and the monarchial 
form of administration -had all had 
their panegyrists ; but no author 
that ever ke heard of had ever- 
praised an oligarchy [hear, hear .] 
In an aristrocracy, the interests of the 
Nobility and the People might fre¬ 
quently be the same ; and, at any rate, 
the form of government, did not implv 
an opposition between them. This 
might, therefore, be a good govern¬ 
ment, in certain circumstances. The 
same might he said of absolute mo¬ 
narchy. The reigning Prince might, 
sometimes have the. wisdom to see that 
liis interest, and that of his People* 
were inseparably united ; that he could 
enjoy power and resources, only in 
proportion as he promoted their wel¬ 
fare ; and that a higher reward could 
be reaped in their approbation of his 
exertions to promote their happiness r 
than in the gratification of that sense¬ 
less caprice and inverted ambition that 
would lead him to destroy their liber¬ 
ties, and to squander their property. 
Democracies, with more plausibility, 
had been often the subject of enco¬ 
mium and recommendation. They 
had, in the history of the world, per¬ 
formed wonders. All w T ho heard him 
would remember with what enthu¬ 
siasm, when young, they had read of 
tiie prodigies of valour and con- 
duct for which the ancient republics 
! had been distinguished: how celebra- 
| ted they had become for the energy, 

! the intellectual improvement, and 
scientific progress of their citizens. 
Indeed, no form of government had 
called forth more talent, more indus¬ 
try, more resources, and been dis¬ 
tinguished by more remarkable deeds, 
than the democrat ical. E'or energy, 
in particular, it transcended the rest, 
and had received the support and 
praise of many great men. But a* 
oligarchy could boast, of having per¬ 
formed nothing laudable; of having- 
done nothing that could be approved j 
of having no panegyrist, [hear, hear !] 


May 31, 1817. 




599 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [600 


Some oligarchies, however, were not 
so objectionable: they were merely 
aristocracies With a narrower basis, 
where the interests of the governors 
were not necessarily opposed to those 
of the People. The oligarchy of 
which he was speaking, was, how¬ 
ever, of a different character; it was 
■an oligarchy of boroughmongers. 
Whose interests were at variance with 
those of the rest of the nation ; who 
corruptly usurped powers that aid not 
belong to them, and trampled upon 
the rights of the People at their plea¬ 
sure : in short, it was the most odious, 
the most degrading, and the most 
galling of all oligarchies. That 150 
patrons of the representation should 
exist, that they should exist against 
all law, that they should exist against 
the resolutions of the House of Com¬ 
mons itself, which resolutions Were 
passed at the commencement of every 
Session, and might be regarded as the 
law of Parliament, or at least, a de¬ 
claration to the country, that such 
was the law, appeared monstrous and 
unaccountable. The law to which he 
alluded on this subject w r as no new 
law, it was nearly as old as Parlia¬ 
ments. The Statute of Westminster I. 
prohibited any interference of great 
pqirsons w'ith elections, and expressly 
enacted that they should be free. It was 
written in old French, and said, that 
no great man should disturb the elec¬ 
tors in the exercise of their duties 5 
that xx because elections ought to be 
x< free, the King commanded, upon 
xt great forfeiture, that no man, by 
xx force of arms, nor by malice or mc- 
<r nacing, shall disturb any to make 
e< free election.” This law r was the 
foundation of the resolution passed at 
the beginning of every Session," that 
“ it is a high infringement of the li- 
<r berties and privileges of the Commons, 
x< for any Lord of Parliament, or any 
xx Lord Lieutenant of any county, io 
(< concern themselves in the election of 
* Members of Parliament." What 
had now become of this law and this 
resolution? They were allowed to 


sleep; they w r ere never acted upon 
or rather they were perpetually 
broken, and had become a dead let¬ 
ter. A reform in the House of Com¬ 
mons, so as to destroy this power o£ 
interfering, would be of more service 
than any law prohibiting it. The Bill 
of Rights had likewise declared, that 
elections should be free j but more 
would have been done towards. se¬ 
curing that object, by enacting, that 
there should be a more frequent and 
more universal exercise of the right Dr 
suffrage, than by the long declaration 
of rights, on which that Bill was? 
founded ; one line to this effect would 
have been more efficient, than all 
other laws and resolutions w hatever. 
At the time of the Revolution, the 
Parliament, called the Convention 
Parliament, because it was disposed,*., 
in. some cases, to go ; counter to the 
wishes of the Government, was, 
not suffered to remain so long as¬ 
sembled, as to execute the great 
work of securing the freedom of the 
representation. It had declared e,r- 
officio informations by the Attorney- 
General to be contrary to the l,aws 
of England ; and although there was 
a great spirit of freedom in the Go-' 
vernment of that time, yet, like all 
Governments, it was averse to an* - 
abridgement of its assumed powers.: 
Ex-officio informations were tlien> 
declared to be illegal; and the history 
of this species of proceeding since, 
would be sufficient to excite our 
wonder at the change in our senti¬ 
ments, and to call for a cautious 
jealousy over our remaining freedom. 
That proceeding, then denounced by 
Parliament, was now declared to be 
law ; and power was put into the 
hands of the Attorney-General, of 
imprisoning or holding to bail (which 
was equivalent to the power of im¬ 
prisonment) any person whom he 
chose so to treat, on his simple ex- 
officio information. What now be¬ 
came of the law for protecting the 
liberty, of the subject j what became 
of that law which Lord Coke called 





fioi] May 31,1817. . [€C2 


the bulwark of our freedom; our 
personal security ? What signified 
all that was said about our presumed 
innocence and perfect impurity till 
our guiit w T as declared by a jury of 
our peers ? All this was now mere - 
rhapsody.— [Hear, hear /]—It had ' 
no existence, except in the imagina¬ 
tion. The Constitution which we 
were taught to praise so highly, and 
on which we ate desired to rely 
so firmly, was found too fragile and 
insecure : and a set of 'borough-mon- 
gers elected a representation , which 
instead of protecting our freedom, were 
disposed only to suspend our rights and 
liberties .—-[ Hear, hear, hear ! ]— It 
was a maxim which he believed could 
not be disputed, that tyranny was 
generally greater under the forms of 
a free Constitution, when perverted, 
than under an open undisguised ex¬ 
ercise of -despotic power; and that, 
at any rate, it was more difficult to 
be got quit of. This was no new 
doctrine—it was no French principle ; 
it had been declared by Machiavel, 
and supported by Montesquieu. This 
latter w riter, who was not a beardless 
boy newly come from school, but a 
man who had devoted tw r enty years 
of hLs life to the study of governments, 
had given it as his opinion, that the 
liberties of England would perish 
like those of the ancient republics, 
when her Parliament became corrupt. 
But corruption was supposed now to 
be harmless; it was even defended as 
a necessary part of the existing 
system, rather than denounced as 
tending; to the ruin of the Constitu- 
tion. It had been argued by a Right 
Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Canning), 
that Government could hot go on 
without it: but he (Sir F. B.) thought 
he should bring sufficient authorities 
to overbalance the opinion of that 
Right H6n. Gentleman, when he 
stated that all our great men were 
against if; that there wCre no less 
than 150 laws on our statute book 
denouncing it. It would be pedantry 
to go into all the great authorities 


on this subject, but he might be for¬ 
given for stating the opinion of Mr. 
Locke, that the corruption of the 
representation was the very W’orst of 
all evils, as it poisoned the source of 
all laws, and cut up our Constitution 
by the roots. It would be strange 
indeed, as had been said by Plato, 
that that corruption wilich was 
thought ruinous in every thing else, 
should be thought good in Govern¬ 
ment. hi the time of Charles II. 
although the Parliament, which was 
suspected, justly, of corruption, had 
not been free from undue influence, 
they at least showed the necessity 
they conceived themselves under to 
affect purity, by taking an oath, 
protesting before God, that “ neither 
directly nor indirectly, they, or 
any of their friends, for their use 
or with their knowledge, had re¬ 
ceived any sums of money from the 
King, or any other person by his Ma¬ 
jesty’s order; and that they had not 
given their vote in Parliament for any 
reward or promise whatsoever.’’ 
This corrupt Parliament had a dif¬ 
ferent opinion from the Right Hon. 
Gent, with regard to the necessity of 
being free and independent. It seem¬ 
ed, indeed, extraordinary, that corrup¬ 
tion could find its advocates : that the 
very Word was hot sufficient to deter 
from any open undisguised defence. 
Speaking of corruption, he could not 
help enlarging a little on the meaning 
of the phrase, and removing some 
prejudices and misconceptions which 
w ant of explanation had allowed to be 
entertained. It had a different mean¬ 
ing in the mouths of different persons, 
and as applied on different occasions. 
When used by a icligious man in oppo¬ 
sition to religious principles, it. was call¬ 
ed sin : in the conduct of those who 
transgressed the rules of honesty or 
virtue in private life, it got the name 
of immorality ; and when applied to 
the conduct of public men in Govern¬ 
ment matters, it w r as called political. 
Political corruption in this classifica¬ 
tion might be perfectly consistent 





€03] Hone’s Reformists’ Register* [604 


with private morality* It might be 
defined that state in which individual 
interest was arrayed against public 
good, and private views influenced 
public conduct. When Reform was 
spoken of, it had been said by some, 
that no reformation of the represen¬ 
tation was necessary, but that the 
electors and the elected should reform 
themselves, and that then corruption 
would cease. lie remembered Mr. 
Wyndham, whom be always listened 
to with pleasure, had made the most 
ingenious defence of the present sys¬ 
tem that ever he had heard, which 
was founded on this maxim. IJc 
had, however, in the Hon. Baronet’s 
opinion, misapprehended the question. 
He had said, that if a vote was given 
tor a job, the person who so bartered 
his elective rights, was the corrupt 
person, and not the Minister who gave 
the place, or the Member who accept¬ 
ed the seat. lie inferred from this, 
that the corruption was among the 
People, and was greatest at the 
bottom. This was not the proper 
View of the matter } and the mistake 
arose from confounding political with 
private corruption, which were per¬ 
fectly distinct in theory, and were of¬ 
ten separated in practice. Taking the 
definition he had formerly given of 
corruption—namely, an opposition of 
private interest to public duty, and 
the natural bias which the former 
creates against the latter—a House 
of Commons might be very virtuous 
as legislators, whose individual pri¬ 
vate conduct was most corrupt; and, 
on the other hand, a Parliament might 
be corrupt which was entirely com¬ 
posed of saints. When he, therefore, 
spoke of the corruption of the Mem¬ 
bers of the Legislature, he meant no 
implied reflection on their private con¬ 
duct ; he believed that in the common 
intercourse of life they might be all 
Vpright in their principles, and honest 
in their transactions } hut when their 
interests were opposed to their duty, 
in a Parliamentary sense, he could not 
but call the House corrupt. Is ay, he 


would even go farther, and say, that 
the more honourable the Members 
were in their private capacity, tlic 
more corrupt they might be in tlieir 
public } as a Member, from a private 
^engagement which his honour might 
compel him scrupulously to observe, 
might be prevented from voting on a 
particular occasion, according to his 
views of right, and be induced to 
surrender his seat, when by keeping 
it, and voting contrary to his patron, 
his services might be beneficial to tj?e 
public. Though no Member could 
be deprived of his seat when he had 
once obtained it, every one knew that 
a Gentleman would be reckoned disho¬ 
nourable who should not obey the in¬ 
struction of his patron, Gr resign his 
scat at liis desire. It had often been 
a question without the walls of Par¬ 
liament, and within, how far a repre¬ 
sentative was bound to obey the will, 
or to act upon the views, of his con¬ 
stituents. All disputes upon this 
subject would cease by a free election. 
We often heard of meetings of con¬ 


stituents to remonstrate against the 
conduct of their representatives } 
these, likewise, would cease ; confi¬ 
dence would be restored between the 
House and the People } and the Peo¬ 
ple would willingly submit to those 
laws which should proceed from them¬ 
selves. Now that confidence did not 
exist while the representation was in 
its present state, while the People 
had not the scats at their disposal, 
and the Treasury had a market to 
settle such commodities.— [Hear, 
hear !]-—He brought no particular 
charges against Ministers} they must 
act as they did, or otherwise they 
could not command their majorities } 
and without such majorities, the Go¬ 
vernment itself, which emanated 
from the borough-mongers, could not 
be carried on. This was the avowed 
acknowledged state of things} and 
that practice, at which the Speak'S* 
said that our ancestors would have 
startled with horror, was now openly 
and unblusliingly defended. All 



€05] 


May 31,1817, 


[606 


parties bad confessed its existence ; 
and the Noble Lord opposite 
(Castlereagh), who had been con¬ 
cerned in selling seats, was only 
more unfortunate than others, in 
having been detected .—[A Laugh.] — 
He meant 110 personal attack on the 
N oble Lord j nor did he mean to say 
that he peculiarly ought to be im¬ 
peached, as he had not been more cri¬ 
minal than others would be with the 
same opportunities. But the very 
public avowal of such a violation of 
the Constitution was of itself a strong 
argument foffputting an end to the 
present system, which was plunging 
the country into ruin, and under 
which, whatever success we might 
gain, whatever other advantages we 
might enjoy, liberty could not much 
longer exist [Hear, hear There 
was a time when such practices would 
not have been borne by the House: lie 
well remembered, that since he en¬ 
tered Parliament they were not men¬ 
tioned directly, but always in circum¬ 
locutions. When Mr. Pitt intro¬ 
duced his Reform Bill, he said there 
was a maiden coyness in the House 
about talking of the sale of seats: 
this maiden coyness, he was sorry to 
see, had now worn out [a laugh.'] 
The necessity of Reform was appa¬ 
rent. He need not remind the House 
of the Petitions which had been pre¬ 
sented complaining of the grievance 
of the present system : they had been 
numerous, and pointed out different 
remedies. He did not think that the 
descriptioa of any specific plan was 
jxecessary: it was enough for him 
that the grievance was acknowledged, 
and that a remedy of some kind or 
other must, be applied, which might 
be left to the wisdom of the House, 
He would not, therefore, trouble them 
with entering into .any abstruse dis¬ 
cussion, or offering any specific opi¬ 
nion. He had shown that the great 
evil was nomineesbip to seats, and he 
hoped that it would be possible to in¬ 
duce the House to enter into inquiry. 
The gentlemen all over the country, 


who saw their property fast leaving 
them, who had been accustomed 
formerly to defend the liberties of 
their fellow-citizens, but the majority 
of whom unhappily now thought only 
of supporting Government, and #f 
giving it strength, while they should 
be adding to its honesty—who saw 
this once happy nation the seat of in¬ 
dustry, and abounding in capital and 
credit, changed into a taxed, oppressed, 
overburdened, and beggared people— 
would, he thought, now see sufficient 
reasons for inquiring into the cause 
of the evil, and applying the proper 
remedy. [Hear!] It was said that 
our Constitution was a glorious Con¬ 
stitution. \ es, it was so in the books; 
it was so in the works of our political 
writers ; it was so in Montesquieu ; 
and in the descriptions which our old 
lawyers and statesmen had given of it: 
but, practically speaking, there was 
not more wretchedness, more tam¬ 
pering with liberty, or more corrup¬ 
tion in any part of Europe, than 
prevailed under our boasted Consti¬ 
tution. He hoped, therefore, that 
the gentlemen of England would see 
that it was not their interest to fortify 
this system, that there, could be no 
check or controul over Government 
without a change in the represen¬ 
tation, and that their property would 
soon leave them, unless there was 
an immediate change. When the 
Members who might be returned after 
the Reform should see, that every 
time they put their hand in the public 
purse, they took something out of 
their own, that profligate and wasteful 
expenditure of the public money 
would of course cease. At present, 
the gentlemen of England saw that 
they must surrender their comforts, 
by the enjoyment of which they pro¬ 
moted that of the People—that, they 
must renounce that hospitality by 
which they were enabled to gratify 
their own feelings, and to diffuse hap¬ 
piness around them—that they were 
driven from the seats of their an¬ 
cestors, and obliged to hide themselves 




C071 IIonf/s Reformists’ Register. [60S 


from the pursuit of their creditors 
and the tax-gatherers in a foreign 
land 5 —could there require any other 
arguments for Reform ) If they would 
take counsel from their wisdom and 
not from their fears, they would, 
instead of passing Acts to oppress the 
People, step forward for their pro¬ 
tection ; and would see that the 
system of corruption was as destruc¬ 
tive of their own interests as it was 
of that of their constituents. He 
hoped the People would not cease to 
demand their rights, and would com¬ 
pel a reformation of the abuses 
complained of. The want of virtue 
in the representatives of the People, 
was what the Crown had as much a 
right to complain of as the People, as 
both were kept in thraldom by the 
same oligarchy, and would both be 
relieved by the same remedy. If the 
People were always to be met with 
Bills of severity, when they present¬ 
ed thejf Petitions j if when they were 
silent, they were supposed indifferent ; 
and when they spoke out, their liber¬ 
ties were to be suspended, and all the 
bulwarks of their rights removed $ 
how could we venture to boast of the 
glories of our Constitution ? He 
would not occupy their time with 
mentioning any more authorities, 
though great authorities might be 
quoted : he might cite Lord Chat¬ 
ham, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Fox, all of 
whom had supported the measure of 
Reform. There was one person, how¬ 
ever, for whose writings he should al¬ 
ways entertain the greatest respect, 
and who, although he had taken alarm 
at the beginning of the French Revo¬ 
lution, had deeply felt, and eloquently 
described, the necessity of rendering 
the House of Commons a true repre¬ 
sentation of the People, as well as the 
^vils which sprung from it when it 


was not. What the opinions of that 
great writer might have been, had he 
lived to this day, he did not know ; 
but these were his words, in the active 
part of his political life " What¬ 
ever alterations time and the necesr 
sary accommodation of business may 
have introduced, this character cart 
never be sustained, unless the House 
of Commons shall be made to bear 
some stamp of the actual disposition 
of the People at large. It would 
(among public misfortunes) be an 
evil more natural and tolerable, that 
the House of Commons should he 
infected with every epidemical frenzy 
of the People, as this would indi¬ 
cate some consanguinity, some sym¬ 
pathy of nature with their consti¬ 
tuents, than that they should, in all 
cases, be wholly untouched by the 
opinions and feelings of the People 
out of doors. By this want of sym¬ 
pathy, they would cease to be a 
House of Commons j for it is not the 
derivation of the power of that House 
from the People, which makes it, in a 
distinct sense, their representative. 
For the King is the representative of 
the People ; so are the Lords ; so are 
the Judges. For they are all trustees 
of the People, as well as the Com¬ 
mons ; because no power is given for 
the sole sake of the holder ; and al¬ 
though Government certainly is an 
institution of divine authority, yet its 
forms, and the persons who adminis¬ 
ter it, all originate from the People. 
A popular origin cannot, therefore, 
be the characteristical distinction of a 
popular representative, which belongs 
equally to all parts of Government, 
and in all forms. The virtue, spirit, 
and essence, of a House of Commons- 
consists in its being the express image 
of the feelings of the nation. 

[To be concluded next week.] 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Lydgate Hill ; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be address^; 

and sold at o5, Meet Street—Price Two-Pence each, His, per Hundred, or 51, lbs. 
per J hou.and, . ‘ ' 











Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 20.] Saturday, June 7,1817. [Vol. !• 

■ — - ... — - - r V. 1 ----— ■ - , 

TO READERS. 


I very earnestly solicit the endea¬ 
vours of my friends to extend 
the circulation of the Re¬ 
gister wherever they can, 
JWy present confinement renders 
this appeal necessary, 

W. HONE. 

King's Bench Prison. 


CONTENTS. 

I. THE OLD WOMAN and the 
MINISTERS —a pretty Kettle of 
Kish— Mr. WOOLER on the Paro¬ 
dies — The GUARDIAN Evening 

K 

Paper, and Blasphemy and Treason 
— A PARODY on a Scene in Mac¬ 
beth— The PITT CLUB, and the 
Pilot that weather'd the Storm — 
Acquittal of Mr. KIEL DOUG¬ 
LAS, chairged with seditious Preach¬ 
ing- BERENGER'S scandalous 

Caricature of Mr. BUTT—The late 

Speaker, and his Peerage - Mr. 

C. W. WYNN recommended to be 
Speaker, by Mr. WILBERFORCE, 
because he supported the Suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus Act! 

II. Causes of our present Condition. 

III. Sir G O. PAUL on POVERTY 
and CHILD MURDER. 

IV. Sir F. BURDETTS Speech on 
Reform concluded. 

V. RUSHTON and SOUTHEY, a 
Poem and art Anecdote. 


“ Here’s ft pretty kett le of fish/’ 
said a fractious old housewife to 


her husband, who, for want of 
work, could only bring home 
half his wages. The cat coming' 
in Iter way—past services and 
usefulness being wholly forgot¬ 
ten—-she kicked it to the other 
side of the kitchen ; the faithful 
beseeching dog was cuffed out 
of doors; she drove the children 
about and made them cry, and 
then whipped them for making a 
noise ; and lastly, after frighten¬ 
ing and worrying every living 
thing about her, she began 
wringing her hands, declared 
no woman under the sun was 
ever so teazed and worried as 
herself, and that she would not 
put up with it! 

Now who can be mere like 
unto this silly old woman than 
His Majesty’s Ministers ? They 
find the outgoings more than 
the comings in ; that they spend 
more than they receive; that the 
People are over-taxed and dis¬ 
tressed ; that many of them drop 
down dead in the public streets, 
for want of food ; and (hat there 
is no more money to be got from 
them; they then, in a fit of pas¬ 
sion, toss a few poor helpless 
creatures info jail, who are rather 
objects of pity than punishment; 
they thrust gagyhiy Bills into 
the throais of those who cry 
against their enormities: ibev 
suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, 
to keep in solitary cells, without 
trial, men whom they suscect of 


Printed by and for W. Hone, , Old Bailey, London 


















611] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [012 


treasonably denying their right 
to do wrong, and of other heinous 
offences; they, against the sense 
of the People of England, pro¬ 
pose, in the House of Lords, 
to further suspend the Habeas 
Corpus Act, on pretences which 
they refer to a Secret Committee; 
they the next day, this present 
4th of June, set the bells a-riag¬ 
ing, whether for the success of 
their unconstitutional and outra¬ 
geous proposition last night, or 
because yesterday was my birth¬ 
day, or because to-day is the 
King’s, the reader may guess; 
but I do assure him, that between 
the said bells this morning, and 
the high wind which blew against 
my prison window all night, 1 
got no rest; to-morrow they 
prepare to try Mr. Wooler, for 
saying' that our ancestors did not 
petition King John for Magna 
Charta, whom they charge Mr. 
Wooler to hyave libelled by so 
saving, though 1 cannot see how, 
inasmuch as if is well known, 
that the Barons -cudgelled, the 
Charter out of the said poor dear, 
dead, and now, it appears, never- 
enough-to-be-boloved King; on 
Friday or Saturday they bring 
up Mi>. Butt for judgment; and 
On Monday they try the unfor¬ 
tunate Watson, and the other 
prisoners in the Tower, on charges 
of High Treason :—so that, w*hat 
with the decreasing revenue, the 
increasing distress, and the num¬ 
ber of prisoners and prosecutions, 
Ministers have, as the old woman 
said, “ a pretty kettle of fish ” 
upon their hands. 1 forgot the 
three ex - officio informations 
against myself, by the by, which 
come across their minds rather 
frequently, I imagine; for my 
Lord .SiDMOUTii lakes or makes 


an opportunity of crying out blas¬ 
phemy in the House of Lords 
much oftener than there seems 
occasion for it; and, if I may 
guess by the report out of doors, 
full as loudly as foolish Joan, in tire 
puppet show, who unmercifully 
squalls “ murder ” at least three 
times for every blow Punch be¬ 
stows upon her wooden head. 
The Noble Secretary of State is 
extremely welcome to play upon 
this chord of blasphemy as much 
as lie pleases—it will soon cease 
to vibrate, and like a school-boy 
with a Jew’s harp, he will tire 
with the strum. The new evening 
paper, the Guardian , says, with 
truth, “ blasphemy and treason 
are any thing which persons in 
office do not like. The Jew s told 
Christ, when he was preaching 
the doctrines of universal charity 
and peace, that he was talking 
blasphemy ; and we remember, 
that speakers at public meetings, 
who have complained that the 
House of Commons did not re¬ 
present the People, have beeti 
told that they have been talking 
treason." Mr. Wooler, in the 
Black Dwarf, remarking on the 
ex-officio informations, charging 
blasphemy upon me, for the pa¬ 
rodies, says:— 

“ The parodies are confessedly 
political squibs ; and if they con¬ 
tain any political offence, why 
are they not treated in a political 
point of view, and the “ front 
and head of their offending” set 
fairly before the public? Was it 
deemed necessary to aw r aken 
against Mr. Hone a spirit of religi¬ 
ous animosity , lest his political of¬ 
fence might be deemed too venial 
for punishment? In this case, the 
Crown Prosecutors are acting 
under a masqued battery; thay 



m 

are assailing* the politics of the 
man, under the pretence that the 
church is in danger, and the in¬ 
terests of society concerned in 
his punishment. The charge of 
blasphemy is so very indefinite, 
that no man will venture to abide 
by a general definition of the 
term. It is blasphemy at Rome 
to deny the infallibility of the 
Pope, or to refuse to kiss his 
Holiness’ toe; or not to worship 
the Virgin Mary. In Turkey, it 
is blasphemy to deny the mis¬ 
sion of Mahomet; and evey sect 
throughout the world has a bias- 
phemy peculiar to its creed. 
Thus all are blasphemers, or none 
are blasphemers. The power 
who will finally decide upon the 
merits of his (creatures is the only 
judge of what is blasphemy, and 
what is not; and we are not in¬ 
clined to believe that lie ever 
delegated his authority to an 
English Attorney-General.” 

The Guardian , in its leading 
article of yesterday, from which 
I before quoted, puts the charge 
of blasphemy against me iu a 
light which clearly shows the 
scandalous falsehood of the alle¬ 
gation. It observes as follows:— 

“ When we hear the Minis¬ 
terial prints talk of blasphemy , 
we are naturally led to inquire 
after the prosecutions on this 
subject. The first prosecution 
of this kind, was that of Mr. 
Wrigiit, who was accused of 
blasphemy; for maintaining the 
resurrection of the body—a doc¬ 
trine which has been maintained 
by some learned Churchmen, 
hnd which is laid down in so 
many words in one of our Creeds. 
A pretty commentary this, on the 

I iropriety of allowing Justices of 
Peace to commit to prison, on the 


June 7, 1817. 


[614 

oatli of common informers, per¬ 
sons charged with such offences. 
The only other case we know of, 
is that of Mr. Hone, who is 
charged On three several informa¬ 
tions with blasphemous parodies ; 
It has turned out that these pro¬ 
ductions are not even alleged to 
be parodies of any parts of Scrip¬ 
ture, but of certain parts of the 
Form of Prayer, established for 
the Use of the Church of Eng¬ 
land; and of the Catechism; 
which is a formula for the exami¬ 
nation of young persons, as to 
the tenets of that church. It 
will be for the Jury to decide, 
whether they were intended to 
ridicule those fortnulw, and whe¬ 
ther such ridicule be allow¬ 
able,—or whether, on the other 
hand, they were intended to ridi¬ 
cule certain corruptions in the 
State; in which case Mr. Hone 
will be acquitted. It does not 
necessarily follow that parodies 
are intended to ridicule the thing 
parodied. Can any man be ab¬ 
surd enough to suppose, that the 
exquisite parodies of the Odes of 
Horace, which were published 
in the “ Two-penny Post-bag” 
wore intended to ridicule the ad¬ 
mirable originals?—There was 

o 

Mr. Canning’s parody of the 
148th Psalm, or of Milton’s noble 
paraphrase of it—does any one 
say, that Mr. Canning intended 
to ridicule Milton, or the Psalm¬ 
ist?—He associated the noble 
ideas of the original with very 
low and ridiculous ones, merely 
with the view of impressing* more 
strongly on the mind, the sarcasms 
which he threw out against his 
political enemies. But we must 
here remark, there is a wide dif* 
ference between parodies of forms 
of prayer, or creeds, or cate* 





615] 

chisms, confessed by all to be 
tbe plodactions of mere fallible 
mortals, and parodies on the 
Scriptures, such as that of Mr. 
Canning. If Mr. Hone were to 
go north of the Tweed with his 
Parodies on the Church of Eng¬ 
land Prayer, even supposing his 
main object to have been, as the 
information charges him, to ridi¬ 
cule that form of prayer (which 
we do not know to be the fact, as 
the only one of them which we 
have seen certainly did not to us 
exhibit any appearance of such 
an intention), lie would he re¬ 
ceived with open arms by the 
most pious and zealous of our 
northern brethren. So far are 
they from thinking any ridicule 
too bad for such forms of prayer, 
that they lavish on them terms 
which, after the information 
against Mr. Hone, we hardly feel 
ourselves safe in repeating'. They 
call them inventions of the Devil 
—nets for weak souls—idolatrous 
and popish contrivances. As to 
Mr. Hone’s parodies, we know 
little of them; but we have 
thought id to make these obser¬ 
vations on such parodies in.ge¬ 
neral, because we are persuaded, 
that persons utterly devoid of 
any religious principle take ad¬ 
vantage of the religious spirit 
which is increasing in the coun¬ 
try, to direct the popular indig¬ 
nation against their opponents, 
and to reconcile the unreflecting- 
to. the suspension of their liber¬ 
ties.” 

It must not be supposed, from 
my quotations on this subject of 
blasphemy, that I am desirous of 
shrinking from the charge, or 
that 1 am unwilling to refute its 
calumny, I call it calumny, be¬ 
cause it is Jalse . There is no- 


[610 

thing in an ex-officio information 
which essentially implies that 
what it charges is true ; and these 
three informations against me, 
ultimately, I shall diave ample 
opportunity of proving to be 
untrue . In the mean time, let 
the reader peruse the following, 
which is also extracted from 
yesterday’s Guardian , and then 
say whether its tendency is to 
ridicule the opening scene: of 
the fourth act of Shakspeare’s 
Macbeth, or the farce now per¬ 
forming by the Prince Regent's 
Ministers. 

PARODY. 

Scene—A Council Chamber; in the middle 
a Green-bag wide open—Candles and 
Sealing Wax. 

Bell rings — Enter three Privy Conjurors. 

1 st P. C. Thrice has E-N dropp’d a 

tear. 

2<7 P. C. Thrice; and once the Doctor 
whin’d. 

3c? P. C. The bag’s prepar’d—’tis time* 
’tis time. 

Is? P. C. Round about the green bag go ; 

In the tainted matter throw— 
Brain of hungry Spencean wightf 
Unfed by day, uncouch’d by 
night, 

Diseas’d by suffering, craz’d by 
care, 

Into the green-bag first repair * 
All. Double, double, toil and trouble ; 
Shake the bag ; and form the 
bubble. 

2 d. P. C. Hir’d informer’s double tongue , 
First prompting, then revealing 
wrong; 

Rancour of Magisterial tool; 
Setise of Town Clerk of Liver¬ 
pool ; 

A story of a Club or tw o. 

With fact and inference both 
untrue; 

Will give due powers to those 
who need’em, 

To shop the rogues who talk of 
freedom. 

All. Don hie, double, toil and trouble ; 
Shake the bag; and form the 

bubble, 

3d, P, C. Gall of a Reverend Hypocrite, 
Who freedom damns from Holy 
Writ; 


Hone's Reformists' Register. 





617] 


June 7, 1S17. 


Of Brunswick’s Knights the blun¬ 
der vital, 

Which taints the source of 
Brunswick^ title; 

Slaver of .pension’d bard forlorn, 
Made mad by universal scorn ; 
Sophists’ mummy hum Lay-Ser- 
* mon, 

Will also tend to speed the charm 

on. 

A dash of Slander . spice of Cant, 
To prove the impiety of PFant; 
And now and then a eon; ributidn 
Of phrase portending revolution . 
All. Double, double, toil and trouble ; 
Shake the bag ; and form the 
bubble. 

2d P. C. Throw in a pile-head, sign of 
blood ; 

Then the charm is firm and 
good. 


Enter Prime Conjuror, and Six other Con¬ 
jurors. 

Prime C. O, well done; I commend your 
pains; 

And every one shall share i’ the 
gains. 

Tho’ clipp’d the wings of Sine¬ 
cure, 

The two-and-forty thousand’s 
sure: , . , 

Now round the green-bag take 
. your station. 

And bawl for aid to save the 
nation. 

1 

SONG. 

Black hirelings and white, 

We pray you appear ; 

There's a Call of the House, 
And you all must be there. 

The fear-stricken Tories 
Will join in a pack, 

And yield to the spell 
Of the mystical sack. 

lit P. C. By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Some all-believing• noodle comes: 
Open locks, whoever knocks. 

Enter John Bull. 

Ccetera desunt .] 

Though John Bull has a tole¬ 
rable share of credulity , yet Pam 
of opinion lie has much less than 
he had two years ago. To use 
an old saying, the black ox has 
trod upon his toes , and he begins 
to see things as they are. Even 
;the Pittites are giving way— 


getting less believing, Jess im¬ 
pudent— actually less impudent. 
There was a dinner the other 
day of the Pitt Club, and the 
Lord Chancellor Eldon, who 
was Mr. Purr’s intimate friend, 
cut a most conspicuous figure at 
this dinner. It was the anniver¬ 
sary of the great man’s birth-day, 
to celebrate, which the club was 
founded. Mr. Canning Wrote 
a song for this club, called the 
Pilot that weather d the Storm . 
It was a very impudent one, 
to be sure, for the pilot, was 
Mr. Pitt; but the people it 
was for, were independent and 
brazen-faced, and sung* it at 
every Anniversary, Until this 
year; when feeling that the 
” is still b [ <> wi ng great auns 9 
as the seamen say, they had the 
decencv not to sin a* 
if things 


it; and next 


progres* 


year, it tilings go on 
sively, we may fairly reckon upon 
the Pitt Club singing the witty 
parody upon it, entitled The Pilot 
that took to his Boat in the Storm. 

There is another ground, too, 
on which this show of modesty 
may be accounted for—they 
know that things cannot be car- 
ried with a high hand for ever, 
against Ihe sense of the whole 
nation. The Pitt system has had 
a rebuff in Scotland, which must 
convince its supporters, that it is 
on the yo*-- that -its rottenness 
stinks in the noses of-the People. 
The Scotch Lord-Advocate has 
abandoned certain capital prose¬ 
cutions lie had commenced 
against persons whose acquittal 
on such charges was too certain; 
and a decision at Edinburgh has 
gone well nigh to shake reliance 
upon spies, who, by their per¬ 
juries, would lay the most honest 
and best men victims at the feet 





£19] Hone’s Reformists’ Register, [62Q 


of power. The Rev. Niel Doug¬ 
las, an aged ami most respecta¬ 
ble Universalist preacher, in 
Stockwell Street, Glasgow, was 
indicted in the High Court of 
Justiciary, for that he did 44 wick- 
66 edly, slanderously, falsely, and 
f* seditiously assert, and draw a 
“ parallel between his Majesty 
v and Nebuchadnezzar , King of 
44 Babylon, remarking and insi- 
44 nuating, that, like the said 
“ King of Babylon, his Majesty 
44 was driven from the society of 
44 men, for infidelity and corrup- 
44 tion; and did farther, wickedly, 
44 &c. assert, that his Royal Iiigh- 
ness the Prince Regent 
44 was a poor infatuated ivretch , 
44 or a poor infatuated devotee of 
“ Baccchus , or use expressions 
“ of similar import; and did 
44 wickedly, &c. assert, and draw 
44 a parallel between his Royal 
£ Highness the Prince Regent 
44 and Belshazzar , King of Baby - 
44 Ion , remarking and insinuating, 
44 that his Royal Highness, like 
“ the said King of Babylon, had 
44 not taken warning from the ex- 
• 4 ample of his father; and that a 
“ similar fate to that of the said 
“ King of Babylon awaited his 
44 Royal Highness, if he did not 
* amend his ways, and listen to the 
“ voice of his People. And farther, 
44 did wickedly, &c. assert, that 
44 the House of Commons, was 
“ corrupt , and that ihe Members 
4 * thereof were thieves and rob- 
“ hers; that seats in the said 
44 House of Parliament 'were sold 
like bullocks in a market &c. 
On the trial of this indictment, 
Mr. Neil Douglas was acquitted , 
and the supporters of informers 
were disappointed. 

Nor has the Pitt system gained 
inuch by the conviction of 


Mr. Butt, towards whom, resent¬ 
ment, even in his enemies, should, 
from his unfortunate situation, 
and on many accounts, give place 
to more generous feeling. I 
believe him to be an unfortunate, 
a much-injured gentleman, whose 
reverses, long confinement, strong 
feelings, and intense thinking on 
his own case, by no means qualify 
him to place himself fairly before 
the public eye, apd who surely 
might have been spared taunt and 
reproach, at least at this time. 
Mr. Butt is now prisoner here, 
and goes up to Court on Friday, 
to receive sentence for libels on 
Lord Ellenborough, and Lord 
Castlereagii. Since bis trial, a 
coloured print lias been intro¬ 
duced here, in ridicule of Mr. 
Butt’s present condition. It is 
entitled “ All Butt ! ” and pre-: 
sents a caricature likeness of 
him, with a large roll under his 
arm,labelled 44 Imbecilities .” He 
is directing a bill-sticker, who* 
is posting Lord Ellenborough 
and Lord Castlereagh’s names 
against the wall of aliouse: behind 
Mr. Butt is a finger post, direct-; 
itig to the King’s Bench, New¬ 
gate, Gloucester Goal , and Beth - 
lem, and indicating that Glour 
cester Goal, or Betldem, or both, 
are to be the fate of Mr. Butt. 
The intimation is too gross to be 
mistaken, and too shocking not 
to be treated with indignation by 
every honourable mind. The 
author of this cruel deliberate 
insult to Mr. Butt, is named 
Random, otherwise Berenger. 
He is the person who, as Baron de 
Burgh, practised the hoax on the 
Stock Exchange, and is now a 
prisoner here, and a very con¬ 
spicuous personage, being habit¬ 
ed, for aught I know to the con- 






June 7, LSI7. 



trary, in wl at Lord Ellen- 
borougu called “ the costume of 
his crime his dress is that of a 
rifleman, with a square trencher 
cap, and mustacbios on his upper 
lij). I should not have noticed 
this person, or his singularities, 
but for the unmanly attack upon 
a gentleman, who I really believe 
to be the victim of that conspi¬ 
racy, wherein Berenger himself 
was the most distinguished cha¬ 
racter. The man’s double allu¬ 
sion to the supposed infirmity of 
Mr. Butt’s mental faculties, is 
base and unfeeling, and his sug¬ 
gestion of imprisonment in Glou¬ 
cester Goal , marks a mind which 
might be envied by a chief of 
Pandours, or a Malay. The 
print is hung up publicly in 
the prison ; that is, with as 
much publicity, as being framed 
and glazed, and displayed in a 
haberdasher s shop, can give to it. 
Berenger, I am informed, is a 
very loyal man. For him, there¬ 
fore, the renewed suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act has no 
terrors, and Gagging Bills are as 
sheets of blank paper. He has 
the merit which was ascribed to 
Mr. C. W. Wy nn, whose recom¬ 
mendation to the notice of the 
House of Commons for its 
Speaker, consisted, it seems, in 
having assented to the present 
suspension of the Habeas Corpus 
Act. “ Such impartiality” said 
his eulogist and supporter, Mr. 
Wilberforce, “ peculiarly fitted 
44 him (Mr. Wynn) for a situation, 
44 for which independence of mind 
“ was oifce of the most essential 
“ qualifications.” Mr, Wilber- 
force’s hint, however,was thrown 
away upon the Honourable Hbuse, 
who, notwithstanding Mr. Wynn 
is the friend of Mr. Southey,— J 


another recommendation,—chose 
Mr. Manners Sutton, in order 
that Mr. x4bbott, sinking under 
the fatigues of business, might 
become Lord Colchester, with 
a pension, and undertake the ar¬ 
duous duties of a Peer of Parlia¬ 
ment. The rumour of Lord Col¬ 
chester taking Lord Sidmouth’s 
place, as Secretary of State, is 
obviously circulated to bring 
Lord Colchester into contempt; 
inasmuch as the ill health which 
compelled him to retire from the 
Speaker’s chair, disqualifies him 
from managing the concerns of 
the Home Department. 

Before the publication of ray 
next number, I shall, in all pro¬ 
bability, be brought before the 
Court of King’s Bench ; there, in 
the language of tire Rule of 
Court, to undergo —I know not 
what. For the present, I remain 
its prisoner. 

WILLIAM HOm 

King's Bench Prison, 

No. 2 in No. 7, 

4th June , 1817. 


CAUSES 

OF OUR 

PRESENT CONDITION 


It is an established maxim, 
that the plenty or scarcity of 
every commodity regulates its 
price; and it is a principle now 
so thoroughly established, that 
notwithstanding thle public are 
frequently amused with an ac¬ 
count of the machinations of 
bakers and butchers, forestalled 
and monopolizers, scarcely any 
circiwistanccs can materially dis* 







Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [624 


turb ito It requires no argu¬ 
ment to prove, that the value of 
labour is subject to the same 
laws .as every other purchasable 
commodity; and if so, it neces¬ 
sarily. follows, that its present 
great depreciation arises from its 

c? I. — i 

inordinate abundance . Jn the 
United States, a common day la¬ 
bourer, who has only his bodily 
powers to offer, receives about 5s. 
and one who understands any 
handicraft trade, from 10s. to 15s. 
per day; from hence we may 
infer, that the quantity of mar¬ 
ketable labour is comparatively 
small, and the reason is suffici¬ 
ently obvious. In that immense 
and beautiful region, embracing 
various climates, and yielding 
the productions of all, a compe¬ 
tence is within the reach of all 
her citizens* If to labour for 
himself be irksome to any, means 
of emancipation is easily attained; 
their common country offers her 
capacious bosom to all; there is 
enough, and to spare. It is true 
that her government has not yet 
received the stamp of legitimacy , 
and consequently knows nothing 
of the worth of her population, 
nor what amine of wealth might 
by ingenuity be extracted from 
it. She se'ems totallv regardless 
of the example of this country, 
“ the pride and envy of the 
w orld,” and of that maxim in IIu- 
dibras, that the “value of a thing 
is just as much as it will bring;” 
hence the insignificance of. her 
revenue; and, contrary to the 
practice of regular governments, 
she appears to strive not how 
much, but how little she can 
raise. But to return—it well be¬ 
hoves us to inquire by what 
means that important and valua¬ 
ble part of the community, from 


whom originate all our necessa- 
ries and all our comforts, should 
themselves be destitute of both. 
The price that has been quoted 
as the value of American labour 
per day, is about the value of an 
Englishman’s labour for a week. 
The American can therefore relax 
frequently from his labour, and 
is not under the necessity of in¬ 
cessant application to his allotted 
task to prevent starvation—this 
is a fate reserved for English¬ 
men, and is alike destructive of 
mind and body: the American 
has also the advantage of being 
able to obtain a little land almost 
gratuitously, whereby, in the 
hours of relaxation, he has a 
ready resource both for pleasure 
and profit. 

By what fatality is the bulk of 
the English nation reduced to 
such a state of degradation? Is 
it because they want industry, 
skill, or courage? No, In these 
points they are certainly not infe¬ 
rior to their ancestors, nor to any 
nation on the globe. Is it from 
a want of trade, as some people 
fondly pretend? No. The un¬ 
natural extension of her trade 
has caused all her miseries, and 
the want of it will, I hope, work 
out her salvation ; for if we have 
not tlie means of existence within 
ourselves, “ there is no health in 
us.”—We must return to the paths 
of “ temperance, soberness, and 
chastity-—not covet nor desire 
other men’s goods, but learn and 
labour truly to get our ow 7 n 
living.” Our wandering from 
the paths of soberness has occa« 
sioned all our miseries. Our 
trarde has not resembled the 
gentle stream that gladdens and 
fertilizes a country: it has been 
'the torrent swollen with the tears 



625] June 7 

and blood of an afflicted world, 
and by its reaction has been at 
once the effect and cause of its 
numberless calamities. It is true 
that a considerable proportion of 
our population have ascended in 
the social scale, and from mer¬ 
chants have become princes; it 
is equally true, that an infinitely 
greater proportion, from decent 
competence, have sunk to abso¬ 
lute want;* the same cause has 
produced both effects. In the 
delirium of an artificial prospe¬ 
rity, our merchants have admi¬ 
nistered freely (by way of loan) 
to the voracious appetite of go¬ 
vernment; and tl \\sprofitable pa¬ 
triotism has in each successive 
instance driven tiie middle classes 
a step lower in the scale of de¬ 
gradation. These merchants 
themselves, corrupt from their 
unnatural gains, have corrupted 
the atmosphere in which they 
breathe; and the lowest of their 
hirelings have been taught to 
bespatter with abuse the purest 
characters of their country. Many 
of us remember with what inde¬ 
cent exultation the news of the 
rupture of the treaty of Amiens 
was received at the Royal Ex¬ 
change: no inquiry as to its jus¬ 
tice or injustice, or even into the 
cause; it is sufficient that fresh 
slaughter and devastation will 
ensue, and consequently fresh 
scenes of gain will open. Can we, 
after this, so be-Iibe! the French 
nation, as to say that her popula¬ 
tion exclusively light for plunder? 
It is in the recollection, also, of 
many of us, that at the important 
period alluded to, the statesman 
then at the head of administra¬ 
tion, distinguished alike for his 
imbecility in conducting the 
foreign relations of his country, 


,1817. [626 

and the vigour of his attacks on 
her rights and liberties, for the 
first time was informed that 
Malta, which he had- agreed by 
treaty to cede to France, was a 
place of considerable import¬ 
ance; then began that system of 
vacillation, * which ended in a 
rupture of the treaty, and the 
commencement of a war the 
most bloody and expensive that 
this country ever waged. It 
should, however, never be for¬ 
gotten, that the cause assigned 
for tlie war by this pious states-* 
man, Avas the enormous collec¬ 
tion of troops on the opposite 
coast; the falsehood of this de¬ 
claration is notorious to all Eu¬ 
rope—it was publicly denied by 
the French government at the 
time, and was never confirmed 
by any Englishman then resid¬ 
ing* in that country. Well did 
that illustrious statesman, Avhose 
political life was devoted to the 
true interests of his country, pre¬ 
dict that the new war would he 
more grievous than the old one, 
and that England would long 
lament the infatuation of Minis¬ 
ters. It is now too obvious, that 
between the higher and loAver 
classes, “ there is a great gulf 
fixed,” and that a very great pro¬ 
portion of the middle classes are 
precipitated into want and 
wretchedness. Who that has 
noticed the Gazettes of late years, 
and knows that the bankrupts 
then published bear no propor¬ 
tion to those that are not publish¬ 
ed, but must see how the evil 
has been increasing; and yet, on 
the surface, all looks smiling. 
Carriages and equipages beyond 
number attract the gaze of the 
multitude; “ but the head is sick, 
and the whole heart is faint,” 






6*27] IIonl’s Reformists Register. [G28 


Well might the Hebrew sage de¬ 
sire “ neither poverty nor riches;” 
the former debases, the latter cor¬ 
rupts the heart-: both are neces¬ 
sary to prepare a nation for 
slavery. Each class believing that 
its interest is distinct from the 
other, all community of feeling 
is destroyed. To discover how 
small a portion of patriotism falls 
to the lot of the wealthy, we 
need only look to the “ universal 
Spanish nationthe honour and 
independence of their country 
being alone maintained by the 
“ People”—by that class who 
had apparently the least interest. 
Perhaps no country in the world 
exhibits the mediocrity of wealth 
so much as the American Repub¬ 
lic; long may she continue this 
bright example, the best pledge 
of her virtue and happiness. 
On the other hand, no country, 
with the exception of Ireland, 
displays at once so much bloated 
wealth and emaciated poverty as 
this. In the one state, the vital 
current moves heavily through 
the main arteries only: in the 
other, it pervades the minutest 
vessels, and infuses to the ex- 
tremest parts the blessings of 
health and activity. Let us not, 
however, despair; there is abun¬ 
dant cause for hope; the light 
of knowledge has gone forth, 
and cannot be extinguished. 
Amidst all the distresses of the 
times, there is no want of patriot¬ 
ism, courage, or talent, to assert 
rights that are now ascertained. 
Nearly half a century ago, the 
evils of wealth, and consequent 
poverty, was admirably described 
by one of our most illustrious 
poets. 

“ Ill fares.the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
When wealth accumulates, and men decay; 


Princes and Lords may flourish, and may 
fade, 

A breath can make them, as a breath has 
made ; 

But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride. 
When once destroy'd, can never be supplied. 
A timje there was, ere England’s griefs 
began, 

When every rood of ground maintain’d its 
man ; 

For him light labour spread her wholesome 
store, 

Just gave what life requir'd, but gave no 
more ; 

Her best companions innocence and 
health, 

And her best riches ignorance of wealth. 
But times are alter’d: trade’s unfeeling 
train 

Uusurp the land, and desolate the plain.” 

Goldsmith, 

When this was written, the 
coming storm was in the horizon, 
“ a cloud, no bigger than a man’s 
hand”; it has now outspread, and 
ravaged the land. That the 
sun of truth “ may arise witli 
healing in his wings,” and bring 
joy and gladness to our country, 
is the wish of 

R. M, 


POVERTY 

AND 

CHILD MURDE R; 

By Sir G. O. PAUL, Bart. 

[From an able Address, delivered by him, as 
Chairman ot the Quarter Sessions, to his 
Brother Magistrates, at Gloucester —the 
numerous charges of Child Murder, at 
this time, render this Article peculiarly 
interesting.] 

When led to contemplate the 
objects of a strict execution of the 
laws, it is not easy—and certainly I 
shall not persuade myself—to pass, 
unobserved, the number of women 
who have been of late years impri¬ 
soned, under the statute of 7 James, 
c. iv. technically for being “ lewd 
women, but, in fact, on account of 
their INABILITY to prevent their 
bastard children from becoming 
chargeable to a parish. 




629] June 7 

These women have been nearly the 
only persons who have been con¬ 
demned to try the possibility of ex-< 
isting for one whole year on bread 
and water for sustenance. They 
have thus been sentenced to a longer 
confinement, and of course, to a more 
severe punishment, than any one of 
the 533 petty thieves (convicted at 
Gloucester), or than the one half 
of the felons convicted of larceny. 

The contemplation of this law never 
fnters my mind without disgust. I exe¬ 
crate equally its principle and iss 
consequences ; nor will I rest until I 
shall have found a friend in Parlia¬ 
ment, so far a friend to rational legis¬ 
lation, as to attempt its repeal, or, at 
least, to diminish the severity of its 
penalty. 

I am aware of the disposition of 
some Magistrates who hear me, to 
impute a levity in moral, to my ob¬ 
servations on this law. But being 
conscious of right in point both of 
morality and policy; 1 am regardless 
of comments on my motives, whether 
they be the airy offspring of a lively 
fancy, or the serious allusions of an 
austere judgment. 

I know that many good men and 
excellent Magistrates receive, and 
even encourage these informations, 
fonscienciously, and from a zeal to 
punish immorality; but if this be a 
law, having the furtherance of public 
moral as its ultimate result, my mind 
must be most, unhappily perverse, in 
drawing a conclusion from premises. 
The preamble, after reciting that 
‘ ( because great’ charge arisetli upon 
“ many places within this realm, by 
“ reason of bastardy,” adds, as a sort 
of codicil, “ besides the great disho- 
“ nour of Almighty God.” It pro¬ 
ceeds to enact, not that every lewd 
woman shall be committed to an House 
of Correction ;—no ! not even that 
every lewd woman, who shall have a 
bastard born of her incontinence ; but 
that “ every lewd woman who shall 
*< have any bastard which may be 
CHARGEABLE to a parish 5 the 


1817. [630 

“ Justices of the Peace shall commit 
“ such lewd woman to the House of 
“ Correction, there to be punished , 
“ and set on work, during the term ef 
“ one whole year.” 

It is not then the immorality of the 
act of incontinence; it is not even the 
conceiving from that act, and the 
producing a spurious issue ; but it is 
the extraneous and accidental circum¬ 
stance of the POVERTY of the par¬ 
ties engaged-—it is the destitute situ- 
atiop of the parents—-which consti¬ 
tutes the corpus delicti of this clause, 
and which is declared emphatically to 
produce “ dishonour to Almighty 
God.” How profane is the applica¬ 
tion of such terms to such occasions 
and for such purposes ! Here it is 
the mere ejaculation of a Puritan ; it 
is the cant of the day in which the 
law was passed. Incontinence may 
walk the streets in public prostitution, 
insulting all it meets, provided it be 
barren prostitution: and it is known, 
that the most prostitute are the most 
barren. Prostitution may proclaim 
itself in splendid establishment - 
the daughters of honest citizens may 
be debauched by men possessing 501. 
to indemnify a parish claim. Yet 
here the legal moralist is silent— 
mute is this monitor of religious de¬ 
corum. Here are no means provided, 
nor is there even a purpose shown, to 
punish these offences. 

In truth, we know that the act of 
incontinence is not directly and sub¬ 
stantively acknowledged as a criminal 
offence by any municipal law on the 
statute book ; the cognizance of it, as 
an offence to religion and public deco¬ 
rum, it has hitherto been thought fit 
to leave to the ecclesiastical jurisdic¬ 
tion. 

I contend, therefore, that the 
enactment in question is no other 
than a law of parochial economy, or¬ 
daining a punishment as a satisfac¬ 
tion for a pecuniary burden, resulting 
to a parochial body from a certain act 
and deed ; and that as such, it is in-, 
equitable,—for as mu cl; as it attaches 



6*3 1] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [63*2 


only to one of two parties, necessarily 
joint-participators in that act and 
deed. 

As a law, then, in support' of pub¬ 
lic decorum, it is futile and fallacious 3 
because a barren women, the most 
debauched and profligate, is not 
within its penalty 3 and for.as much 
as a woman blessed with a competency 
to maintain a child, or who is con¬ 
nected with a man who is so blessed, 
is out of the reach of its provisions. 
Rut a woman, being the mother of a 
child living, who cannot, or will not 
father that child on a person possessing 
property sufficient to indemnify 3 she 
is liable to the penalty of this statute 3 
and she is thus liable over and above 
her further liability to a punishment 
by another law, together with the man 
who has been party to her misdeed. 

But setting aside feeling, let us ex¬ 
amine the policy of this law. Let 
us look to the acts which will natu¬ 
rally suggest themselves to the mind 
of a pregnant woman, trembling un¬ 
der the terrible apprehension of this 
punishment. The hist, and, of many 
bad, the least horrible is to father the 
child on a person able, to indemnify 
the parish, and by that indemnifica¬ 
tion, to secure herself from punish¬ 
ment. The next act which may 
occur toher alarmed mind, may be to 
add to her misconduct, the horrid 
crime, of destroying the focetus in 
uturo. And, let me ask, is it possible 
for a Magistrate , who has visited a, wo¬ 
man confined in prison, under this se¬ 
vere sentence , with a child drawing 
nourishment from her emaciated 
breast , not to see in the situation, an 
inducement io CHILD MURDER ? 
1 must add to the list of consequences, 
from my own observation, that I 
should apprehend the death of the 
child or the mother, or of both in¬ 
deed, no improbable consequence, 
when committed to prisons where the 
allowance,of food is small, and where 
the visiting Justices may possibly not 
be watchful over the particular'.state 
of each individual prisoner. 


A woman, whom I found in a pri¬ 
son, committed under this statute, on 
account of her first child , within a 
month after it was born —asked me, 
pertinently, “ why the man who had 
iC seduced her, was not to be impri- 
“ soned as well as herself?” I could 
only answer, “ because women were 
“ not legislators, and mew were parish 

officers.” 

Let us .next look to the very sum¬ 
mary mode of proceeding under this 
act. “■ Every lewd woman who shall 
“ have any bastard which may be 
“ chargeable to the parish, the Jus- 
“ tices shall commit," &c. These words 
import no judicial discretion in the 
Magistrate. Is not the proposition, 
then, too monstrous to be reconciled 
to any general principle of our law r s ? 
As well might we say, that every per¬ 
son who is indebted, or causes an ex¬ 
pense to any other person, or bodies 
of persons, shall be imprisoned on the 
mere demand j)f the creditor, for a 
year, with hard labour, and bread and 
water. 

The Justices of the Peace (proba*- 
bly meaning two), must ministerially 
commit every, woman, having a bas¬ 
tard chargeable to a parish, on the 
dictum of an overseer of. the poor 3 
on proof of the simple fact of a charge 
of sixpence io the parochial rate. Nay, 
more, here is an equivocal “ may be" 
to he added to the account. Is it de¬ 
nied that such is the construction of 
this law ? If not, then are w r e not 
alarmed at the mass of mischievous 
consequences which w~e may be called 
upon to ordain to-morrow ? May not 
500, nay, may not 1000 women be 
immediately immured in tlie prisons 
of this county ? I have reason to be¬ 
lieve that such an extensive execution 
of the law, as, if generally adopted, 
would lead to this effect, has really 
been in contemplation, in some parts 
of this county. 

Why, Gentlemen, a woman re¬ 
claimed—a woman subsequently mar¬ 
ried, and settled in life—may have 
• f a bastard chargeable You may 





683] . . June 

perhaps think I put this case hypo¬ 
thetically 5 I tell you I put it practi¬ 
cally : 1 not only know such com¬ 
mitments may be, but that they 
have been made. If called upon to 
justify the assertion, be not surprised, 
if I produce to you the certificate of a 
marriage in one week, and the com¬ 
mitment of the bride, under this law, 
in the next. But it is said,true ! 
<( such is the power of the parish 
officer^ yet he never uses it to its 
extent. He keeps the law in his 
hand in terrorem ,• he exercises it 
(C at l\is discretion, only in particular 
e{ instances of outrageous immoral 
tc behaviour; perhaps on some par- 
“ ticular act of contumacy to the 
“ parochial will.” Hoes he so ? 
Then this gives to the law a colour 
tenfold more dangerous and oppres¬ 
sive. With the terror over the whole, 
the victims are selected, lly whom ? 
By the parochial overseer. By what 
criterion of comparative offence does 
he select r—Is it by degree of offence 
towards God or towards man }— to¬ 
wards others or towards himself r 
Hoes the decision always depend on a 
mind so pure, that personal offence, 
or personal attachment, has no share 
in its decrees ? 

I can only say, with regard to the 
specimens of selection, which I have 
seen in the course of my visits to the 
various prisons of this county, winch, 
of late, are rarely without such inha¬ 
bitants, that they have not been 
chosen from amongst those oi the 
most seducing appearance ;—not from 
those most likely to be seduced to a 
repetition of the offence and most 
certainly not, apparently, from the 
most impudent and depraved. 

On one of my visits to a'prison, I 
found a woman, who had been com¬ 
mitted for a year, on the application 
of a hired keeper of a workhouse, into 
which she had been received, as a pau¬ 
per, in a state*of pregnancy, to be de¬ 
livered. 1 learned from the Magis¬ 
trates who committed her, that the 
applicant on the part of the parish, J 


7,1817'. - [034 

had enforced his plea for her com- . 
initial, by assuring them that the 
woman in her labour had attempted 
to smother her infant. 

This was a serious charge, and pro¬ 
bably designed to excite a resentment 
in the minds of the Magistrates. But 
the smothering the child had'nothing, 
to do with the statute of James, and 
was irrelevant to the application. If 
true, it might subject the woman to a 
heavier criminal charge, which ought 
to have been preferred against her. 
The statute, on which the officer applied 
to the Magistrates , inflicts its punish¬ 
ment for the having a child LIJ ING ,— 
not for the endeavour to DESTROY 
it. And, if true—which, for the sake * 
of argument, only, I will admit—may 
I not, in support of my hypothesis, 
and without violating probability, 
assume, that the mind of a woman, 
iu her situation, might be prompted 
to such a thought, by the dread of the 
punishment which she knew awaited 
her, the moment she arose from her 
bed, if her child should then be living. 

And what is the consequence of 
this harsh spirit of legislation }— 
Such as will ever be the result of 
harsh laws.—Magistrates endeavour 
either to evade the execution of them, 
or they shrink from the severity of their 
own convictions ! 


SIR F. BURDETFS 
SPEECH Off REFORM, 

Concluded from page 603. 

“ It was not instituted tQ be a cbn- 
frroul upon the People—as of late it 
has been taught, by a doctrine of the 
most pernicious tendency—but as a 
controul for the People. Other insti¬ 
tutions have been formed for the 
purpose of checking popular excesses ; 
and they are, I apprehend, fully ade- 





(>.%} Hone’s Reformists’ Register; [>63o 


quate to their object,' If not, they 
ought to be made so. But the House 
of CorhmonS, as it was never intended 
for tfhe support of peace and subordi¬ 
nation, is miserably appointed for 
vhat service; hating no stronger 
weapon than its mace, and no better 
officer that! its Serjeant at Arms, 
which it can command of its own 
proper authority. A vigilant, and 
jealous eye over executory and judi¬ 
cial magistracy ; an anxious care of 
public money ; an openness, ap¬ 
proaching towards facility, to public 
complaint ;—these seem to be the 
true characteristics of a House of 
Commons. But an addressing House 
of Commons, and a petitioning na¬ 
tion 5 a House of Commons full of 
confidence, when the nation is 
plunged in despair; in the utmost 
harmony with Ministers, whom the 
People regard with the utmost abhor¬ 
rence j who vote thanks, when the 
public opinion calls upon them for 
impeachments ; who are eager to 
grant, when the general voice de¬ 
mands reckoning and account; who, 
in all disputes between the People 
and Administration, presume against 
die People 5 who punish their dis¬ 
orders; but refuse even to inquire 
into the provocations to them :—this 
is an unnatural, a monstrous state of 
things in this Constitution.” He 
wished the Gentlemen of England 
would keep one fact in mind —that 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BOROUGH 

proprietors had ike property, the 
liberty , and the lives of this great nation 
at their disposal: that by their agents 
they constituted the executive, or domi¬ 
neered over it; that they had become 
King, Lords, and, Commons, and ex¬ 
cluded every oilier power from the 
Constitution (Hear, hear, hear !)— 
and he asked them, if they would 
allow this state of things to continue : 
The Roman empire had been set up 
for sale by the corruption of its legis¬ 
lature and the Athehians were so at¬ 
tentive to the purity of tbejrs, that it 
was declared high treason for any one. 


not a citizen, to intrude into the legis¬ 
lative assembly. So long as such a 
House of Commons as that which he 
had described should continue in the 
country, neither foreign nor domestic 
dangers would create alarm. Pie 
wished to see no other House of 
Commons, than that which answered 
to the description by a great man of 
what a House of Commons ought to 
be. He called Mr. Burke a great 
man, because it Was an epithet due to 
his extraordinary abilities, and to 
those principles which he had so 
strenuously supported during the 
greater portion of his life, whatevet 
had been his subsequent departure 
from them. Or whatever had been its 
cause. Mr. Burke llad indeed gone 
farther, and declared it to be better 
that the Plouse should partake of 
every epidemical frenzy of the 
People, than that it should show a 
perpetual jealousy, of their rights. 
It was not, however, a jealousy of 
which he now complained; it was an 
open hostility to popular rights, a 
Want of all common feeling with the 
country at large, and a cheaply-won 
character of magnanimity, in affecting 
to despise what was called the clamour 
of the People. This appeared to him, 
lie confessed, to be hardly decent j 
but as he did not think it right to 
take upon himself to point out what 
particular course it might be most 
adviseable to pursue, he could only 
entertain hopes, that the House would 
consent to an inquiry into the facts 
and allegations contained in the Pe¬ 
titions. Most particularly he trusted, 
that the Committee, if appointed, 
would direct its attention to the al¬ 
leged nomination of Members hv 
Peers ; a nomination which could not 
be practised but in defiance of all law, 
decency, and reason. It was uport 
these views of the difference between 
the Constitution as it now existed, 
and as it was settled at the Revolution, 
that he invited the House to listen to 
his proposition. Our present practice 
had varied from the standard then 






037] June 7 

established, in many important points. 
It had been judged necessary at that 
period to enact, that every Privy 
Counsellor should subscribe his name 
to a copy of the advice which he gave 
bis Sovereign. Another regulation 
had for its object, the exclusion of 
persons holding offices under the 
Crown from seats in Parliament. 
Every thing, however, which had 
been Interposed as a security against 
the encroachments of power bad 
been either taken away, or had been 
suffered to become a dead letter. 
Nothing could furnish a more decisive 
proof that the House of Commons 
had lost its former connexion with 
the People; that they no longer re¬ 
garded themselves as their stewards 
or servants, but as a master, uniting 
in himself all the different springs 
and species of authority. Whatever 
might be thought of the wisdom or 
expediency of annual Parliaments at 
present, it was not true that they were 
unknown to the history of the Con¬ 
stitution ; in the discussions on the 
TriennialAct, the contrary was main¬ 
tained by the most eminent public 
characters of that day. With regard 
to the Septennial Act, indeed, lie 
wished to say no more, than to allude 
to the opinion expressed of it by Dr. 
Johnson, who, lie supposed, if living, 
would now be considered as a jacobin. 
[A laugh.] Dr. Johnson, when re¬ 
probating as unconstitutional, the 
measure by which twelve persons 
were raised, during the reign of 
Queen Anne, at one time to the 
Peerage, speaks of it as nothing equal 
or approaching to the contempt of all 
human right, and of all human means 
of asserting it, which was exemplified 
in passing the Septennial Act. But 
the pretence then was, the existence 
of a Popish faction another proof of 
the aversion which had so long pre¬ 
vailed to trust to the sense and 
wtshes of the country. He believed 
that this pretence was now abandoned, 
but with very little alteration even 
in its name. The dread was no 


*817. [<388r 

longer exeked by a jacobitieal but 
jacobinieal party. Believing, how¬ 
ever, as he did, that there was no 
danger to be apprehended, except by 
the Government continuing to cto 
wrong, and still more to alienate 
instead of regaining the affections of 
the People, by restoring to them 
their undoubted rights, he should 
conclude by moving :— 

“ That a Select Committee he ap¬ 
pointed to inquire into the present state 
of the representation of the country , 
and to report their observations to the 
House." ., 


THE LATE 

EDWARD RUSHTON, 

AND 

ROBERT SOUTHEY\ 

THE LAUREATE. 


Mr. Rushton, of Liverpool, a 
patriot, a poet, and an excellent 
man, of whom, when lie died, Mr. 
Roscoe said, he was “ the last of 
the Romans,” was visited a few 
years ago by Mr. Southey. That 
gentleman was then neither Poet- 
Laureate, nor pensioner. Genius 
is not confined to aristocracy— 
Rushton was a bookseller, and 
Southey took his leave of Rush- 
ton, who, like Milton, was blind, 
across the shop counter, in these 
words, “ If you come to the Lakes* 
“ and visit me, you will find a 
“ man as fond of poetry and 
“ LIBERTY as yourself.” They 
squeezed each other’s hands, and 
parted. Rushton lived to re¬ 
cover his ^ye-sight, to see 
Southey Poet-Laureate, to read 





639] 

his Carmen Triumpkale , and to 
write the following 

UO tWL 

TO MR. SOUTHEY". 

When man’s great curse, despotic sway, 
Sweeps myriads from the realms of day ; 
When wide o’er all the Christian world 
Destruction’s banners are unfurl’d ; 
When Europe with exhaustion reels, 

• Yet nor remorse nor pity feels; 

At this dread period South by stands, 
The w i!d harp trembling; in his hands ; — 
And whilst fanatic furor fires his mind, 

“ Glory to God ,” he cries, deliverance for 
mankind !”* 

Ah, Southey, if thy boyish brood 
Were prone to shed each other’s blood, 
Tbou could’st not with unruffled mein 
Behold the agonizing scene : 

Why then suppose the Sire of All 
3s pleased to see his creature’s fall ; 

Why then, if carnage strew the ground, 
And groans, and shrieks, and yells abound; 
Why then, if ruthless havoc lord it wide, 
Should bigot rag e exult, and God be glorified? 

I grieve when earth is drench’d with gore. 
And realms with woe are covered o’er ; 

I grieve, and reprobate the plan 
Of thanking God for slaughter’d man : 
Nor can I hope that lawless sway. 

Fierce as a tiger o’er his prey, 

.Will ever uncoiiipelled resign 
That power the priest proclaims divine: 
No, Southey, no! oppressors ne’er unbind; 
'Tis man —high-minded man must liberate 
mankind. 

r Appall’d by superstitious cares. 

Despots of yore have crown’d their heirs, 
But when, oh, Southey ! tell me when 
Have despots raised their slaves to men ? 

' * This line is the burden of Mr. 
Southey’s first effort as Poet Laureate. It 
is entitled Carmen Triumpkale. He says, 
the present King of Prussia, yes, gentle 
reader, the present King of Prussia, 

“ Frederic, best! and GREATEST of the 
name! 

“ Treads in the path of duty and of fame.” 

And on his said Majesty's account he sings, 

“ Glorv to God, and deliverance fpr man- 
knd ! ” 


[640 

Vot’ries of Power , to this they bend. 

For this eternally contend ; 

Whilst man , let despots rise or fall. 

Poor abject man submits to all; [swell. 
And should liis wrongs beyond endurance 
Here glares the State’s red aruv—and there 
an endless Hell . 

Whether of home or foreign growth. 

All despots from my soul I loath ; 

And as to rights —I should as soon 
Expect a message from the moon. 

As hope to see a courtly traiu 
Combin’d to cherish Freedom’s reign— 
Combin’d to humanise the heart, 

And bid the nurse’s dreams depart; 

No, Southey, no ! those scourges , when 
combin’d, - [kind. 

May desolate a world, but never free man- 

If proof be wanting, France may show, 
In man’s great cause how Monarchs glow : 
Thou know'st when one immortal stroke 
Her lacerating shackles broke ; [swarms 
Thou know’st how Europe’s savage 
Flew like infuriate fiends to arms ; 

And how the vaunting legions came. 

To quench a never-dying flame ; 

And well thou know’st how France 
sublimely rose, 

Bared her resistless arm, and crushed th* 
aggressing foes. 

If proof be wanting, turn thine eyes 
Where poor partition’d Poland lies ; 

By many a barbarous band assailed : 

In Freedom’s cause she fought, she fail’d $ 
She saw her children bite the dust," 
O’erwhelm’d by rapine, murder, lust ; 
She saw her cities blaze, and all 
That ’scaped the flames by ruffians fall; 
Transfixed by groves of pikes, she heard 
them groata, • 

Then back into the flames saw writhing 
thousands thrown. 

Poor prostrate Poland ! here we find 
How dtspots liberate mankind ; 

And here, unblushing Bard, we see 
The savage hordes extoll’d by thee : 

But whether minstrels change with 
times,f 

And scatter flowers o’er courtly crimes ; 
Or Truth’s firm sons imprison’d lie, 

Or priests the reasoning powers decry ; 
Soon, like those brutes that shun the 
nightly fire. 

From Freedom’s holy flame shall man’s 
fierce foes retire. 

t See the Laureate’s Wat Tyler. 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Luugaie Hill; wncie COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be addressed; 
and sold at fia, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. lus' 
per Thousand, . * ‘ • 





Price Two-Pence. 


HONE S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 21.] Saturday, June 14, 1817. |"Vol. T. 


CONTENTS. 

Mr. WOOFER'S TRIUMPH—Mr. 
HORNE TOOKE, on Ex-officio In¬ 
formations—A Letter to the Friends 
of Freedom and Philanthropy. 


MR. WOOLER’S TRIUMPH. 

• 

More hath been achieved by 
Mr. Wooler, for the liberties of 
our country, on his trials for 
alleged 1 ibels in the Black Dwarf ', 
than by all the struggles against 
usurped power, since the resist¬ 
ance of Mr. Wilkes obtained 
General Warrants to be declared 
illegal. 

Mr. Wooler and myself were 
taken into the Court of King’s 
Bench on the morning' of Mon¬ 
day, the 5th of May. We sat to¬ 
gether, until, on the motion of 
the Attorney-General, I rose from 
his side, and being* called on by 
the Court, successively refused 
to plead to the three ex-officio 
informations filed against me, and 
was hurried away by the tip- 
staves, under the order of the 
Court. Mr. Wooler was then 
immediately called on to plead to 
an ex-officio information against 
him: and having* done so, we 
were put into a coach together, 
and brought to this prison, where 
we still remain. Mr. Wooler 
was afterwards taken to Court, 
to answer to another information, 
lie pleaded, in order to have the 
earliest opportunity of arguing 
and defending, before Juries of 

* ¥ t »• 


his country, the principles for 
promulgating which he was pro¬ 
secuted. He has, on his trial, ar¬ 
gued and defended those prin¬ 
ciples, with an ardent zeal* for 
liberty, an irresistible force of 
reasoning, and a burning elo¬ 
quence, alike fatal to the sophistry 
of the Attorney-General (Shep¬ 
herd), and the bad law of the 
Judge (Abbot). Both these offi¬ 
cial personages are now, I take it, 
in as great -a quandary as His 
Majesty’s Ministers, who walk 
about like men with their brains 
beat out. As to the Attorney- 
General, with an imagination 
“ as dry as the remainder bis¬ 
cuit after a voyage,” to whom, 
as to his conduct on these pro¬ 
secutions, Mr. Wooler may say, 
“ Thou hast no more brain than 
I have in my elbows ; ”—I would 
recommend the poor gentleman to 
give up all thoughts of a judge- 
ship—to retire from official duty, 
which is unseemly to him, and 
betake him to private life, where 
lm is really amiable. To be sure, 
he pretty well knows how favours 
are dispensed by Ministers; and 
—though common people can 
scarcely tell which way a Jack¬ 
ass will kick—the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral may be a Judge yet. “ God 
forgive me, fora fool,’ as the old 
women say—but, for aught I 
know, Mr. Justice Abbot may he 
Lord Chief Justice; and all this 
because the one did not know 
how to get a verdict, and the 


Printed by and for W, Hone, (»7> Old Bailey, London. 




















643 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [644 


other knew better how to snatch 
it than to take it. 

I should degrade Mr. Wooler, 
by comparing' him in any respect 
with any of the persons he has 
had to contend against. I would 
as soon doubt his integrity and 
inflexibility as his prowess— 
marks of which will be on the 
Attorney-General’s back as long 
as the learned gentleman lives. 
Aided by that last remaining 
hope to our country, TRIAL EY 
JURY, he has fought a greater 
fight, and gained a victory more 
memorable than that of Waterloo. 
With youth and health, great ac¬ 
quirements, a fertile mind, high 
courage, real modesty, exalted 
feeling', frank and ingenuous de- 
meanour, an independent spirit, 
and few personal wants, Mr. 
Wooi.er is destined to be at least 
one of the most useful, and I 
believe him to he one of the most 
virtuous, of our countrymen. 

From the Morning Chronicle of 
Wednesday, June 11, 1817. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING 
CHRONICLE. 

Sir,— -With the Side Bar Rule you 
mention to have been served on me 
on Friday last, in the matter of the ex- 
officio information filed against me by 
the Attorney-General, for the late 
John Wilkes’s Political Catechism of 
a Ministerial Member, a like Rule 
was at the same time served on 
another ex-officio information against 
me, for the Political Litany, and a 
further Rule on a third ex-officio in¬ 
formation, also filed against me, by 
the Attorney-General, for the Sinc- 
curist’s Creed. 

Mr. Jones, the Marshal, in an in¬ 
terview I had with him on Saturday, 
declining to take me into Court on 
these Rules, I, agreeably to his sug¬ 
gestion, despatched the following 
letter to Mr. Dealtry, the Clerk of the 
Pleas on the Crown side of the Court 


of King’s Bench, at the Crown Office, 
in the Inner Temple, London 
(Copy) 

“ Sir,— -Rules served on me from 
the Treasury say, unless the defendant 
shall sufficiently answer on Monday 
next, let judgment be entered against 
him by default. You will oblige me, 
by letting the bearer have a Rule to 
authorize the Marshal to bring me 
into Court on Monday, accordingly. 

“ I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 
“ WILLIAM HONE. 

“ King’s Bench Prison, June 7, 1817. 

“-Dealtry Esq.” &c. 

The clerk at the Crown Office, to 
whom this letter was delivered, in¬ 
form ?d the Messenger that Mr. Dealtry 
was then at Westminster, and would 
not lie at the office till eight in the 
evening. Between seven and eight 
o’clock the Messenger went again to 
the Crown Office, and saw Mr. Dealtry, 
or a gentleman representing him, who 
said he would mention it to the 
Court on Monday. Yesterday (being 
Monday) the Messenger applied at 
the Crown Office twice for the Rule, 
which the Marshal considered requi¬ 
site to authorize him to take me into 
Court 3 but no such authority was 
prepared, nor had either instructions 
or message been left respecting it. 

The Rules served on me expired 
yesterday, and here I remained the 
whole of that and this day, as if 
forgotten. 

I am in the power of the Court, 
its prisoner, and helpless. It calls on 
me to come before it on a day cer¬ 
tain—it disables me from doing so ; 
and, at this moment, perhaps, judg¬ 
ment has been entered against me by 
its own default. 

I am informed that Copies of the 
three Ex-officio Informations against 
me will cost at least Thirty Pounds. 

I am. Sir, very respectfully yours, 

W. HONE. 

King’s Bench Prison, June 10, 1817. 

Of the oppressiveness, and ini¬ 
quitous inode, of prosecution by 
ex - officio informations, Mr# 







645 ] June 14 , 1817 . [040 


Horne Tooke’s admirable speech 
on his trial for libel, before Lord 
Mansfield, in 1777 , gives ample 
details. The libel consisted of 
an advertisement for raising 1001. 
“ to be applied to the relief of 
“ the widows, orphans, and aged 
“ parents, of our beloved Ameri- 
“ can fellow-subjects, who, faitli- 
“ ful to the character of En&'lish- 
“ men, were, Jor inat reason only, 
“ inhumanly murdered by the 
“ King's troops at or near Lexing- 
“ ton.” Mr. Tooke’s masterly 
argument being adapted to the 
proceedings against Mr. Wooler 
and myself, and Mr. Tooke’s 
trial, from which it is taken, being’ 
exceedingly scarce, 1 have given 
a very copious extract from it in 
the present sheet. Any thing- from 
Mr. Tqoke is valuable, but this is 
peculiarly so, at the present time, 
Before my next number, Mr. 
Wooler will have settled his dif¬ 
ferences with Sir Samuel Shep- 
herd and Mr. Justice Abbott , 
and have published another num¬ 
ber of his Black Dwarf, which 
lie continues every Wednesday, 
in its usual spirit; and before 
that time, I shall be called on by 
the Attorney-General, to suffi¬ 
ciently answer , as the Rules of 
Court say. Between tue unfor¬ 
tunate State Prisoners, now on 
their trial, and Mr. W ooler, and 
myself, Mr. Attorney may, in his 
extremity, fairly exclaim, 

ft It’s monstrous labour, when I wash my 
brain, 

fe Arid it grows fouler."- 

WILLIAM HONE. 
Ring's Bench Prison , No. 2 in No. 7 . 

11 tli June, 1817. 


MR. HORNE TOOKE 

ON EX-OFFICIO INFORMATIONS. 
The Court of King’s Bench 
has also assumed a power pf ac^ 


cusing men. They say they may 
safely be trusted with it. I be*, 
lieve their claim illegal; but I 
have nothing to do with it; and 
I acknowledge that it is much 
safer there, than in the hands of 
an Attorney-General, who is 
whipped in and whipped out 
just as the Minister, w hose friend 
he is, goes in or out. 

But that is not all. The Court 
of King's Bench cannot grant an 
information without an affidavit, 
without an accusation lipon oath; 
no one of the Judges of the Court 
of King’s Bench can do it, and 
yet they are a little more in do* 
pendent (they have fewer hopes, 
and therefore fewer fears) than 
the Attorney-General; yet no 
one of the Judges of the Court 
can accuse a man. It must bo 
the ivhole Court, and they must 
do it in consequence of an oath. 
If I am wrong, you will have the 
pleasure of contradicting it (turn* 
iny to the Attorney-General)• 
But the Attorney-General accuses 
men neither upon the oath ot 
others, nor yet upon his own oath 5 
if he believes the matter of the 
accusation true, it is hut the be¬ 
lief of one man, and he a preju* 
diced man, and the most im¬ 
proper man in the kingdon for 
his authority to be taken in such 
a case. But, Gentlemen, what is 
much worse, it frequently hap¬ 
pens that 110 man whatever avows 
the accusation, or believes it; no, 
not the Attorney-General himself, 
w ho hies the information, 1 will 
prove it by-and-by, even in the 
case of the Attorney-General, who 
filed this declaration. Gentle¬ 
men, I shall desire bv-and-by, 
for your satisfaction and mine, to 
find out whether there is one 
man in the country that believes 
me guilty of the crime laid to my 






647] Hone’s Reform 

charge; a crime of that nature 
that is to have a punishment, 
which is called by the law a tem¬ 
porary death, an exclusion from 
society, imprisonment. The ap¬ 
parent object of this prosecution, 
is to take what little money out of 
my pocket l may have there, and 
to imprison me, and so exclude 
me from that society, of which I 
have rendered myself unworthy. 
However, I have the pleasure to 
see that there sits a gentleman by 
the Judge who is now trying 
me, who, as well as myself, has 
charged the King's troops with 
murder, a charge which at that 
time excited great abhorrence 
and detestation against him. The 
Judge (Lord Mansfield) and 
that gentleman (Mr. Wilkes) 
have been laughing all the time 
qf this trial: and they have en¬ 
joyed each other’s company ex¬ 
ceedingly [a great laugh for 
some minutes of the whole audi¬ 
ence ]. Well, Gentlemen (turn¬ 
ing towards Lord Mansfield and 
Mr. Wilkies), I have caused ano¬ 
ther laugh between the Gentle¬ 
men ; but it gives me pleasure 
to think that if ever l am to come 
out of prison again (if you are 
so kind as to put me there), 1 too 
may have the honour (if it be 
one) of sitting cheek by cheek 
with the Judge, and laughing at 
some other libeller. I said, if 1 
Gome out again, because if it is 
possible that 1 should be put there 
for this charge, I believe that will 
never happen : 1 will never cease 
repeating the charge I have 
made, till those men are legally 
tried and acquitted, who are 
guilty of what I call murder. 
1 will not be contented with one, 
nor with two, nor with twenty 
juries. I will repeat the charge 
of murder upon the troops every 
day; if this doctrine gets so far 


ists’ Register. [648 

even as to a doubt; and I call 
upon the Attorney-General now, 
if he may, if he can, if he will 
venture, without the permission 
of those Ministers whose humble 
servant alone lie is; if he may 
venture,I call upon him to pledge 
himself to bring an information 
for a seditious libel against the 
King and the Government every 
time 1 charge the troops with 
murder. I promise him I will 
give him business enough, and I 
hope he will (if he may venture 
to do it) promise to file an infor¬ 
mation every time I charge them 
with m order when they commit it. 

But, Gentlemen, 1 have wan¬ 
dered ; though if I am to be shut 
up so soon, a few excursions be¬ 
fore it may be excused me. 

The Attorney-General does not 
apply then to the grand jury, and 
there is no person whose accusa¬ 
tion upon oath it is. 

When he has filed his informa¬ 
tion, he proceeds or not upon it 
as be pleases: he files fresh in¬ 
formations if he pleases, when lie 
pleases, as often as he pleases ; 
he uses it if he pleases as a vex¬ 
atious method, which may ha¬ 
rass, and ruin, and destroy the 
greatest fortune in this country. 
It has been used vexatiously. 
I do not say by the present At¬ 
torney-General ; I do absolutely 
acquit him of that; he never, 
that 1 know of, lias been guilty of 
that practice; but I do know 
Attorney-Generals who have; 
but that I may not seem to libel 
all the world, I will not mention 
theni, nor the case. When the 
Attorney-General has , brought 
his accusation, and renewed, and 
delayed it as much as he pleases, 
if lie chooses to try it; I said, he 
tries it by almost whom he pleases. 
It may seem perhaps a strange 
thing for me to say to a jury who 




649] June 14, IS 17. [650 


are trying’ my cause; but it is a 
tact; for lie is always sure to 
have a special jury for I he trial 
of this sort of charge. Libel is 
always tried by a special jury. 
Now this seems a very comical 
thing, for there is an expense at¬ 
tending it. Tiie gentleman, I 
suppose, would not be thought 
to be unnecessarily lavish of the 
income of the Crown, which lias 
lately been found so deficient; he 
surely would not voluntarily 
throw it away. 

And yet a man that came from 
Brentford (my clerk formerly) 
had two guineas for his ex¬ 
penses ; he is a very honest man; 
it was a very lucky matter for 
him; I wish for his sake that he 
might be called a witness against 
me once a week upon such a pro¬ 
secution. Now if the ground of 
the charge happens to be, as this 
is, “ of all plain and simple mat- 
“ ters that ever were laid before 
“ a Court the most simple;” it is 
a very strange circumstance that 
the Attorney-General should 
choose to have a special jury to 
try a thing in which there is no¬ 
thing special! Special j uries were 
never intended or appointed for 
that purpose; they were intend¬ 
ed to examine into merchant’s 
accounts, or any critical or nice 
matter; for you know we are told 
that you have nothing to do with 
the law. You do not, therefore, 
want any legal education; and 
yet special juries are always 
made use of in matters of libel; 
and indeed why should they not? 
it costs the Attorney-General 
nothing; in the case of any 
other prosecution, it would be at 
his expense; but the Crown 
pays this, that is, the People pay 
it against themselves. However 
that is no objection to Mr. At¬ 


torney-General ; for if you look 
at the law expenses in the civil 
list of the last year, 1770 , as they 
are delivered in to Parliament, 
you will find that they amount to 
the little insignificant sum of 
60 , 0001 . a defendant against the 
Crown is in a blessed situation ! 
but as the expense is no reason 
against the Attorney-General 
choosing to try it by a special 
jury; he has a very strong reason 
for choosing a special jury, and 
that is, because, by that means, 
he tries it by almost whom he 
pleases; T do not mean by the 
particular individuals whom he 
pleases, but generally by that 
description of men that he 
pleases. Now this, Gentlemen, 
is particularly unfortunate in my 
case; for the Attorney-General 
said (I heard him say it upon the 
first trial for this advertisement) 
that nine-tenths of the People 
approved of all the measures of 
the ministry relative to America. 
The method of striking a special 
jury seems at first sight fair 
enough. Forty-eight men are 
struck from a book; the defendant 
and the prosecutor each strikes 
off twelve ; that seems very fair 
and just; but it is very far from 
being so fair; for if nine-tenths 
of the People (which he himself 
acknowledged) are of that way 
of thinking (a way of thinking 
contrary to what 1 may well seem 
to be), you will observe that the 
Attorney-General strikes oft'two- 
tenths and half a tenth out of the 
forty-eight; so that he will be 
sure not to have one man of my 
way of thinking concerning 
America; I mean, it will be so, 
if at least they know what they 
are about. So that you see there 
is sure to be a little prejudice , 
against the defendant in the 




651] Hone's Reformists-’ Register. [652 


minds of the jury. It is true, 
indeed, that the opinion of the 
jury concerning the measures re¬ 
lative to America has nothing 
fairly to do in this cause ; but 
the prejudice may be extended 
from one thing to the other. We 
all know very well how men's 
minds are apt to run. But that 
is not all. This prejudice will 
be the case even though the 
special jury are fairly struck; 
but they are not fairly struck; 1 
believed so; but I never was 
sure of it till this case of mine, 
and whatever I may suffer, 1 
think it a cheap purchase to 
know what I now know by this 
means. The special juries in the 
counties, especially in Middlesex, 
great numbers of them are qua¬ 
lified by the Crown; they are 
esquired by the Crown, and these 
Crown esquires always attend 
upon the special juries; in the 
city, Gentlemen, to which you 
belong, you know very well 
whether tile description of mer¬ 
chant lias or has not changed 
within some years past. You 
know, I dare say, many of you, 
what merchants were —what mer¬ 
chants are . You all know well 
that the very numerous and ex¬ 
tensive contracts which are going 
forward bring a swarm of mer¬ 
chants in amongst you; every 
man that has a contract becomes 
a merchant; every man that has 
a contract is liable to be struck 
upon a special jury, and lie is 
sure to attend if he is taken ; and 
you must observe besides, that 
the Solicitor of the Treasury, who 
is in this constant employ of 
striking special juries, knows all 
the men, their sentiments, their 
situations, their descriptions, and 
the distinction of men. 

Now, Gentlemen, for the me¬ 


thod of striking a special jury, 
which 1 shall not wonder that 
you are not acquainted with; 
and for the counsel it is a matter 
that they are not concerned in.— 
Observe, I do not lay these things 
to the charge of the Attorney- 
General ; he only uses the powers 
which others put into his hands. 
—The special jury you may ima¬ 
gine are taken indifferently, and 
as it may happen, from a book 
containing all the names of those 
who are liable to serve: 1 thought 
so when I read the act of parlia¬ 
ment appointing the manner in 
which they should be taken ; but 
when 1 came to attend to strike 
the special jury, a book with 
names was produced by the 
sheriff's officer; 1 made what 1/ 
thought an unexceptionable pro¬ 
posal : I desired the Master of 
the Crown Office (whom I do 
entirely acquit, and do not mean 
the slightest charge upon), 1 de¬ 
sired the Master of the Crown 
Office that he would be pleased 
to take that book; open it where 
he would; begin where he would, 
at the top or at the bottom; and 
only take the first forty-eight 
names that came. I said 1 hoped 
that to such a proposal the Solici¬ 
tor of theTreasury could have no¬ 
thing to object. 1 was mistaken, 
he had something to object; lie 
thought that not a fair way (turn¬ 
ing round to the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral); there were witnesses 
enough present, and I should 
surely be ashamed to misrepre¬ 
sent what eight or nine people 
were present at; he thought that 
not a fair way; he thought and 
proposed as the fairest way, that 
two should be taken out of 
every leaf; that 1 objected to.; 

1 called that picking , and not 
striking the jury. To what end 





June 14, 1817. 

or purpose does the law permit 
the parties to attend, if two are 
to be taken by the Master of the 
Crown Office out of every leaf? 

Why then need I attend ? two 
may as well be picked in my 
presence as in my absence : I ob¬ 
jected to that method ;• the Mas¬ 
ter of the Crown Office did not 
seem to think that 1 had pro¬ 
posed any thing unreasonable: 
he began to take the names; 
but objected that he could not 
take the first forty-eight that 
came, because they were not all 
special juryman, and that the 
names of common and special 
jurymen were mixed together, 
and that it would be a hard case 
that the party should pay the ex¬ 
pense of a special jury and not 
have one; that they were ex¬ 
pected to be persons of a supe¬ 
rior rank to common jurymen : 

I could have no objection to that, 
provided they were indifferently 
taken. I said, take then the first 
forty-eight special jurymen that 
come; he seemed to me that he 
meant to do it; he began; but 
as I looked over the book, I de¬ 
sired him to inform me how I 
should know whether he did take 
the first forty-eight special jury¬ 
men that came, or not; and what 
mark or description, or qualifica¬ 
tion there was in the book, to 
distinguish a special from a com¬ 
mon juryman? He told me, to my 
great surprize (and he said he 
supposed I should wonder at it), 
that there was no rule by which 
he took them. Why then how 
can I judge? You must go by 
some method ; what is your me¬ 
thod? At last the method was 
this, that when he came to a man 
a woollen-draper, silver-smith, a 
merchant (if merchant was oppo- 


im 

was a special juryman), but a 
woollen-draper, a silver-smith, 
&c. he said that there were per¬ 
sons who were working men of 
those trades, and there were 
others in a situation of life fit to 
be taken. How then did he dis¬ 
tinguish? no otherwise than this; 
if lie personally knew them to 
he men in reputable circum¬ 
stances, he said, lie took them; 
if he did not know them, he 
passed them by. Now, Gentle¬ 
men, what follows from this ? 

But this is not all. The 
Sheriff’s officer stands by, the 
Solicitor of the Treasury, his 
clerk, and so forth; and whilst 
the names are taken, if a name 
(for they know their distinction) 
if a name which they do not like 
occurs and turns up, the Sheriff’s 
officer says, “ O, sir, he is dead.” 
The defendant who does not know 
all the world, and cannot know 
all the names in that book, does 
not desire a dead man for his 
juryman. “ Sir, that man has re¬ 
tired “ that man does not live 
“ any longer where he did “ Sir, 

“ that man is too old ;” “ Sir, this 
“ man has failed, and become a 
“ bankrupt;” “ Sir, this man will 
not attend;” O (it is said very 
reasonably) “ let us have men 
“ that will attend, otherwise the 
“ purpose of a special jury is 
“ defeated.” It seemed very ex¬ 
traordinary to me ; I wrote down 
the names, and two of them 
which the officer objected to, I 
saved; “ I begged him not to 
“ kill men thus without remorse, 

“ as they have done in America, 

“ merely because he understood 
“ them to be friends to liberty; 

“ that it was very true we 
“ shall see them alive again next 
“ week, and happy; but let them 


site to his name, of course he “ be alive to this cause. ’ The 






655} Hone’s Reformists Register. [656 


first name I took notice of was 
Mr. Sainsbury, a tobacconist, on 
Ludgate Hili. The Sheriff’s 
officer said, he had been dead 
seven months; that struck me. 
I am a snuff-taker, and buy my 
snuff* at his shop, therefore 1 
knew Mr. Sainsbury was not so 
long dead; I asked him strictly 
if he was sure Mr. Sainsbury was 
dead,.and how long he had been 
dead? “Six or seven months;” 
“Why, I read his name to-day; 
“ he must then be dead within a 
“ day or two: for I saw in the 
“ newspapers that Mr. Sainsbury 
“ was appointed by the city of 
“ London one of the Committee” 
(it happened to be the very same 
day) “ to receive the toll of the 
“ Thames Navigation,” and as 
the city of London does not often 
appoint dead men for these pur¬ 
poses, I concluded that the 
Sheriff’s officer must be mistaken, 
and Mr. Sainsbury was permitted 
to be put down amongst you, 
Gentlemen, appointed lor this 
special j ury. 

Another gentleman, was a Mr. 
Territt ; the book said he lived, I 
think, in Puddle Hock ; the She¬ 
riff’s officer said, “ that gentie- 
“ man was retired ; he was gone 
“ into the country ; he did not 
“ live in town; ” it is true, he 
does (as I am told), frequently go 
into the country (for I inquired). 
His name was likewise admitted, 
with some struggle. Now what 
followed ? This dead man, and 
this retired man, were both struck 
out by the Solicitor of the Trea¬ 
sury ; the very men whom the 
Slieriff’s officer had killed and 
sent into the country, were struck 
out, and not admitted to be of the 
jury. Now, Gentlemen, what 
docs that look like? There were 
Siany other names of men that 


were dead, and had retired, which 
were left out. 

There is something more unfor¬ 
tunate in the case of a special 
jury. The special jurymen, if 
they fail to attend that trial for 
which they are appointed, are 
never censured, fined, nor pu¬ 
nished by the judge. In the trial 
of one of the printers, only four 
of the special jury attended.— 
This is kind in the chief justice, 
but it has a very unkind conse¬ 
quence to the defendant, espe¬ 
cially in a trial of this nature; 
for I will tell you what the con¬ 
sequence is. The best men, and 
the worst men, are sure to attend 
upon a special jury, where the 
Crown is concerned; the best 
men from a nice sense of their 
duty; the worst men from a sense 
of their interest. The best men 
are known by the Solicitor of the 
Treasury ; such an one cannot 
be in above one or two verdicts; 
lie tries no more causes for the 
Crown. There is a good sort of 
man, who is indeed the most pro¬ 
per to try all this kind of causes; 
an impartial, moderate, prudent 
man, who meddles with no opi¬ 
nions; that man will not attend, 
for why should be get into a 
scrape? He need not attend; 
he is sure not to be censured; 
why should he attend ? The 
consequence follows, that fre¬ 
quently only four or five men at¬ 
tend, and those such as particu¬ 
larly ought not to attend in a 
Crown cause. I do not say that 
it happens now ; not that I care : 
I do not mean to coax you, Gen¬ 
tlemen : I have nothing to fear; 
you have more to fear in the ver¬ 
dict, than I have, because your 
consciences, are at stake in the 
verdict. I will do my duty, not 
for the sake of the verdict. Now 




(>57] June 14 

what follows this permission to, 
special jurymen, to attend or not, 
as they like best? Why, every 
man that is gaping 1 for a contract, 
or who has one, is sure to show 
his eagerness and zeal. 

It happened .so in the trial of 
the first cause for this advertise¬ 
ment. The printer showed me 
the list; amongst them, one of 
the first, I observed, was Sir Jas. 
Esdaile, Alderman of London, 
and a contractor for the army 
(there were several others ; I do 
not mention the gentlemen’s 
names). lie would have struck 
him out; I said no ; there are so 
many bad that ought to be struck 
out, leave in Sir James; it is im¬ 
possible that a magistrate of Lon¬ 
don ! with so much business! 
a contractor under the Crown! 
if he has any modesty ! he can¬ 
not, an alderman of London ! go 
down to he a special juryman in 
Middlesex !—lie was the foreman 
of the jury. He was sure to at- 
tend. And so they got the first 
verdict, in order to give them this 
influence upon men's minds.— 
*'• We have got a verdict. This 
et question has been determined 
“ by a jury."— 

Well, Gentlemen, having then 
got such a special jury, as lie 
usually docs get (for it seldom 
happens that twelve gentlemen 
have sense enough of their duty, 
to attend, as happens to he now 
my case), the Attorney-General 
brings on the trial; he then 
claims, amongst other things, a 
right to reply, though no evidence 
is called for the defendant. You 
have heard what passed upon this 
subject with the judge. I will 
leave that matter now, though I 
think 1 have enough to say upon 
it,; however, I will leave it unex- 
amitted now ; 1 hope to live to 


> 1 * 47 . £ 65 $ 

argue that point for my client* 
and therefore will not now trou¬ 
ble you with that argument. 
You will yourselves judge whe¬ 
ther any reason was givep to me, 
or to you, or to any man, why the 
Attorney - General, prosecuting 
for the Crown, having all the 
influence, power, and advantage 
that he can possibly have; why 
he should have that advantage 
of reply, which my equal or infe¬ 
rior shall not have! 

Bat besides this, I told you 
before, that he claims a right of 
stopping- it, when he pleases, by 
loiihdr awing a juror . I should 
be glad to hear that contradicted 
and given up. 

But further, if he loses the ver¬ 
dict, he pays no costs: the Crown 
pays no costs. The miserable 
man that is harassed, even though 
innocent, though gaining* a ver- 
diet under all these disadvanta¬ 
ges (if it is possible, and which 
seldom happens), yet still lie must 
stand by his costs ; and they may 
be, you see, whatever they please 
to make them. 

Again, if the Attorney-General 
gains a verdict, he punishes 
whom he pleases, and when he 
pleases. I think there were 
eight convictions for this adver- 
tisement, yet but three have been 
called up to judgment; one* I 
think, Avas let off, because there 
was a little false-swearing in the 
case, by an officer under the 
CroAvn—(I allow it to have been 
certainly a mistake, because he is 
a gentleman of character)—and 
therefore it is accounted for, Lmv 
this one got off: but how the 
other printers escaped, whether 
from the benevolence of the At¬ 
torney-General, I do not kno w. 

That is not all. He aggravates 
the punishment of the per^h 



659] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [660 


against whom he gets a verdict, 
if he pleases. I was present in 
Court, when I heard the judge, 
who now tries me (and who will 
perhaps give the same intelli¬ 
gence in my case), tell the Attor¬ 
ney-General of that time (who is 
now Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas) when he moved that the 
convict (who was the gentleman 
who now sits next to the judge), 
when the Attorney-General moved 
that Mr. Wilkes might be com¬ 
mitted to the King’s Bench pri¬ 
son, Lord Mansfield instantly said 
to Mr. De Gray— 44 The King’s 
44 Attorney-General may choose 
“ his prison ; all the prisons are 
44 the King’s; the Attorney Ge- 
44 rteral may, if he pleases, move 
44 to have him sent to Newgate.” 
His Lordship mentioned New¬ 
gate ; I heard it. And observe, 
this was an instruction to the At¬ 
torney-General, who surely of all 
men in the world, least needs in¬ 
struction : and it was in a case 
where he was prosecutor, and in 
a criminal matter, and prosecu¬ 
tor too for the Crown. And this 
instruction was not in order to 
obtain justice against the offen¬ 
der ; that was past: he had been 
convicted many years before; but 
it was merely in aggravation of 
punishment. I did not know 
nor believe, that the Attorney- 
General had that right: I should 
not have known it, if I had not 
learned it from so great an au¬ 
thority. 

Gentlemen, having rehearsed 
what these claims are, I entreat 
you to consider who it is that en¬ 
joys these powers; superior to 
the powers which any one 
judge in this country enjoys; 
superior to the powers which 
even the Courts enjoy. It is the 
Attorney-General! Now,who is 


the Attorney-General ? who is 
he ? whose officer is he ? what 
sort of officer is he ? I will tell 
you what a Scotch author of me- 
rit—(this is not law, but it is very 
good reason and good truth)—I 
will tel! you what he says of the 
office of the Attorney-General. 
What I say now, Gentlemen, 
does not go against the person 
now entrusted with it; it goes 
against his office. 1 do not speak 
of this gentleman particularly; 
all Attorney-Generals, at least, 
most of them (some of them, in¬ 
deed would not, but most of 
them will) use these unjust 
powers. Mallet says, in the pre¬ 
face to his Life of Lord Chancel¬ 
lor Bacon—“ The offices of At- 
44 torney and Solicitor-General 
44 have been rocks upon which 
44 many aspiring lawyers have 
44 made shipwreck of their virtue 
44 and human nature. Some of 
44 these gentlemen have acted at ' 
44 the bar, as if they thought 
44 themselves, by the ditty of their 
44 places (that is, ex-officio) ab- 
44 solved from all the obligations of 
44 truth, honour, and decency”— 
(but not absolved, you find, from 
talking of them)— 44 but their 
44 names (he says) are upon re- 
44 cord, and will be transmitted 
44 to after ages, with those cha- 
44 racters of reproach and abhor* 

44 rence that are due to”—(to 
whom? This man is as unfortu¬ 
nate in his style, as myself)—- 
44 the worst sort of murderers , 

44 those that murder under the 
44 sanction of justice.”—He was 
never prosecuted for it: he 
charged the office of Attorney- 
General (which is something 
more respectable than the office 
of a common soldier), with being 
the worst sort of murderers , 

But the Attorney-General, it 




6GI] June 14, 1817. [662 


is said, is chosen by the King*: 
that is what is pretended, lie is 
the King’s officer; but he holds 
it by a very precarious tenure : 
his future hopes are greater than 
those of any man in this country, 
his fears therefore must be in 
proportion. Observe, too, he en¬ 
joys these powers on behalf of 
the King, against whom, particu¬ 
larly, all those precautions were 
taken ; for these precautions are 
not taken between subjects who 
are upon a footing ; but all 
these precautions and advantages 
for innocence (that it may not be 
oppressed), they are all taken, 
not against the Kino*, but against 
the Crown; against that power 
which is more often abused than 
any other power—more liable to 
be abused, because greatest. But, 
Gentlemen, the matter is a great 
deal worse than this. He is not 
the Kino’s officer. He knows 
better where his obligations lie. 
He is not so ungrateful. He 
would not, at a table with his 
friends, say that he is the King’s 
officer; he knows a great deal 
better than that. He is in truth 
the officer of the Minister; and 
if the Minister goes out to-mor¬ 
row, out goes the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral. We cannot possibly have 
a stronger instance, and a happier 
for me, of this very thing. There 
sits here in Court a gentleman 
who should now have been At¬ 
torney-General (he lost not the 
place, I suppose, for want of 
abilities), who refused a brief 
in this very cause, because he 
thought it scandalous at the dis¬ 
tance of two years and a quarter. 
I suppose he might have still 
stronger reasons; if I knew them, 
I would use them. If 1 knew his 
reasons why he thought this pro¬ 
secution scandalous, you would 


hear a very different defence 
from any which I can give you. 
Put in then another Minister, and 
the Attorney-General thinks me 
a very honest man; but if there 
comes a different Minister, and a 

different Attorney-General;- 

“ Oh, put him out of the world, 
“ he is not lit for human society; 
“ shut him lip like a mad dog." 
You see it is not the King’s 
officer, it is the Minister’s officer. 
Gentlemen, it is very well known 
that the Attorney and Solicitor- 
General make a considerable part 
of every administration. They 
sit there in the House of Com¬ 
mons on each side of the Mi¬ 
nister—the two brazen pillars, 
the Jachin and Boaz of the Mi¬ 
nister in the House of Commons. 
However, Gentlemen, though this 
situation of theirs may make us 
smile, it is a very serious tiling, 
especially when their honour and 
sonscience are to go to you for 
proof and instead of argument. 

Now r let us see, how have those 
powers been exercised ? I have 
show r n you what they are; I have 
shown you who enjoys them : 
now let us see how they have 
used them; I mean the present 
Attorney-General. I will not go 
back to tell you that the Bishops 
were reckoned guilty of a libel, 
not because they opposed the in¬ 
troduction of the Popish religion, 
but because they would not lend 
their own hands to the introduc¬ 
tion of it. But how has it been 
used by the present Attorney- 
General? I am driven to this 
inquiry. He has talked so much 
of his conscience, and that if he 
had not imagined that lie was 
executing his duty, he never 
should have thought of the pro¬ 
secution :—he did not know me ; 
it was merely a matter of duty. 



663] ' Hone's Reformists’Register. [(>o4 


Now I did not apprehend that it 
was a matter of his stirring', and 
that his motive was duty; but as 
he takes it upon himself, upon 
himself it must lie. Now there¬ 
fore, how has he exercised this 
power which he enjoys in right 
of being: the King’s officer? 
I say that he has then equally 
betrayed his own conscience, and 
the dignity and prerogative of the 
Crown, (if injustice must pass by 
these names); 1 say that he has 
betrayed them all; for he has 
acted, not as the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral of the King, but as the 
Attorney-General of the House 
of Commons. Never before this 
gentleman’s time, did any House 
of Commons, 1 believe —1 arn 
sure; never did they direct any 
Attorney-General to hie an in¬ 
formation. Who enjoys the power 
then I The House of Commons 
hies informations! worse still; 
the Attorney-General files infor¬ 
mations, not from his own mere 
motion, not from the direction of 
the Crown, but by the direction 
of the most corrupt assembly of 
men that ever existed upon the 
face of the earth.—It may be 
called indecent to call them so; 
but, Gentlemen, 1 know, that if 
every man was to speak but one 
word expressive of his opinion 
concerning what I say, there are 
those perhaps within hearing, 
whose hearts would sink within 
them. There is no man doubts 
it, and I shall not be afraid to 
say it. But, Gentlemen, now ob¬ 
serve; this officer, the Attorney- 
General, was never permitted to 
have a seat in the House of Com¬ 
mons, till the time of Sir Francis 
Bacon: he is no officer of the 
House of Commons ; he never 
was permitted to sit there till 
that time; and out of the extreme 


veneration which they paid to 
the greatest of mankind (for he 
was so), they permitted him, for 
the first time, to have a seat as a 
private member in the House. 
Now where have we got? He 
has no longer a seat in the House 
as a private member; he is the 
officer of the House of Commons: 
that power which is pretended 
to be exercised for the Crown, is 
exercised for the Minister. The 
House of Commons is the Minis¬ 
ter's ; for he would not be Minis¬ 
ter if he had not a majority. 
The Attorney-General is brought 
in by him; the House directs the 
prosecution; whereas the me¬ 
thod formerly was, that the 
House of Commons used to ad¬ 
dress the Crown, to desire the 
Crown to order the Attorney- 
General to file an information or 
to prosecute. Never till this 
time did the House think of di¬ 
recting the King’s officer to file 
an information. The consequence 
happened to be what at the very 
time it was natural to foresee 
would happen. The Attorney- 
General prosecuted men whom 
he thought innocent: I happened 
by stealth (I am not often per¬ 
mitted to be there), 1 happened 
by stealth to hear tiie gentleman 
in the House of Commons, speak 
a language which no man could 
mistake. What is still more, on 
one of the prosecutions brought, 
the vote for it was either re¬ 
scinded, or some healing vote 
was afterwards put into the 
Journals of the House of Com¬ 
mons, for having caused a pro¬ 
secution to be brought against 
a person who was found to be 
innocent. Here is a dangerous 
power indeed ! Who may not, if 
this is permitted, file an infor¬ 
mation against the subject ? 




r • 


665] 

What a power is this in the 
hands of a Minister to ruin ! for 
if 1 am not ruined it is the gen¬ 
tleman’s mercy. I thank him for 
that mercy; for lie might every 
term file an information, if he 
pleases. 

Now, Gentlemen, consider in 
what sort of a charge does he 
enjoy these extraordinary pow¬ 
ers ? you will find, that as he is 
the last man in the world (I 
speak not of the man, but the 
office) that ought to be trusted 
with these powers, so he en joys 
them in that kind of charge in 

V 

which he should least of all 
enjoy them. For, Gentlemen, 
libel as well as Attorney-General 
depends very much upon the 
Minister. Why, don’t we all 
know very w ell, that they who 
were pilloried for libel in the last 
reign are pensioned in this ? What 
then, is this the kind of charge 
in which this open door to op¬ 
pression should be left to the 
Attorney-General, and to the Mi¬ 
nister ? It is not for crimes 
against the state that this power 
interferes, but for partial poli¬ 
tical opinions; and the man who 
is pilloried or imprisoned to¬ 
day, may, for the same act, be 
pensioned to-morrow, just as the 
hands change; if this party goes 
dow n, it is libel; if it comes up, 
it is merit. Is it in this kind of 
charge that an Attorney-General 
should enjoy all these unjust pow ¬ 
ers ? I need not bid you consider 
and recollect what sort of things 
have been charged as libels; there 
is nothing that has not been so 
charged. Sermons—petitions— 
books against plays—saying that 
money w ill corrupt men, nothing 
but barely mentioning the effects 
of money—all have been prose¬ 
cuted, and punished, and ears cut 


[666 

off, and those things, for libels. 
In short, Gentlemen, you w ill al¬ 
ways find it (your memories 
will go back enough to find it 
without reading), that whatever 
is contrary to the inclinations, 
interests, or even the vices of a 
minister, have abvays been, and 
ever will be, charged as libel. 
Even at this time, if the Attorney- 
General’s friend, Mr. Rigby, had 
been Attorney-General, or to di¬ 
rect the Attorney-General to file 
informations for libels, the pre¬ 
sent Speaker of the House of 
Commons would have been ac¬ 
cused of a libel, for recommend¬ 
ing' economy to the Crown. We 
know that he would; and there 
is nothing extraordinary that a 
Speaker of the House of Com¬ 
mons should have an information 
ex officio filed against him for a 
libel. The Speaker, Williams, 
had one filed against him for 
publishing the Journals of the 
House. They are now wiser; in¬ 
deed that case has been scouted. 

If then, Gentlemen, these con¬ 
siderations should make you care- 
lid and attentive in a trial upon 
a prosecution of this kind ; the 
frequency of prosecution for 
libels, 1 suppose, should add to 
your care and attention. For, 
Gentlemen, when is it that libels 
are most frequent ? When is it 
that prosecutions for libels have 
been most frequent ? Have they 
been under the best govern- 
meats, under the best adminis¬ 
trations (for government is the 
w ord abused: l mean under the 
ministers)? Have they been most 
frequent under the best, or al¬ 
ways under the worst? It is 
only bad men that will accuse 
the good: good men don’t accuse 
good things: notwithstanding 
which, you will find that under 


June 14, 1817. 





667] 

the best administrations there are 
few libels, and much fewer pro¬ 
secutions; and under the worst 
administrations you will always 
find them swarm. Whether it 
happens that under the worst 
administrations (for there is al¬ 
ways folly with wickedness) the 
minister is so foolish as that, not 
attending to the principles of the 
person recommended to him, he, 
by mistake, chooses a good At¬ 
torney-General, who has skill to 
discover, and honesty to pursue, 
those crimes which are detri¬ 
mental to society; or whether it 
happens, that a good Minister 
chooses a bad Attorney-General, 
who has no honour or under¬ 
standing to care for or to dis¬ 
cover their evil tendency, and 
therefore does not prosecute at 
all: but so it happens that under 
a oood Minister, there are no 
prosecutions for libels, under a 
bad Minister you meet with little 
else. 


A LETTER 

TO THE FRIENDS OF FREEDOM 
AND PHILANTHROPY. 

Fellow Countrymen , Assert or s of 
your Constitutional Rights , 

I make no apology for obtru¬ 
ding myself on your attention at 
the present crisis, as I conceive 
the doing so would be like a 
man’s standing on the punctilio 
of ceremony with a person whom 
be should find perishing in the 
street; and because I think it is 
the duty (as I am certain it 
must be the inclination) of every 
good man to use bis utmost en¬ 
deavours to be serviceable to his 
country, in such manner as his 
abilities may permit, or his more 
pressing avocations allow. 


[668 

Fellow Countrymen, you have 
been trodden to the earth by the 
horrible march of oppression; 
your substance, the produce of 
your industry, your talents, 
and your toil, squandered in 
tlie iniquities attendant on a war, 
whose object you disclaim, as 
contrary to the dictates of reason 
and good policy; a war which has 
entailed on you degrading, and— 
if not timely prevented by the 
only possible remedy , a radical 
Reform—lasting and irreparable 
misery, to the exclusive dis¬ 
honourable advantage of those 
who offered up the dearest rights 
and interests of their country, a 
sacrifice on the altar of Mammon. 
These men wallow in ill-gotten 
wealth, the .reward of a flagrant 
direliction of honest public duty, 
and perhaps the bribe of suc¬ 
cessful turpitude. Words can¬ 
not sufficiently execrate the per¬ 
fidy of such men ; it is in vain 
“ they wear their blushing ho¬ 
nours thick upon them;” their 
memory will be banded down to 
posterity with those marks of ob¬ 
loquy, to which they have so di¬ 
ligently laboured to be entitled. 

Fellow Countrymen, need you 
be told of the situation of your 
country: our prisons are croud- 
ed with criminals, our gaols with 
debtors; and it is become a matter 
of favour and interest to get ad¬ 
mission into that last sad recep¬ 
tacle of wretchedness, a parish 
workhouse, to avoid a worse alter¬ 
native, that of perishing in the 
street, which, dreadful as it is, 
has been the fate of more than a 
few. Humanity shudders at the 
bare recital of calamities so des¬ 
perate, and reason starts up with¬ 
in us, and demands, “ ought these 
things to be ?” View the agri¬ 
culturalist, the merchant, the 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 






GT>9] ' June 14 

manufacturer, but more particu¬ 
larly the tradesman, who lias no 
other employment but to lament 
over the wreck of his blasted 
hopes, while he sees his property 
torn from him by the harpies of 
the law, without the power of 
prevention—in a word, the con¬ 
sequence which has been foretold 
only to be ridiculed, has begun 
to operate, and our rulers dare 
not look steadily at the misery 
which surrounds them. 

From among this piercing dis¬ 
tress you have cried with a loud 
and exceeding bitter cry, a cry 
that has been reiterated from 
one extremity to the other of 
this once happy land, and 
which, notwithstanding the en¬ 
deavours of your enemies, to 
stifle by threats and intimidations, 
still continues increasing; chal¬ 
lenging: that investigation, from 
which they shrink, as from a 
mortal disease . Yes, my fellow 
Countrymen, your cries have 
been heard; they have been 
advocated ably and fairly, and 
openly must they be answer¬ 
ed. After all the evasive 
shuffling of corruptionists, Re¬ 
form must come, and that Reform 
must be general and substantive. 
If the People of England stop 
short of a return to such a de¬ 
gree of liberty as they have en¬ 
joyed in the most auspicious 
times, they will not do justice to 
themselves, or to their children. 
Lotus, my fellow Countrymen, 
acquit ourselves to posterity, and 
to the world,— 

x< Drag forth the legal monster* into light, 
Wrench from their hands oppression's 

• iron rod, 

Aad bid the cruel feel the pains they give.” 

Thompson* 

The stand .that injustice has 
made against justice, has been 


, 1817. [670 

desperate in proportion as her 
means were gigantic; yet a little 
while and she will fall, never to 
rise again; already does the su¬ 
perstructure totter, already the 
“ giant bulk” heaves to its very 
base; giving proof of the trea¬ 
cherousness and instability of 
any system of policy, whose 
foundation is not in the public 
good. 

In the mean time you must 
peaceably and legally, but firmly 
and unceasingly, endeavour for 
your reinstatement in those in- 
disputable rights which were 
given you by God himself, and 
secured by tiie laws of your an¬ 
cient Constitution; in the defence 
of which your forefathers have 
often rallied round the standard 
of freedom, preferring honour¬ 
able death to ignominious slavery. 
It is rather too much for such 
men as the Ministers and their 
dependants, gorged as they are 
with the good things of office, 
and dazzled and led astray by 
the ignus fatuus of power and 
patronage; I say, it is too much, 
in men so qualified, to stand up 
in their places, and answer to 
the prayer of the thousand Peti¬ 
tions for Reform, with—“ We see 
no occasion for alteration 1 We 
are well satisfied with things as 
they are ! ! We want no Reform!!! 
Really they seem very unani¬ 
mous, kind-hearted people, who 
have a deal of brotherly love— 
among themselves!! From the 
premier down to the very emi¬ 
nent dealer in biscuits—who so 
faitlfiulhf rises at the beck of his 
delighted master, “ Like a holly¬ 
hock, noble, majestic, and tall,” 
to astonish bis wakeful hearers 
with the production of his intel¬ 
lectual faculties—they, one and 
al 3 ; upstanding and uncovered. 



Hone’s Reformists* Register. 


671 ] 

stick together, like so many 
Imrs. Bat this is the very acme 
Ot* selfishness. No. indeed ! they 
want no Reform; it will be to 
them the most lamentable thing 
ftn&gifrabFc—it will be the re- 
fern ding of the good things in 
which they fondly thought they 
had an interest for life, aye, for 
many lives; but they will find 
to their sorrow, that their occu¬ 
pation is but temporary; and 
they well know 7 , that the? most 
unfavourable contingency to 
them is the prospect of a return 
to the immutable principles of ori¬ 
ginal justice, w'hich to all hearts 
except theirs, is a “ consumma¬ 
tion devoutly to he wished.” 

Fellow Countrymen, you can¬ 
not but have seen w ith , pain the 
persecution levelled against every 
one who has the honesty'and the 
hardihood to tell you the truth, 
and expose to public odium those 
measures which have brought 
country to bearffary. This 


our 




persecution, directed by a power 
as foreign to the liberal spirit of 
our Constitution, as it is repug¬ 
nant to the feelings of every 
man who calls himself Jree, and 
conducted on doubtful and inde¬ 
finite grounds, on questions that 
must finally resolve themselves 
into matters of mere opinion, has 
been more particularly exempli¬ 
fied in the case of Mr. Hone, the 
editor of this paper. It is to me 
disgusting: to see with what fa- 
edify religion has been made to 
lend the appearance of her sanc¬ 
tion to an arbitrary instance of 
oppressive malignity—but I can¬ 
not trust my pen to describe my 


[672 

sensations on this subject. I 
could only transcribe the im¬ 
pressions of truth, as they are 
imprinted on my mind; and to 
do this might not be expedient, 
or even safe, remembering as 1 
do tlie old adage, that “ tire truth 
may not be spoken af af 1’times.** 
However, 1 cannot dismiss the 
subject, without asking this one 
question—From among all the 
writers or publishers of religious 
parodies that have appeared, as 
Well loyal as disloyal, why has 
Mr. Hone been selected as a fit 
object of ministerial vengeance ? 
I shall not attempt to answer 
this at length; hut will content 
myself with observing that Mr. 
Hone writes and publishes the 
Reformists’ Register ! ! 

Fellow Countrymen, I shall 
not trespass longer on your pa¬ 
tience at present, but shall most 
probably soon resume, as much 
remains to be said, as well as 
done. Once again, 1 exhort you 
to be on the alert; to 

- (t intermit no watch 

Against a wakeful foe/’—M jltonv 

blit to use every legal effort to 
counteract the terrible influence 
that is marshalled against you, 
always remembering the saying- 
of the wise—“ Great minds con¬ 
quer difficulties by daring to at¬ 
tempt them.” 

With the most heartfelt detes¬ 
tation of tyranny, however ex¬ 
alted, and abhorrence of slavery, 
however palliated, I am, Fellow 7 
Countrymen, asserters of your 
Constitutional Rights, 

Your devoted Friend, 

Justus. 


London -.Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Lodoate Hill; where'COMMUN[CATIONS (post paid) should he addressed; 
anJ Sold at 55 , Fleet Street-Price Turn-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. 10s! 
per'thousand. . 









Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY, 

■' ~ ' • - " . v .. ,— . .* . v 

No. 22.] Saturday, June 21,1817, [Vol. 1. 


PROCEEDINGS 

AGAINST ME 

ON WEDNESDAY. 

MR, WOOLER’S NEW TRIAL. 
THE WRETCH CASTLES' 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 


I am desirous that the Register 
should record all the proceedings 
against me on the part of Go¬ 
vernment as they arise ; I there¬ 
fore state here, that the day 
whereon my letter to the Editor 
of the Morning Chronicle ap¬ 
peared in that paper (which letter 
is copied into the last Register ), 
I was informed by Mr. Jones, 
th ( e Marshal of this prison, that 
no advantage would be taken of 
the default occasioned by the 
Court’s not having brought me 
tip to plead. This may seem very 
whimsical, and in truth it is 
very whimsical. The Court gave 
me notice, if I did not sufficiently 
gnsiver on last Monday week, 
judgment would be entered 
against me by default. I did 


not sufficiently answer—I could 
not—the Court would not let 
me; and the Court, in its tender 
mercy, acquaints me now it will 
not punish me for its own act? 
On Tuesday last, a week after¬ 
wards, Mr, Gibbons, the Tipstaff 
of the Court, produced to me the 
following Rule to bring* me up, 
and demanded seven shillings for 
it, which I was obliged to pay 
him,before he lodged it with the 
Marshal 

“ Tuesday next after fifteen days of 
the Holy Trinity, in the fifty-seventh 
year of King George the Third. 

“ London—The King against Wh> 
ljam Hone. 

“ It is ordered that the Marshal of 
the Marshalsea of this Court, or his 
Deputy, do bring the Defendant into 
this Court on the morrow. 

" Side Bar.’* 

Having paid the officer of the 
Court for its own order, he insist¬ 
ing on the payment, I yesterday 
was taken into the Court of 
King’s Bench; and, as soon as 
the Judges entered, my name 
being called aloud, I stood up, 
and turned round to the Judges, 
when a clerk of the Court ad¬ 
dressed me aloud to the follow¬ 
ing effect:—. 


Printed by and for W. Hone, (i7, Old Bailey, London, 

























675] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [676 


“William Hone, you have 
“ been charged with an mforma- 

n 

“ lion filed against you by Sir 
“ William Garroqv, His Majes- 
“ ty's late Attorney-General, with 
“having published a certain 
“ libel called the lute John 
“ Wilkes's Catechism of' a Mi- 
“ nisterml Member ” (to which 
he attached epithets I cannot 
recollect, except that one of the 
epithets was blasphemous): “ how 
“ say you as to the information 
“ with which you are charged ; 
“ are you guilty or not 
“ guilty r 

I then addressed the Court 
as follows, and what ensued is 
as nearly related as I can re¬ 
collect. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, when I 
was before called on to plead, 1 
requested copies of the informa¬ 
tions ; I now hope to convince 
your Lordships, that I ought not 
to be called on to plead to these 
informations at all. I shall en¬ 
deavour to show your Lordships, 
that they are unconstitutional and 
unjust; that the Attorney-Gene¬ 
ral by filing them— 

Mr. Justice Bailey. Do you 
plead ‘l 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, if you 
will hear me, l shall show you 
why: I ought not to be asked to 
plead. 

The Court. You must plead. 
We cannot hear you. You must 
plead directly. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, I en¬ 
treat to he heard. 

The Court. The time of the 


Court cannot be wasted. You 
must plead instantly. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords— 

Lord Ellenborougii. Plead 
at once. Say whether you will 
plead or not. The Court cannot 
have its time taken up in hearing 
such stuff; if he refuses to plead, 
he must be taken aw ay. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords— 

Lord Ellenborougii. Let him 
be committed. -, 

Mr. Hone. What will be the 
consequence if I do not plead ? 

Clerk in Court. You will be 
brought up hereafter to receive 
judgment. 

Mr. Hone. Since, then, 1 am 
forced to plead, I will plead. As 
the Court forces me to plead, I 
plead. 

Clerk. Are you guilty, or 
not guilty? 

Mr. Hone. Not guilty . I 
protest againstthesle proceedings, 
as arbitrary and unjust. ■ . > ' 

The Clerk then required me 
to plead to the second informa¬ 
tion filed against me, for the 
Sinecurist's Creed . 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, I ask 
for copies of these informations* 
How can you expect me to plead 
to I know not what ? 

The Court. You cannot be 

allowed copies-you must 

plead. . < 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, you are 
doing me injustice, by refusing 
me copies of the charges against 
me, and-— 

Lord Ellenborougii (very re- 
hemently). You must plead, one 





6773 June 21 

way or llie other. Our time can¬ 
not be thus wasted. 

Mr. Hone. My Lord, your 
Lordship yourself told me, that 1 
might plead guilty to some 
couuts and not guilty to other 
counts, and yet you require me to 
plead without the possibility of, 
without the least possibility of 
becoming acquainted with the 
informations, to enable me so to 
plead—[Lord Ellexborovgh 
here became very impatient ]—I 
say, my jLord, your Lordship calls 
on me to understand what you 
yourself, in my situation, could 
not understand. How can I, or 
how could you, my Lord, plead 
to parts of an information, with¬ 
out knowing its parts ? 

The Court. If you do not 
plead, you will be remanded. 

Mr. Hone. Then I say to this 
information, as I did to the 
former—if the Court forces me 
to plead, I will plead. 

Mr. Justice Holroyd. You 
are not forced to plead—you 
must say whether you are guilty 
or not guilty, one or the other; 
but use your own pleasure. 

Mr. Hone. My Lord, the al¬ 
ternative of the Court is too 
cruel—if I do not plead, it pro¬ 
ceeds to pass sentence upon me 
as being guilty. 

Lord Ellenborougii. You 
may plead, or let it alone; but 
unless you do, you will be re¬ 
manded immediately. The pub¬ 
lic time cannot be consumed 
by altercation with yon. 

Mr. Hone. Then as the Court 
forces me to plead, I plead.* 


> 1&17. [678 

Clerk. Are you guilty, or 
not guilty ? 

Mr. Hone. Not guilty . 

Mr. Hone. I again protest 
against these proceedings, as on- 
constitutional and unjust. 

. The Clerk in like manner re¬ 
quired me to plead guilty or not 
guilty to a third information 
against me for the Political Li- 
tany. 

Mr. Hone. If I plead, I plead 
by force. 

Mr. Justice Bailey. You are 
not here for the Court to advise 
you; do you plead or not ? 

Lord Ellenborougii. The 
Court cannot parly with you 
any further—plead, or go away. 

Mr. Hone. Being forced by 
the Court to plead, I plead. 

Clerk. Are you guilty or 
not guilty ? 

Mr. Hone. I protest against 
all this, as unjust; and being 
forced to plead, I plead not guilty. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, having 
now pleaded, I hope the Court 
will order me copies of the in¬ 
formations. 

Lord Ellenborougii. You 
can have no more than every 
other subject is entitled to—the 
Court has no pow r er to order 
copies of the informations to be 
given to you. 

Mr. Hone. If the Court will 
not furnish me with copies, I 
trust it will permit me to go to 
the Crown Office, and make 
copies of the informations myself. 

Mr. Justice Bailey. No;— 
you cannot be suffered to do 
l his* 



6?9] Hone s Reformists* Register. [680 


Lord Ellenrgrough. You 
must withdraw. 

Mr. Hone. My Lords, in this 
case I stand on my right, and pro¬ 
test against the proceedings of 
the Attorney-General, and the 
proceedings here, as illegal and 
unconstitutional. 

Lord Ellen borough. Well, 
then, protest, or do what you 
please, but go about your busi¬ 
ness. 

Mr. Hone. 1 do protest then 
—f protest, rev Lords, against 
the whole of these proceedings, as 
illegal, unconstitutional, arbi¬ 
trary, and unjust. 

I then left the Court, and re¬ 
turned to prison, in custody of a 



In the evening- a clerk from 
the Treasury served me with 
Rules of Court, obtained by the 
Attorney-General, to nominate 
Juries to try the three ex-officio 
informations filed against me. 

(COPY.) 

“ Wednesday next, after Fifteen Days 
“ of the Holy Trinity, in the Fifty- 

er seventh Year of King George the 
Third. 

<( London— The King against Wil- 
t<r ljam Hone (for the late John 
“ Wilkes’s CatechismJ. 

“ At the instance of the ProSeeu- 
<{ tor, according to the form of the 
f<r Statute in such case made and pro- 
<c vided, It is ordered, that the She- 
ct riffs of the City of London do at- 
<e tend the Coroner and Attorney of 
(C this Court, with the Book or List 
“ of Persons qualified to serve on 
Juries within the said City • and 


“ that the said Coroner and Attorney , 
“ in the presence of both parties, shall 
■ <f nominate forty-eight free and law- 
(e ful men out of the said Book of 
“ List ) and that the Agent, Attorney, 
f( or Solicitor, for the Prosecutor, 
“ shall strike out twelve ) and the 
“ Agent, Attorney, or Solicitor, for 
“ the Defendaht, shall in like manner 
“ strike out twelve out pf the said 
“forty-eighty and that twenty-four, 
“ the remainder of the said forty- 
“ eight, shall be returned for the 
<e Trial of the Issue joined in this 
“ Prosecution. 

“ On the Motion of Mr. Richardson. 

“ By the Court.” 

t( I appoint Thursday, the 19tli of 

“ Jurie, at Half-past Seven in the 

“ Evening, to nominate. 

“ G. H. Lushington.” 

This evening, therefore, I go 
in custody of a tipstaff, to the 
Crown Office, foattend the nomi¬ 
nation of three special Juries; 
and if I get sensible and impart 
tial men upon my Jury, I shall 
get a verdict upon each informa¬ 
tion. 

As every man living must see 
the rapidity with which we are 
hurrying towards absolute despo¬ 
tism, so every man who is perse¬ 
cuted should resist despotic 
power with all his might. Ty, 
rants are only cruel whilst they 
possess force ; and courage being 
seldom united with their sway, 
they often cower before men who 
oppose right to might. Besides, 
nothing is gained by submission to 
base oppressors ; they flatter, and 




■661] Jun$ 21,1817. 


fawn, and coax, like crocodiles, 
for no other purpose, but to allure 
their victims to more certain de¬ 
struction. 

Never was firmness opposed 
to power with so much effect as 
by Mr. Wooler, this morning. 
He went into Court from this 
prison to move for his discharge, 
on the ground that the Foreman 
of the Jury, on his last trial, 
when he pronounced him guilty, 
not only did not deliver the una¬ 
nimous opinion of his fellows; 
but that he did it out of the 
hearing of some of them; whilst 
one actually protested against it 
aloud. Mr. Wooler’s firmness 
did not beat the Attorney-Gene¬ 
ral out of the field—it actually 
prevented him from entering it. 
As for the Judges, of course it 
was not laughable to see how 
they behaved; because it is not 
lawful to laugh at any thing they 
do; but I understand Lord El- 
lenborough was as mild, and as 
placid, and as much like a Judge 
and a Gentleman, as a Chief 
Justice, of his ardent mind and 
habits, can be, when he meets 
with a person who positively de¬ 
clines being overpowered by 
any tiling but reason. His Lord- 
ship and his brethren did Mr. 
Wooler the honour of ordering 
him a new trial, which Mr. 
Wooler has the ingratitude not 
to be thankful for, inasmuch as 
he conceives, that having been 
tried once, his prison doors 
should be opened to him. The 
Attorney-General did not dare 


to encounter his adversary’s ar¬ 
guments—he was diimb-founded. 
His situation in Court mightily 
resembled that of a hedgehog in 
a ditch, who, on perceiving- the 
approach of a terrier, very.wisely 
hides his nose, rolls himself up 
into a black prickly ball, and 
never moves till said terrier has 
departed. But the unhappy gen¬ 
tleman is only putting off the 
evil day. The decision of the 
Court will again subject him to 
Mr. Wooler’s flagellation. Why 
does not Sir Samuel res ion 2 
Wkat pleasure can he take in 
being dragged through the dirt, 
at the nether end of Ministers, 
like a tin canister tied to the 
tail of an awkward cur, who is 
lashed along the kennel by every 
scliool-boy who thinks it worth 
while to switch him, and de¬ 
spised by every decent animal 
who chooses to lift his leg 
against him. Again I ask, why 
do not poor Sir Samuel and his 
masters resign ? 

The trial of Doctor Watson, on 
a charge of High Treason, opens 
a scene of villany which astonishes 
and overwhelms all—except His 
Majesty’s Ministers. These mi¬ 
serable creatures—the said Minis¬ 
ters—tried him for his life, upon 
the evidence of a wretch so vile, 
that it were to insult the honest 
and upright Jury, if it could for 
one moment be supposed they in 
any degree credited the infamous 
testimony. Without referring* to 
the nature of that testimony, I 
shall give such part of it, upon 





683] Hone's Reformists Register. [(184 


liis cross examination, as imme¬ 
diately tends to show the man’s 
character. He was the principal 
witness to prove the treason. 

JOHN CASTLE cross-examined by 
Mr. Wetiierele. 

Are you the JOHN CASTLE 
lately abiding in the house of Richard 
Angel, in Princes’-street, Newport- 
market, but now a prisoner in Totlull- 
jields bridewell., in the county of Mid¬ 
dlesex, whitesmith?—-I am. 

How long have you been a priso¬ 
ner in that custody?— From the 9th 
of February, 1 believe. 

Upon what charge were you com- 
jnitted?—High treason. 

The same high treason as that the 
prisoner Watson is now tried for ?—I 
was. 

Had you been in any other custody 
prior to your commitment to Tothill- 
helds bridewell? ——Not upon this 
charge. 

When were you first arrested upon 
this charge ?-—On Saturday morning, 
the 9th of February. 

Have you had a promise of pardon, 
in consideration of your giving evi¬ 
dence against the prisoner Watson ? 
—I never wanted any pardon; I ne¬ 
ver committed any thing to want a 
pardon. 

That is not an answer to my ques¬ 
tion. Have you had a pardon pro¬ 
mised you ?—I have had the question 
put to me, if I had ever been commit¬ 
ted or tried for any thing. 

Have you had a pardon promised 
you, in consideration of disclosing the 
truth on this occasion ?—Not by any 
one. 

You said that you did not want a 
pardon : explain what you mean ?— 
1 have never committed any thing re¬ 
quiring a pardon : nothing but what 
all the country knows, and nothing 
that 1 shall not be able to explain to 
theirLordships and the Jury , I there¬ 
fore challenge you to bring your evi¬ 
dence against me. 


Then you mean that you have com¬ 
mitted no treason ?—I have said no 
such thing. 

Then explain what you meant by 
saying you wanted no pardon upon 
the matters now in question?—-I was 
not referring to the present charge of 
high treason. I was referring to other 
things, which I dare say you are in 
possession of. I dare say you are in pos¬ 
session of a good inany, but 1 shall be 
able to give you satisfactory answers. 
I had no pardon offered me, neither 
did I know the high treason was with¬ 
drawn, until my evidence was taken 
before their Lordships. The moment 
I was brought to the Secretary of 
State’s office, I communicated every 
thing to their Lordships. , 

Do you mean after that to say, that 
no promise of pardon has been held 
out to you ?—jVo, neither directly , nor 
indirectly. 

You mentioned the Secretary of 
State, did you communicate every 
thing you knew, without an offer of 
being pardoned ?—I never had any 
offer of the kind proposed to me. 

Do you mean to say, that the sub¬ 
ject of a pardon has never been men¬ 
tioned to you in any way }-—It has 
been since. 

Since what ?—Mr. Nodder, under 
whom l am in custody, was the first 
to inform me that the charge of high 
treason was withdrawn, but I had no 
communication from the Secretary of 
State, or from any other person. 

If it was withdrawn, why were you 
not released ?—That 1 cannot answer. 

You did not apply to be released 
after it was withdrawn ?—I did not. 

Why are you kept in custody now ? 
—It is not in my power to explain 
that to you ; I never asked the ques¬ 
tion, and I was never told the reason. 

Have you been, since your com¬ 
mitment to Toth ill-fields bridewell, 
constantly in confinement, or have 
you been walking about with an offi¬ 
cer attending you ?—I have been out 
with an officer attending me. 

When you were walking abroad 



^5] June 21, 1817. [CSC 


-with this officer, have you chanced to 
call upon any of the persons examined 
as witnesses on this trial ?-—I do not 
know who have been examined. 

The witness was then asked if he 
had not been at the house of a man 
• of the name of Bentley, but he de- 
nied it .: he had seen him. while going 
to the grand jury room, but had not 
spoken to him. He admitted that he 
had gone about to the different pub¬ 
lic-houses he had mentioned yester¬ 
day ; to Rysdale’s or Randals, to 
Drury-lane, and to Paddington. He 
had also met with a person of the 
name of George Crisp, the brother of 
John Crisp, who had been tendered as 
a witness, and rejected. He did not 
tell Crisp the situation he was in, nor 
did Crisp know it. 

Did you telrl Crisp if his brother 
went to Bow-street it might be con¬ 
venient for him?—Yes; 1 told him 
I wanted to see his brother : and if 
he went to Bow-street, Mr. Stafford 
wanted to ask him about a petition 
written by him for Watson and me. 
Nobody desired me to send him. 

Did you desire Crisp to tell his 
brother it might be to his advantage 
to go to Bow-street ?—I dare say I 
did : I asked him if his bother had 
got employ ; and if he called on Mr. 
Stafford it might be to his advantage. 

Did you say that Mr. Stafford 
would employ him ?>—No ; how was 
. Mr. Stafford to employ him ? 

Did you desire George Crisp to 
tell his brother that you had derived 
sonve advantage ?—No such conver¬ 
sation took place. 

Did you not tell him that you had 
been better off since the Spa-fields 
transaction ?—No such conversation 
took place. 

Have you happened to have been 
to the Tower since ?—Yes, I have; 

I went to find out a man who was 
there at the time we were treating 
the soldiers with beer, and showing 
the cockades. 

Did you find him ?—Yes, we found 
a boy. • r .. . 


A boy is not a man: did you find 
a man ?—Yea, 1 did. 

Whaffis his name?—Ilis name I 
never asked, and never heard it; he 
lives at the sign of the Pumpkin, c lose 
by Mark-lane. 

The list of witnesses was put into 
his hand, but he was finable to point, 
him out among them. He added, 
that ke went round in custody of Mr. 
Stafford, and an officer of the name of 
Salmon : the man at the Pumpkin 
had kept the Stone-kitchen, at the 
Tower, till the regiment stationed 
there Was changed; thete the witness 
had treated the soldiers, and shown 
the cockades. The man, when asked, 
said that he remembered nothing of 
the kind. They also inquired at the 
same place for a woman who went by 
the name of Old Mary, and a boy. 
Afterwards the witness had gone to 
the sign of the Black Lion, in Vinegar- 
yard, and saw the landlady and a boy, 
whose names he could not recollect: 
he asked her if she recollected any 
persons coming there, treating the 
soldiers, and sticking up a bill in the 
tap-room. She replied that she did 
recollect something of the kind, and 
lie.called the boy, who usually waiPfcd 
on the customers Next the witness 
went to Newton’s, and from thence 
to the man over the water, with whom 
he and Thistlewood had spoken about 
the hire of a mountebank’s stage : 
Mr. Stafford was with him. 

Did you not know for what pur¬ 
pose Mr. Stafford was taking you 
round ?—-I did not; he never cohi- 
municated his purpose to me. 

Did you not know without com¬ 
munication what his purpose was ?— 
Pie never told me. 

And you could not give a shrewd 
guess that it was for the purpose of 
procuring evidence ?— That entirely 
rests ivith myself. 

Then you had a sort of notion what 
it was for ?— Yes, my intellects are not 
quite so wc } ak as that. 

Upon your oath, do you not know 
that you Were taken round Londof 






fcfe7] 

for the purpose of obtaining evidence ; 
do you not know that— 

Lbrd EllesTborough. Let the 
Witness have an opportunity of an¬ 
swering. There is a justice due to the 
ivithess as well as to the prisoner. 

Witness. Whatever questions are 
Mt, I shall be able to answer them 
to the Satisfaction of your Lordship 
arid the Jury. 

Bid you not believe that you were 
going round to get evidence ?—/ did 
believe it of course : 1 must believe it. 

You are described as a whitesmith. 
How long haVe you left oft’ that trade ? 
—cannot tell, to a year or two. 

When was the last piece of smith’s 
Wort you ever did, with the exception 
of the pike-head you spoke of?—Not 
for the last -12 or 14 years. I have 
not worked at my business for other 
persons since that time, but I have 
done jobs at several shops for myself; 
such as repairing a lock, &c. I have 
been in business at Harwich. 

You have left Harwich for some 
time ?—I haVe. 

In what business were you before 
your connexion with Watson and the 
others ?—-In the figure making way, 
paper figures, dolls for children. 

Bid you not state to some of the 
prisoners that you were in great dis¬ 
tress when your acquaintance with 
thenl began. Were you in great 
distress ?—Yes, I was. 

Were you ever under commitment 
before this time ?—Never. 

Upon no charge whatever ?— Com¬ 
mitted, do you mean ? 

Yes, committed?--(Aftersome con¬ 
sideration) Yes, I was. 

Were you ever at Guildford, in the 
county of Surrey ?— -I was. 

How many times have you been 
under commitment, or in custody, 
before the present occasion?—- Twice. 

Were you under commitment once 
at Abergavenny ?—Once. 

And at Guildford ?—Once. 

What were you committed for 
I dare say you are perfectly well ac¬ 
quainted why. 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


fC8S 


But I had rather have your autho¬ 
rity ?—I rvas committed for putting 

of bad. notes. 

Is that what is commonly called 
forgery ?—I never understood it so. 

Or uttering forged notes ?—It is. 

You said at first that you were 
never under commitment, and yet 
now you state that you were com¬ 
mitted twice 5 explain that ?—I under¬ 
stood you to mean if I was ever tried. 

Then you made a distinction be¬ 
tween a commitment aiid a trial ?— 
I did. 

You were tried at Guildford ?—No. 

No ! Why not. ?—I was admitted 
an evidence. 

What the same accident happened 
there as on the present occasion ?— 
It did. 

Namely, that you were committed 
upon a charge, and afterwards became 
a witness against the persons who 
were committed on the same charge ? 
—Be so good as to repeat the question. 

The question was repeated, and the 
answer was, “ It did happen .” 

"What became of the man against 
whom you gave evidence }—He suf¬ 
fered by the laws of his country. 

Bid he die on the scaffold as a 
victim ?-—1 was informed he did. 

Have you a doubt he did?—-I have 
not. ► 

How long is that ago ?—Three of 
four years. 

What was the name of the unfor¬ 
tunate man ?—-Bavis. 

Bid you make any and what bar¬ 
gain then with the Bank of England 
before you were admitted an evidence? 
—I did not. 1 told them I had been 
innocently dragged into it, and that 
I would communicate the whole of 
the circumstances : 1 did so, and told 
them where we got the foi-ged notes. 

Pray were you innocently dragged 
into the present transaction !—Yes, 
I was. 

What age are you ?—Between 28 
and 29. Not older. 

Bid you know a person of the 
name of Greenaway ?---! did. 




689] June 21,1817. * [690 


Were you ever a witness against 
Greenaway ’—1 was. 

What was the charge ’—He was 
with me when I was apprehended. 

Was lie more fortunate than you 
on that occasion ’—1 do not know 
what you mean ’ 

Did he or did he not suffer ’—He 
pleaded guilty, and was transported. 

Then you were the only bird of 
the covey that escaped ’ Yes. 

One suffered the penalty of the law, 
and was hanged 5 another teas trans¬ 
ported; and the third ice have now in 
Court ?—Ycs. 

Whom did you work for last, in 
your business ’—For a Mrs. Angel, 
at Doncaster. 

How long ago’—About 14 years. 

Before that time, where did you 
work ’—Where I was apprentice. 

How many years did you work 
there ’-—Twelve or fourteen. I was 
brought up with them. 

And do you mean to say that you 
are now only 28 or 29 years old 
1 do not know my age , to a year or 
two. 

Can you speak to three or four 
years ?—Yes, I can. 

Are you under 33 years old 
I am. 

Under 32 ’— I cannot exactly say. 

Where was your birth-place ?— 
South Kirby, Yorkshire. 

You said that you had been com¬ 
mitted at Abergavenny ’—I was. 

On what charge ?— On a charge of 
taking -a French Prisoner. 

Do you mean taking, or taking 
away ’—Taking. 

That is, assisting in the escape of 
a French prisoner >—No, preventing 
his escape ; I will satisfy you of that. 

Who was the honest Welch parson 
who committed you ’—I do not 
know. 

Did be not say, that if what you 
had been guilty of had been done by 
a commissioner of transports, he 
would have committed him ’--—He 
did. 

The witness was then desired to 


explain the circumstances of the trans¬ 
action. He stated that he had gone 
to Tothill-fields Bridewell, to visit a 
friend, where a man of the name of 
Warner gave him two letters to be 
sent to Buonaparte ; and as soon as 
he had got them, he (the witness) 
gave information at Bow-street: from 
thence he went to the Transport 
Board, where he saw a clerk of the 
name of Sugden, who ordered him to 
go down to Abergavenny, to bring to 
town Colonel Privetti; one of Buona¬ 
parte’s principal artillery officers there 
on parole: he went down accordingly, 
with an officer of the name of Dick- 
ins ; but the Colonel would not come 
away, and the witness in consequence 
came to town for fresh orders. He 
received a letter of authority from 
Sugden, and went down again to 
Abergavenny ; and hiring a cart at 
Bristol, by Colonel de Privetti’s 
orders, he had proceeded with him 
about eight or nine miles, when he 
was stopped, taken before a magis¬ 
trate, and committed on a charge of 
aiding in the escape of a French pri¬ 
soner'of war, notwithstanding he pro¬ 
duced the letter given him by Sugden - y 
the magistrate declaring that due no¬ 
tice had not been given to a Mr. 
Jones, who had the regulation of the 
prisoners of war in that part of the 
country. 

What compensation were you to 
receive, if you could get Colonel Pri- 
vetti out of the country ’—No parti¬ 
cular sum. 

Who made you the offer’--Warner, 
who lived in Kent, and was then in 
Tothill-fields Bridewell, for aiding in 
an escape. 

How came you to go there’—I 
went to see one Robert Kennett. 

Has not your friend Kennett been 
hangedP — Yes: he was no particular 
friend of mine. He referred me to 
Warner. I had known Kennett two 
or three years before. 

What has become of Warner’—I 
do not know, I believe he is now in 
Kent. 



6011 Hone’s Reformists’Register. [(>92 


Has he not disappeared ?-—I hare 
not seen him for two or three years. 

You have said that a man of the 
name of Dickins was your companion 
into Wales. Was he not charged 
some time ago at the Old Bailey with 
entering into a conspiracy that made a 
little noise ?—I do not know any 
thing of him. 

I mean, was he not the associate of 
a man of the name of Vaughan ?— I 
do not know it. 

Have you any doubts it is the same 
Dickins ? 

Lord Ellenborough. If he be, 
how can we incorporate him with this 

case ? 

Mr. WetiierelTj. My object, my 
Lord, is to show that this man sfriends 
and companions werefelons and forgers: 
that they were all among the basest of 
mankind. 

Mr. Justice Abbott. Every wit¬ 
ness is entitled to the protection of 
the Court. I remember that was dis¬ 
cussed on the trial of Mr. Hardy, 
when Mr. Erskine, one of the highest 
and ablest advocates at the bar, and 
Counsel for the prisoner, examined a 
witness in a certain mode. 

Mr. Wetherell then asked, Do 
you believe that the Dickins you 
have spoken of was the same man ? 

Lord Ellenborough. If you prove 
it, w.hat have we before us relating to 
him ? It; is really corrupting all jus¬ 
tice, when such prejudices are re¬ 
ceived. 

You stated yesterdav that you and 
TV atson had a private conversation at 
yonr lodging, and that you desired 
your wife to go out of the room ?—1 
desired the person in the room to go 
out. 

Did you desire your childre,* to go 
out ?-—I have none. 

Yo;j said yesterday that you were a 
married man, and that you desired 
your wife to go out: what is the age 
of your wife ?—I do not exactly know 
her age. 

You have had children ?—Yee. 

How many ?—-Three or four. 


You seem not to recollect exactly ? 
-—Four : three and a miscarriage. 

Where Is your wife r—In the coun¬ 
try ; in Yorkshire. 

When did your children die ?— 
Three or four years ago. 

Is the mother of those childreH dead 
or living ?—Living. 

And she is your wife ?—I do not 
know whether she is icy wife or not : 
we lived together as man and wile. 

Were you married to her? Were 
you at church }—lVe were : at Dover 
Court, near Harwich. 

How long ago ?—Ten or twelve 
years. 

Was her name Pricket ?—-Yes. 

What do you mean then by telling 
the Jury you lived together, and you 
called her your wife, if you were 
really married to her: did you not 
mean to intimate that she was not 
your wife ?—1 did not. 

Why did you not say she was your 
wife, and not the person you lived 
-with ?—I have lived with another 
person since. 

What was her name ?—Toms. 

Was the person who was iij the 
room when Watson called Mrs. Toms, 
or your real wife ?—My real wife. 

What age is Mrs. Toms?—She is 
dead. 

Is there no other person with whom 
you now cohabit as your wife ?-— 

Were you ever married before you 
were married to the woman of the 
name of Pricket ?—I never was. 

Have you ever made proposals of 
marriage to any person within the last 
two or three years ? 

Lord Ellenborough objected t® 
the question, on the ground that it 
tended to criminate the witness. 

Where did Mrs. Toms live r—In 
King Street. 

A ou said that your last employment, 
was that of selling children ’3 figures: 
did you ever live at a house called 
Mother Toms’ ?—I did. 

W here was that ?—-In King Street, 
Soho. 

Pray what sort of a place is Mother 






' June 21 

* »' , 

Toms’ ?~ She was a person who kept 
a lodging-house. 

You cell it a lodging-house : was 
it lor male or female lodgers ’—Fe¬ 
male. 

Were her lodgings let by the hour, 
or half-hour, or by the month?—By 
the week. 

But she occasionally let them out 
for a few minutes ,?—Never for less 
than a week. 

I put it to you : is it not a house of 
ill fame }—No, it is not; it is not, 
upon my oath. You may call it what 
you please 3 but it was never let out 
for a few minutes. 

Is not Mother Toms’ a place where 
prostitutes are kept?—-It is a place 
where young women take lodgings. 

Is it not a house of prostitution, or 
ill fame ?—-It is not. 

Did they not receive persons there 
for the purpose of prostitution ?—No. 

Were you waiter there ?—No. 

A partner there?—-No. 

Is there not in those houses a sort 
‘ of character called a protector ?—Not 
that I know of. 

In what character did you live 
there ?—In the character of her hus¬ 
band. 

Is there not in those houses a good 
stout fellow, called a protector, or 
bully. Did you live in that charac¬ 
ter ?—I did not : she let her lodgings 
out at so much a week. 

How many unfortunate young wo¬ 
men lived there ?—She had three 
different floors, which she let out to 
three separate women. 

Was there no back-door or by-room 
into which promiscuous company, or 
chance customers, as they are called, 
might be received ?—No. 

Do you not know, upon your oath, 
that these lodgings were let out for 
the purpose of receiving gallants ?— 

I do not know it: I never interfered 
with them. 

You do not know whether the 
chief run of the visitors were males or 
females ?—I never observed 3 I had 
nothing to do with it 3 I neither paid 
nor received. 


. 1817. [604 

You do not believe that the lodgings 
were let out for the purposes of pros¬ 
titution ?— I do not. 

Do you not believe they were ?—I 
believe they ivere. 

Whose name was on the door? — 
My name-, hut I did not pay the rent: 
Mrs. Toms always did that herself. 

W hen did you take the brass plate 
off the door ?—It is not taken off now. 

IIow long has it been on the door ? 
—About a year and a half, but there 
is another plate over it. Mrs. Toms’ 
name was on the door flrst; but that 
was taken away, and a fresh plate 
put up. 

Is your name legible now ?—No j 
but I have not been that way for 
eight or nine months, therefore I can¬ 
not tell whether it is legible now or 
not. 

You have not stated exactly where 
your wife is ?—I do not know exactly: 
I sent her into Yorkshire, close to 
Doncaster. 

What did you send her there for ? 
—To see my friends. 

Do you know a young woman the 
daughter of a baker at Brighton?—I do. 

What is her name ?—Streater. 

What is her age ?—I do not know. 

Have you been much at Brighton 
before your confinement ?—I have 
been there twice. 

Having gone through youf domes¬ 
tic history, Mr. [Castles, proceed rtfe 
now to the topics of general history 
with ♦which you have favoured u». 
You said that on the 2d of December 
you proceeded to London-bridge"?— 

I did. 

Between 8 and 9 in the morning ? 
—No 3 nothing of the kind : between 
S and 9 in the morning I proceeded 
to the Black Dog, Drury-lane. 

And went from thence to London- 
bridge ?—No 5 to meet the waggon 
at the top of Gray^-inn-lane. I put 
in the colours. I do not know who 
put in the powder, but it was taken, 
from the Black Dog by one John 
Kearns. There might he half a 
canister of it, and 60 or 70 balls. 






695] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [696 


It was the regular canister powder : 
a small canister I think; a lib. 
canister. I tied them up in a dirty 
white handkerchief, or something Wee 
U ; the balls were in the loot of an 
did stocking : besides this, there were 
two or three small cartridges with 
slugs. These were all the warlike 
stores T believe. I went to the Tower 
at about half-past 11 o’clock, I did 
not go to Spa-fields myself, but to 
No. 1, Dean-street, where I assisted 
Kearns in wrapping up the banner. 
Then I went to London-bridge to 
meet the smiths. 

And were the smiths there ?- 

None that I know of. 

What smiths were they ?—Some 
that catnc from a factory over the 
water, belonging I think to one Bou- 
verie, or some such name. I was 
sent to meet theni at London-bridge, 
as they had made a subscription 
of 12 s. 6 d. 

Then the story about your meet¬ 
ing the smiths comes to nothing. 
There were none ?—I did not say so : 
I saw none, but they might be gone 
to Spa-fields. 

Did you not tell Watson that the 
smiths would assist ?—Watson and 
Preston had both been with me to 
see them at their dinner hour, 1 do 
not know any of their names, nor 
can I mention one of them that pro¬ 
mised to attend. 

When you went to the Tower, 
you did not waste your breath in 
an harangue to the walls. You 
made no speech to the soldiers ?— 
I had been with the soldiers. 

But you did not, in the words of the 
indictment, “ On the 2d of Decem¬ 
ber, with a loud voice command the 
soldiers of our Sovereign Lord the 
King, to give up the Tower ? ---I did 
not. 

Then you went, where?—Up the 
Minories, where all was quiet, and I 
met Hunt in Cheapside, at 20 minutes 
before one. 

What did you say to Hunt ?— 1 
asked why he was so late, and I said 


that young Watson had gone with a 
party of men from Spa-fields to attack 
the Tower, as I was informed. He 
looked at the clock, and said that one 
o’clock was the time appointed for 
him to be in Spa-fields, and then he 
drove off. 

Did you say nothing else to him 
about the Tower ?—I did not j that 
is all the conversation that passed. 

Did you not tell Mr. Hunt that you 
had just come from the Tower, and 
add, “ the Tower has been in our pos¬ 
session for two hours,” or something 
to that effect ?— I did not. 

Did you not say “ the Tower is in 
our possession ? No. 

Or in any way give him to under¬ 
stand the people had got the Tower ? 
—No, 1 did not. 

Did you not desire Hunt to turn 
back, and go with you to the Tower ? 
—I did not; I desired Mr. Hunt to 
make haste to Spa-fields j he imme¬ 
diately drove off, not stopping half a 
minute. 

What way were you walking ?— 
Towards the Bank. 

How came you to be going that 
way ?—I was -going down to the 
Tower. 

You had been there once that day, 
and why did you wish to go again ?.—I 
had met the elder Watson, Kearns, 
and Thistlewood, and they said that 
young Watson was gone with a party 
of men to the Tower. 

Were they armed ?—I did not see 
any arms, Watson had a dirk stick, 
but it was not drawn. I then went to 
Mark-lane with Kearns 5 and as I 
came back, 1 heard a great noise be¬ 
tween the Royal Exchange and the 
Bank, and there I found young Wat¬ 
son, with about 200 men and boys 
filing in the air. 

The Witness then stated the cir¬ 
cumstance of bis proceeding with 
Thistlewood to a man in the New- 
cut, to hire a stage or waggon to 
speak from. The meetings, from 
time to time, were kept up in Grey- 
stoke-place, and at No. 1, Dean- 




&)7] June 21, 1817. [698 


street, once or twice a day. After the 
insertion of the advertisement, seve¬ 
ral persons came to Grey stoke-pl ace 
with money, which the elder Watson 
took : once a 101. note was sent ail at 
once, and the whole amount of the 
subscriptions might be 301., but the 
witness never took any particular ac¬ 
count of it. He said, that when Har¬ 
rison withdrew, he was thrown into 
some alarm, and he objected to con¬ 
tinuing the meetings in Greystoke- 
place. 

What was the ground for Harri¬ 
son’s withdrawing ? On account ot a 
quarrel which took place between 
him and the younger Watson, as they 
were going up to Seale’s for the bills. 

When he withdrew, who introduced 
Hooper? I did: he was appointed in 
his stead. 

' Did you not prevail upon Harrison to 
withdraw, as he was suspected, and it 
would be better ? I did not.. 

You know a man of the name of 
Angel ? Yes : I invited him to dine ; 
he was a stranger to all but Hooper. 

Did you not propose to introduce 
him to the committee? I did not. 

Did you inyite Angel to the private 
meetings ? I did , but he refused. I 
.asked several others to join the meetings , 
but I cannot exactly state their names. 

Cannot you remember any of them ? 
I asked the two Crisps. 

You mean the private meetings? 
No, I never invited any person to join 
the private meetings ; the meetings 1 
referred to were in Sp.a-fields. 

Did you not tell those whom you 
invited to go to Spa-fields, that you 
had got arms for them ? 1 did not: 

1 do not know how many went that I 
invited, or whether the smiths were 
there. I cannot say how many I in¬ 
cited. 

Did any you invited refuse to at¬ 
tend ? Not that I particularly kndw of. 

Did you report how many you had 
prevailed upon ?. I reported every 
flight, and sometimes twice a day. 

Were those reports true? They 
were always correct. 


Were they in Writing ? Never. 

Did you not say that, 500 smiths 
would attend ! I did; 500 smiths 
and men from other factories. I do 
not know how many, in fact, attended. 

You cannot say how large the 
muster-roll of smiths turned out ? I 
cannot tell: I saw none of them. 

Should you know any of them ? 
Yes ; two, if I were to see them. 

Did you see any person in the 
crowd whom you invited to attend at 
Spa-fields ? 1 did not. 

Before the 2d of December, did 
you go about to any public-houses to 
treat soldiers, and show them cock- ‘ 
ades ? Yes, I showed one to the 
soldiers in the Stone Kitchen, in the 
Tower. I had got one in the crown 
of my hat inside : I took it out and 
shoived it to the soldiers. 

Did you take any of them aside, 
or into some by-place to show it ? 
No, I showed it them in the tap- 
room. 

And what said the soldiers of the 
cockade, when you showed it them 
publicly in the open tap-room ? They 
said it was very pretty—very fine 
colours. 

Did you treat them ? 1 gave them 

some beer. 

Any thing else ? One asked me to 
lend him sixpence, and I gave him a 
shilling. 

Did you often go the Tower in 
this way? Three or four times. 

You mentioned yesterday that you 
had been at a public-house in the 
neighbourhood of Drury-laneTheatre, 
where you saw some soldiers. Were 
they in their red coats ? Yes, and on 
duty. 

The place where you met these 
soldiers is much frequented, I sup¬ 
pose ? No, it is a small room, and 
there was nobody in it but soldiers. 

Was it not a public room? It 
was an open room - } any person 
might go into it. 

You recollect something that pass¬ 
ed between you and two gentlemen’s 
servants about the time you mention- 




690] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [700 


ed: was it not Mr. Chancellor Leach’s 
servant ? 1 do not know. 

I M ill give you his name ; but was 
it not Mr. Chancellor Leach's ser¬ 
vant you wished to seduce on this 
occasion, and with whom you had a 
quarrel ? It was young Watson. 
There was myself, the two Watsons, 
and Thistlewood, in the room. Young 
Watson quarrelled with the gentle¬ 
man’s servant, saying to him that in 
his livery he looked like a negro run 
away with a mark set on him. 

What was the cause of the quarrel ? 
He did not agree altogether with the 
meeting. One of the servants was 
in livery, the other in plain clothes. 

You went to the Horse-guards also 
into a pnblic-house there; did you 
not? Yes ; into the place calk’d the 
Canteen: it is a public room. 

Now do you recollect any thing of 
going to dine at Bouvcrie-street on 
the day of the first meeting in Spa- 
held s ? Yes. 

Who dined with you? The two 
Watsons, Hooper, and Preston. 

Was that the whole party ? There 
was Mr. Hunt, Mr. Clark, and others. 

Why did you go to that dinner in 
Bouvcrie-street ? We went there be¬ 
cause we knew it was the place where 
Mr. Hunt put up at. 

How late did you stay there ? I 
don’t know • very probably till six or 
seven o’clock. 

Do you recollect any thing remark¬ 
able that passed there, Mr. Castles ? 
1 recollect. Mr. Hunt said lie had not 
seen the colours which were in Spa- 
fields, and 1 took the flag out of my 
bosom and showed it to him. He 
held the one end of it, and I the other. 

Were any particular toasts given 
after dinner in Bouvcrie-street ? I 
don’t know. 

Do you recollect whether you gave 
any toast yourself? Yes, I gave one. 

What was it ? I gave “ May the 
last of kings he strangled in the guts of 
the last of priests." 

What passed on your giving that 
toast ? When I gave the toast, Mr. 


Hunt desired that I would not he so 
violent, and stopped me. 

Was nothing said about turning 
any body out of the room ? No,; 
not that 1 can recollect. 

Is that the only time you were 
ever admonished not to be violent in 
your toasts'? Yes. 

There was nothing said about turn¬ 
ing any body out ? No. 

Nor about the company leaving the 
room ? No; not as far as I can re* 
collect. I am not certain whether 
Mr. Hunt might not say he would 
leave the room. 

But you are quite certain that 
nothing was said about turning you 
out ? Yes. 

You do not recollect falling asleep, 
do you ? No ; I did not fall asleep. 

Nor pretending to fall asleep, tak¬ 
ing a little nap, a sort of a fox sleep ? 
No. 

Did you neither fall really asleep 
nor sham sleep ; a bit of a fox sleep ; 
you know what 1 mean, Mr. Castles ? 
O yes, I know very well, Sir; 1 
neither fell asleep, nor shammed 
sleep. , 

Not a little nap ? No ; to the best 
of my recollection I did not. 

Let us see : so you will not posi¬ 
tively deny it. Now tell me candidly, 
did you take a real sleep or a sham 
sleep ? T did not fall asleep at all, 
as far as I can recollect. 

Pray Mr. Castles, did Mr. Hunt 
invite you to dine with him on this 
occasion? Mr. Hunt asked whether 
all who were there were to dine. 

That is no,t an answer to my 
question ; did he ask you, Sir ? No. 

Then you went uninvited? 1 went 
with the elder Watson and Hooper. 

How came you to dine at the same 
table ? 1 w r alked up as others did. 

Did Mr. Hunt invite you to sit 
down at the same table ? No. 

Then either you or somebody else 
proposed this? Yes; somebody I 
suppose proposed it, but I did not. 

Did not you tell Mr. Hunt some¬ 
thing about your getting a French 



701 ] June 21, 1817. [702 


officer out of the country ? I believe 
1 did. 

Did wot you tell him that you had 
got five hundred pounds to do it ? Yes. 

Was this true ? No. 

Have you ever gone by the name 
of Jackson ? Yes. After the first 
Spa-fields meeting, Angel told me it 
would be more prudent to get a dif¬ 
ferent name. 

But you went back and forward to 
the meeting as usual ? Yes. 

Then why were you afraid ? Be¬ 
cause Preston had been taken up. 

Did yefu ever live in Carnaby-mar- 
ket, ? No. 

You went to Exeter’Change to look 
for arms, 1 believe ? Yes. 

Did you see any there ? Yes. We 
expected to find as many as would 
serve 40 or 50. There were pistols, 
and sticks with swords. 

Did you not say you expected to 
get guns there ? Probably. 

Did you ever see any guns or sabres 
there? Yes. 

Will you swear to have seen one 
gun ? 1 cannot be certain. 

Will you swear to sabres ? Yes, 
to more than ‘20. 

Did you not say that one reason 
for giving up the blockading, the 
burning plan, was, that the people 
were not sufficiently ripe for it ? Yes. 
No, I did not say ripe ; not suffici¬ 
ently numerous without a public 
meeting. 

Did you know Kearns before he 
joined your party ? 1 had seen, him 

at the meetings. 

Y r ou said, yesterday, that Mr. Wat¬ 
son spoke to you first about over¬ 
turning the government. How long 
had you known him then ? I had 
seen him different times at the meet¬ 
ings. 

Had you ever seen him three times 
before ? I do not know. 

Will you swear that he ever spoke 
twiefe to you before he talked in this 
way of its being easy to overturn the 
Government ? No. 

So, then, your conversation with 


him on that subject was the first tha t 
ever passed between you ? Yes. 

When did you first disclose this to 
any body ? About the (ith or 7tli of 
January. 

Were you near enough at the first 
Spa-fields meeting to hear the reso¬ 
lutions put ? 3 was in the room. 

Did you see any magistrates there? 
I do not know. 

Did you not boast of having put 
your fist in a magistrate’s face ? Per¬ 
haps I did : but 1 did not know he 
was a magistrate. -It was a gen¬ 
tleman who nearly shoved me oil the 
table. 

Did you not see some police officers 
in Merlin’s Cave? Yes. 

I believe your person is not, un¬ 
known to them ? 1 know some of them. 

You have said you were in distress 
in February last. Who has supported 
you during the period of your impri¬ 
sonment : you are now well dressed ? 
I have been supported in Tohill-fields 
bridewell. Mr. Stafford paid for my 
dress. m 

Has he given you pocket-money also ? 
Yes. 

Have all the things that have been 
given you been paid for by money from 
Mr. Stafford ? Yes. 

Who furnished the money for send¬ 
ing your wife to Yorkshire? Mfr. 
Stafford also* He paid 51. 

But why send her out of town ; 
she was not a traitoress j there could 
be no particular harm in her remain¬ 
ing in London ? Perhaps not. 

But why was she sent out of the 

i • 

way ? That is best known to myself. 

Who suggested the plan of sending 
her away ? Nobody. 

If your wife had been here, could 
not she have stated some matters of 
importance ? No, I never communi¬ 
cate my affairs to her. 

No, I dare say not; but there are 
some dates and facts of importance 
which she might have known : for 
instance, could she not have verified 
the fact of your sending her out of 
the room when you wanted to speak 




[704 


703] Hone’s Reformists’Register. 


privately to Watson: perhaps could 
she not have stated were you had 
been at some particular times ? I do 
not think she could. 

Mr. Sheppard objected to this 
course of examination, and the Court 
sustained the objections. 

After Preston was apprehended, I 
believe you endeavoured to take care 
of any little property or furniture he 
might have ? The goods were not 
his. When Preston was taken before 
the Lord Mayor, Preston’s daughters 
assisted me in taking away a table 
and a flock bed that belonged to the 
committee. I took the tilings and ap¬ 
propriated them, to mij own use , for the 
committee had left me without any 
thing. 

Was the committee obliged to sup¬ 
port you ? They had supported me be¬ 
fore, and This tie wood had always 
said there would be some monev to 

s • * J 

take me out of the country if any 
thing happened. 

You know the house of young 
Watson, in Hyde-street ; kful you 
the key ■? No. 

Will you swear you had no access to 
it } 1 never was there but twice in 

my life. 

You took the pikes there, - vou said ? 
Yes. 


The cross-exaiuination of the 
wretch Castles makes more than 
1 supposed. Reniark must be 
deferred to my next. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

King's Bench Prison, 

No. 2 in No. 7. 

19 th June, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

The REFORMISTS’ REGISTER will, 
every half-year , have a Title-page, with 
a Complete Index of reference to its con¬ 
tents, and bind up into a Volume, as large 
in size as a Volume of the best edition of 
Hume's History of England, or Gibbon’s 
Rome. But a volume of the Register 
will contain more than double the quantity 
contained in a volume of these works, and 
he at one half the price; so that the 
Reader will have, at the end of every year. 
Two Volumes, abounding with sound po¬ 
litical information, on subjects in which he 
himself, and his children, and his country, 
are deeply interested; and the contents .of 
these Two Volumes, which he obtains by 
an easy purchase of Two-pence a Week, 
and which do not cost him Nine Shil¬ 
lings, will be equal to the contents of Four 
volumes of Hume’s History of England, 
which will cost One Pound Twelve Shil¬ 
ling 

Country orders addressed to Mr. Hone, 
G7, Old Bailey, with remittances, or ap¬ 
pointing payment in London, and men¬ 
tioning the conveyance parcels are to be 
sent by, will be punctually executed, and 
bills and placards to hang at doors and shop 
windows enclosed. 

I beg to inform Country Inquirers, who 
desire to have the Reformists’ Register, 
that they should give their orders for it to 
country Booksellers,' most of whom have 
usually a parcel of various publications 
every week from their agents in town, arid 
these town agents will procure and for¬ 
ward the Register , in their weekly parcels, 
regularly; but Booksellers, and persons in 
the country, who take the Rif or mists’ Re¬ 
gister to sell again, may have them for¬ 
warded in any way they point out, TTy re¬ 
mitting with the order, or appointing pay¬ 
ment by some person in London, at stated 
periods. W. H. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Olu Bailey; three doors from 
Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed * 
and sold at 55, Meet Street—Price Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, u.r 51. i.Us! 
per Tiiousimi, 









Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No, 23.] Saturday, June 28,1817. [Vol, T, 

. ^ - ———■—.— . . ■ ■ ■ -■——■—“- 

SPIES 


AND 

INFORMERS. 


J r dlany of their Character—-The en¬ 
trapping of Watson - Infamous 

conduct of Castle— Certificate of 
his Marriage three Years ago, liis 
former Wife being alive—Mr. Cur¬ 
ran’s eloquent Address to a Jury 
on Informers—A Borougiimonger’s 
reception of Watson’s acquittal— 
Mr. Curran’s Character of Rey¬ 
nolds, the Informer; his Oath-tak¬ 
ings, his Swearings, his Informings, 
some Account of his Rewards—At- 
tempts of Oliver, the Informer, to 
entrap Mr. Wooler and myself 
lately—-Particulars of another At¬ 
tempt to entrap me to print'! reason¬ 
able Papers—My Interview with 
Mr. Beckett, Under Secretary of 
State—Copy of Treasonable Bill— 
Mr. Nicholls, the Attorney, of 
29, Bennett-street, and Lord Sid- 
iioute —-My Protest to the Master 
of the Crown Office, against my 
Special Juries — Liberty, by. W. 
Cowper, Esq. 


"Jf there be one scoundrel for 
whom we have greater contempt 
fhan another, it is for him who 
sits at our tables, becomes ac¬ 
quainted with our affairs, and 
betrays our confidence. This 
crime can scarcely be perpetra¬ 
ted in any circle, without pro¬ 
ducing heart-burnings and dis- 
contentSf which explanation never 
entirely allays, nor reconciliation. 
$>\er effectually cures. The wretch 


who worked the evil may be de¬ 
tected and expelled; but of his 
venom enough will always re-? 
main to rankle and imhitter 
friendly intercourse. Hence, they 
who entertain slander are disr 
couraged by the generous, and 
babblers are shunned by the 
wise. For the same reasons, thp 
most dangerous enemies to per¬ 
sons in public life are political 
informers. Happily for public 
men, the qualifications of spies and 
informers consist in a depravity of 
mind, accompanied by overt acts 
of villany, which can never be 
overlooked or unobserved but by 
the enthusiastic or the vicious? 
Had Dr. Watson been less de^ 
pressed by distress, or less galled 
bv “ the slings and arrows of 
outrageous fortune,” the wretch 
Castle could scarcely have 
marked him for a victim : and 
yet it is not difficult for such a 
man to select almost whom he 
will in this metropolis, amongst 
the opposers to Ministers, as ob¬ 
jects of his machinations. In 
London, men become acquainted, 
and form connexions w ith others, 
whose conduct being fair at the 
time, occasion no suspicion ;— 
and really the numerous javoca-? 
tipns of a town life, and general 
acquaintance, render it almost 
impossible to inquire respecting* 
the forth, parentage, and educa¬ 
tion ^pf every one w r e talk with. 
t$L>\ilie can imagine that Dr* 
WatsP.n knew Castle as an ills 


printed by and fur W, Uout*, (*7> Old ILhlov, Londo £ 



















707] Hones Reformists’ Register. [70S 


famous character, although it ap¬ 
pears from the trial that the mis¬ 
creant was saturated in crime. 
His business was to gain Wat¬ 
son’s confidence, to lull him into 
security, and entice him gra¬ 
dually to the commission of trea¬ 
sonable acts; and he so far suc¬ 
ceeded, that up to the moment of 
arrest, W^atson did not suspect 
him. It was only after Watson 
was charged with the crime of 
treason, and upon diligent in¬ 
quiry, that Castle was disco¬ 
vered to be connected wkh felons 
and forgers, and the basest of 
mankind. The monster bad been 
seen with poor Watson by hun¬ 
dreds and thousands of persons; 
and yet no one recognized him 
as having hanged one of his own 
friends for a crime of which he 
himself was guilty, and trans¬ 
ported another for the like 
offence. W atson was talking 
hourly, it appears, and walking 
about the streets of London, with 
the very refuse of the gallows, 
unsuspecting and unsuspected. 
There is no place for the con¬ 
cealment of villany equal in se¬ 
curity to London—that is, for its 
effectual concealment froin public 
knowledge; for Castle must 
have been as well known to the 
Police as were his companions, 
Kennet whom he hanged, and 
Greenaway whom he trans¬ 
ported. He was too great a cri- 
mmal ever to be forgotten by the 
Police, and too wily and subtle a 
reptile to lead to points that 
would discover his real charac¬ 
ter. Watson knew no more than 
the three poor Irishmen, who 
were tempted to commit forgery 
by Vaughan, the blood-mSuey 
man, now under senten/j of 
death in Newgate, that Castle 


was the associate of Vaughan 
and his companions. Watson 
knew not that Castle lived 
with Mother Toms, in King-street, 
Soho, at a house which, says the 
wretch, “ upon my oath” is not a 
house of il 1 fame. Watson knew 
not that Castle was a wholesale 
dealer in oaths. He swore on 
the trial, that his wife, whom he 
represented to be dressed up at 
the expense of Mr. Stafford, the 
Police Clerk, was gone int© 
Yorkshire, at that gentleman’s 
expense, with money in her 
pocket, also furnished by Mr. 
Stafford. He swore her maiden 
name was Prickett, and that he 
had been married to her 10 or 12 
years ago, at Dover Court, near 
Harwich; and he no doubt swore 
truly: but he did not swear that 
he increased the catalogue of his 
crimes by marrying another wo¬ 
man in 1814 ; of which marriage 
Watson was also ignorant, but 
which appears by the following 
certificate from the registry in 
St. Sepulchre’s Church:—* 

(Copy) 

“ John Castle, of the Parish of 
Saint Sepulchre, London, bachelor, 
and Lydia Streeter, of the same 
parish, spinster, were married in this 
church, by license, with consent of 

-, this 22d day of April, in 

the year ^.814. 

“ By me, Charles Cay, 
“ Minister. 

(( This i marriage was Solemnized 
between ms,— 

i u John Castle, 

I “ Lydia Streeter, 

“ In jhe presence of— 

/ “ Ceorge Phelpot, 

/ Lidy Card, 

(( Ann Rice. 

^ T o. 87. 

“ The above is a true copy, ex« 





709] June 28 , 18J 7* £710 


tracted from the Register-Book of 
Marriages of the parish of St. Sepul¬ 
chre, Snow-hill, City of London, this 
i3th day of June, 1817, 

t( By me, Thomas Harrison, 
“ Curate and Registrar of the 
aforesaid Parish 

Castle’s career of infamy was 
unknown to Watson and his 
friends, until after the villain 
had wound his snares around his 
victim—until after they were 
both in custody;— Watson in 
his prison, upon charges of high 
treason; and Castle, the master 
traitor, parading the Streets of 
London with Mr. Stafford, qua¬ 
lifying himself once more to 
swear away another life from the 
witness-box. When the wretch 
stood there, dressed up by the 
Police with new clothes, and fur¬ 
nished with money from the same 
source—and he swore that Mr. 
Stafford furnished both—how 
eloquently, with some adapta¬ 
tions, might the Jury have been 
addressed in the language of 
Mr. Curran:— 

“ Let me ask you honestly, ” 
said that gentleman, on a trial in 
Ireland, “ w hat do you feel, when 
in my hearing, when in the face 
of this audience, you are called 
upon to give a verdict that every 
man of us, and every man of you 
know by the testimony of your 
own eyes to be utterly and abso¬ 
lutely false? I speak not now T 
of the public proclamation of in¬ 
formers, with a promise of secresy 
and of extravagant reward; I 
speak not of the fate of those 
horrid wretches who have been 
so often transferred from the 
table to the dock, and from the 
dock to the pillory; 1 speak of 
what your own eyes have seen 
day after day during the course 


of this commission from the box 
where you are now sitting; the 
number of horrid miscreants who 
avowed upon their oaths that 
they had come from the very 
seat of government—from the 
castle, where they had been 
worked upon by the fear of 
death and the hopes of compen¬ 
sation, to give evidence against 
their fellows, that the mild and 
wholesome councils of this go¬ 
vernment, are liolden over these 
catacombs of living death, where 
the wretch that is buried a 
man, lies till his heart has time 
to fester and dissolve,' and is 
then dug up as a witness. 

“ Is this fancy, or is it fact ? 
Have you not seen him, after his 
resurrection from that tomb, after 
having been dug out of the re¬ 
gion of death and corruption, 
make his appearance upon the 
table, the living image of life 
and of death, and the supreme 
arbiter of both ? Have you not 
marked w hen he entered, how 
the stormy w r ave of the multitude 
retired at his approach ? Have 
you not marked how the human 
heart bowed to the supremacy 
of his power, in the undissembled 
homage of deferential horror ? 
How his glance, like the light¬ 
ning of heaven, seemed to rive 
the body of the accused, and 
mark it for the grave, while his 
voice warned the devoted wretch 
of woe and death; a death w hich 
no innocence can escape, no art 
elude, no force resist, no antidote 
prevent:—there was an antidote 
—a juror’s oath—but even that 
adamantine chain, that bound the 
integrity of man to the throne ot 
eternal justice, is solved and 
melted in the bre&th that issues 
from the informer’s mouth; con- 








Hone’s Reformists’ Register* 


711] 

science swings froni her moor¬ 
ings, and the appalled and 
affrighted juror consults his own 
safety in the surrender of the 

• . • yy 

victim. 

With the same burning' elo¬ 
quence Mr. Curran immortalized 
the Irish evidence of the informer 
Reynolds, in 1798, who sat here 
a few months as a Grand Juror, 
to receive the testimony of the 
informer Castle, and assisted in 
finding indictments fo* high 
treason against Watson. Who 
will wonder that an honest up¬ 
right Jury pronounced a verdict 
of acquittal on the trial ? 1 shall 
further notice the informer Rey¬ 
nolds ; but before l do so, 1 
extract from tire Examiner of 
Sunday last an admirable scene il¬ 
lustrative of the Borou(fhmongers > 
cpnduct on that, event:— 

It would have been curious to 
see how he received the news of the 
acquittal. Let us see, after passing 
the* morning as usual—after having 
breakfasted at his case, looked about 
him, glanced at his pictures, admired 
his screens, pinched his geraniums, 
yawned at his slippers, viewed his 
rents, heard his Secretary on his bo¬ 
roughs, advised people to go to work 
who could get none, walked or ridden 
about bis grounds, set traps for pale- 
faced pickers of sticks, and subscribed 
to the Bible Society, cursed poor 
rates, petitions and reformers, looked 
after the requsite perjuries for the 
next election, made some calls on 
horseback, or in his carriage, laughed, 
bowed, smirked, cringed, frowned, 
gossipped, and dressed, he sits down 
with a few select friends, including 
his representative in Parliament, to 
the pretty little miscellany, yclcped 
<c every thing in season.” They eat 
fish, they eat flesh, they drink soup, 
wine, liqueurs ; they tattle, they talk 
of imaginary distresses of the people, 
of the transition from war to peace. 


[713 

of the atrocities committed against 
baker’s loaves, of young Watson and 
Platt, of the other Watson and 
Preston, and the diabolical views of 
the Spenceans; of the necessity of 
putting down all such enthusiasts, 
even if their intentions (here they all 
look round at each other and laugh), 
even if their intentions are good ; of 
the shocking things said against Chris¬ 
tianity by the French philosophers ; 
of the necessity of wars (that is to 
say, legitimate ones), perjuries, in¬ 
formers, great wealth and great po¬ 
verty ; of the uses and rights of 
luxury ; of the abominable getting of 
children by fellows who have not even 
a comfort in life; of the inevitable 
return of their friend to Parliament 
by means of the faggots; and of t he 
equally inevitable -conviction of the 
aforesaid Watson, and his accom¬ 
plices. By this time, the cloth is re¬ 
moved; the pines, ices, undBurgundy 
placed on the table; a nevy footman, 
who comes in, is told not to bring 
such filthy things there (meaning a 
tattered petition from a sailor); and 
a window of the room is thrown open 
to admit the refreshing airs through 
a green-house. Enter Jack So-and-so 
—an humble servant of his Lordship. 

Lord. Ah, Jack! What brings you 
here at this time of day ? What, are 
you just up, man, and taken seven 
o’clock for one } 

Toad-eater at table.—Ah, ha ! ha ! 
— (Asi^e to another.) His Lordship, 
though a man of depth, is really so 
droll! 

Other Toad eater. Ah, ha ! ha !—.. 
Prodigious ! 

(Here Jack shakes his head.) 

Lord. Why, what’s the matter. 
Jack ! Have you found any thing in 
your head, that you shake it so ? 

0nines. Ah, ha! ha! 

Toad-eater. Really, my dear Lord, 
you must consider, while we are 
eating these excellent ices. It gives 
one a pain in the cheeks. 

Jack. Ah, my Lord, you may 
laugh : but what d’ye think ? 






713] June 28, 1817. £714 


Lord. Think, Jack? Why, that 
you have lost the plate, or broken the 
horse’s knees, or want your dinner, 
or something. 

Jack (bowing and seating him¬ 
self.) I thank your Lordship for 
your compliment to my public spirit— 
Watson’s acquitted. 

Onines (open-mouthed, and sus¬ 
pending their slices of pine). Watson 
acquitted ! 

Lord. No, no ; he’s joking.— 
Come, come. Jack; this won't do. 
You might as well say that I^ord 
Castlekeagii’s the author of }Va- 
verley. 

Toad-eater (stifling a laugh.) Your 
Lordship is really so prodigious. 

. Lord (sweeping his eye gravely 
round the table.) Not that I mean, 
you know, of course, that my Lord 
Castlereagh couldn't write Waverley. 

Omnes. Of course not oh, of 
course. Great man. Lord Castle- 

reaoii ;-great man ; prodigious 

speaker :—but he hasn’t leisure for 
writing. 

Lord. Just so.—Well, hut. Jack ; 
what’s this about Watson ? YourV. 
not serious, are you ? 

Jack. My Lord, it’s a fact. I was 
there myself; and the Court was so 
hot;—this is the fifth ice I’ve eaten 
to day on the strength of it. Wat¬ 
son’s acquitted, and so are the rest. 
That fellow Castle over-did his work 
horribly, that’s certain. IlqbeatFhZ- 
staff. He said at one time there were 
thirty soldiers in a place, and it turned 
out there were but two. 

Lord. Whaf a fool! But that’s 
the worst of those informers ; 
they’ve no decency. There’s Rey¬ 
nolds now. Reynolds is a useful sort 
or fellow in the main, and has done 
a good deal for his pay;— the cla¬ 
mour against him is quite shocking ; 
—but then he has no decency.—Well, 
this is a bad business, Jack ! And a 
Special Jury too ! I never expected 
this from a Special Jury. Why, if 
they won’t condemn such fellows as 
hese., whom will they ? Upon my 


honour, we must look about us, and 
stir briskly at the next election. Yet 
I suppose now the old cry about the 
Boroughmongers, as they call them, 
will be louder than ever, and that 

they’ll pretend-they’ll pretend- 

in short, God knows what they'll 
pretend, and what these new symp¬ 
toms will come to. There’s one good 
thing, however; to-morrow’s the Wa- 
terloo Anniversary; and the proces¬ 
sion with the Duke of Wellington 
in it, must have an effect—a great 
effect, I should think, eh Jack ? 

Jack (shaking his head and pass¬ 
ing the Burgundy.) Ah, my Lord, 
I don’t know that either. The 
People, somehow or other, have got 
a notion that they were choused in 
that business—your Lordship knows 
what I mean—they talk about Nor¬ 
way, and Poland, and Saxony, and 
forcing Louis on the French, and God 
knows what, and fancy that the 
Allies ought to have— 

Lord. Curse that peal aboutPoland 
and Saxony, and all of them! The 
jacobin newspapers never give us any 
thing eke. It rings in one’s ears just 
as the bells did in Whittington’s— 

‘ c Turn again Whittington”*— 

i( Poland and Saxony.’' 

Jack. Aye, and the citizens seem 
as full of the one now as they are o£ 
the other. 

Lord. Aye, there again ; and the 
Lord Mayor has got into the House 
too—one of your impartial men, for¬ 
sooth ! Ami Bubdett speaks again 
to’night about that rascal the voter, 
who refused to give back my Lord 
Lonsdale’s property. Well;—ring 
the bell, Jack, for coffee. 1 must go 
down to the House to help the Sus¬ 
pension Bill; and to-morrow for 
Waterloo." 

In this way, and by such per¬ 
sonages, we are swindled out of 
our liberties. Castle, it is true, 
is not exactly the man to put his 
knees under the dinner table of 
a borough proprietor ; but be is 




7151 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [716 


an useful auxiliary, when open 
treason is meditated upon the 
Constitution-^—worthy of ail en¬ 
couragement from the traitors, 
and may fairly claim to be upon 
the pension list, as well as the in¬ 
former Reynolds. They are a 
noble pair— Castle not quite 
up to his trade, and Reynolds 
above it.: Reynolds has hung 
his men, and done his day’s 
work. Castle has not—at least, 
not that I know of; though I 
have heard it whispered that he 
lias claims for services performed 
some years ago, that have not 
been rewarded as he expected. 
Certainly it was not Castle’s 
fault that he did not hang Dr. 
Watson —he swore hard and fast 
-—it was his misfortune that tbe 
Jury would not believe him. I 
dare affirm, that if he is asked, 
lie will say he did his best; and 
that having received earnest, it 
is a hard thing people won’t 
keep their word. Here Mr. Rey¬ 
nolds might step in and assist a 
brother chip. He is every way 
qualified. Let us hear what Mr. 
Curran said of him, on the trial 
of Oliver Bond, for high treason, 
in the year 1798:— 

“ Mr. Reynolds, ” says Mr. 
Curran, “ has sworn that he was 
made a united Irishman by the 
prisoner at the bar.—Mr. Rey¬ 
nolds says, he was sworn to 
what lie considered to he the 
objects of that society—he stated 
them to you ; hut whether true 
or false is for you to determine, 
by the credit you may give to his 
testimony. 1'his is the third time 
Mr. Reynolds has appeared in a 
court of justice, to prosecute the 
prisoners. 

“ It has been the misfortune of 
many former jurors to have given 


their verdict founded upon the 
evidence of a pferjured witness, 
and on their death-bed they re¬ 
pented of their credulity, in con¬ 
victing a man upon false testi¬ 
mony ; the history of former ages 
is replete with such conduct, as 
may be seen in the state trials, 
in the case of Lord Kimbolton 
and TitusOates —the then jurors 
convicted that nobleman, but 
some time after his death, the 
jurors discovered they had given 
implicit credit to a witness un¬ 
worthy of it; and the lawyers of 
those times might have said “ I 
thank God they have done the 
deed. ”—Does not the history of 
human infirmity give many in¬ 
stances of this kind? Gentle¬ 
men, let me bring you more 
immediately to the case before 
you ; had we no evidence against 
Reynolds but his own solitary 
evidence; from the whole of his 
evidence, you cannot establish 
the guilt of the prisoner at the 
bar. 

“ See how many oaths Rey¬ 
nolds has taken; he admits he 
took two oj' the oaths of the obli¬ 
gations to the society of united 
Irishmen. He told you Lord 
Edward advised him to accept 
of being a colonel of Kildare 
united Irishmen’s army, and yet 
lie says, he afterwards went to 
Bond's, and Bond advised Rey¬ 
nolds to he a colonel. It ap¬ 
peared in evidence that Rey¬ 
nolds was treasurer; he took 
two more oaths , one as colonel, 
and one as treasurer, and he took 
the oath of allegiance also, and he 
took oath to the truth of his tes¬ 
timony, at the two former trials 
and at this; on which do you give 
him credit ? 

“ Mr. Reynolds has given you 




;i7], 


June 28, 1817. 


[7 


18 


a long account of a conversation 
he had with Mr. Cope, relative 
to the proceedings of the society 
of united Irishmen, and Mr. Cope 
said, if such a man could be 
found, as described by Mr. Rey¬ 
nolds, who would come forward 
and give information, he would 
deserve the epithet of saviour of 
liis countrythus by Reynolds’s 
evidence, it would seem that Mr. 
Cope was the little pony of re¬ 
pentance to drive away the gi¬ 
gantic crimes of the colossusR ey¬ 
nolds but remember, said Mr. 
Reynolds, though I give inform 
mation, I won’t sacrifice my mo¬ 
rality ; I won’t come forward to 
prosecute any united Irishman. 
No, no ; like a bashful girl, hig¬ 
gling about the price of her vir¬ 
ginity, I am determined, says 
Reynolds, to preserve my cha¬ 
racter—I will give the commu¬ 
nications, but do not think I will 
descend to be an informer— 1 1 
will acquaint you of every thing 
against the united Irishmen, but 
I must preserve my credit—I tell 
you the design of the united 
Irishmen is to overturn the Con¬ 
stitution—I will lead you to the 
threshold of discovery, but I 
won’t name any price for reward 
—pray don’t mention it at all. 
Says Mr. Cope, a man would 
deserve a thousand, or fifteen 
hundred a year, and a seat in 
Parliament, or any thing, if he 
could give the information you 
mention.—-No such thing is re¬ 
quired, no such thing, says Rey¬ 
nolds —you mistake me; I will 
have nothing in the world but 
merely a compensation for losses 
—do you think I would take a 
bribe ? I ask only of you to give 
me leave to draw a little bit of 
a note on you for live hundred 


guineas, only by - way of indem¬ 
nity, that is all, merely for indem¬ 
nity of losses I have sustained, or 
am liable to sustain. Gentlemen 
of the jury, don’t you see the vast 
distinction between a bribe and 
gratification ? What says Foi- 
uardV Consider my conscience, do 
you think I would take a bribe ? It 
would grieve my conscience if I 
was to take a bribe—-to be a 
Member of Parliament, and de¬ 
clare for the ayes or the noes— 
I will accept of no bribe—I will 
only take a little indemnity for 
claret that may be spilt; for a 
little furniture that may be de¬ 
stroyed ; for a little wear and 
tear, for boots and for shoes, for 
plate destroyed; for defraying 
the expenses of some pleasurable 
jaunts, when out of this country ; 
for if 1 become a public informer 
against the united Irishmen, and 
should edntinne here for some 
time, I may chance at some time 
to be killed by some of them—for 
I have sworn to be true to them, 
and l also took the oath of alle¬ 
giance to be true to my sove¬ 
reign—I have taken all sorts of 
oaths ; if I frequent the company 
of those who are loyal to the 
king, they will despise the man 
who broke his oath of allegiance; 
and between the loyalist and the 
united Irishmen, I may chance to 
be killed.—As I ain in the habit 
of living in the world, says Mr. 
Reynolds to Mr. Cope, you will 
give me leave to draw a bit of 
paper on you,only for three hun¬ 
dred guineas at present; it will 
operate like a bandage to a sore 
leg; though it won’t cure the 
sore, or the rottenness of the 
bone, it may hide it from the pub¬ 
lic view. I will, says Mr. Reyq 
nolds, newly be baptized for 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



draft of three hundred guineas, 
and become a public informer; 
and for a further bit of paper 
Only, for another two hundred 
guineas, yet I trust you will ex¬ 
cuse me, I will not positively take 
any more.—He might, I imagine, 
be compared to a bashful girl, 
find say, What, shall the brutal 
arms of man attack a Country 
iiiaid, and she not stipulate for 
full wages; when her gown 
shortens, and her apron bursts 
asunder, and she shrinks at the 
view of public prostitution ! per¬ 
haps he practised Upon her vir¬ 
tue, When she thought be was 
gaining' the affections of that in¬ 
nocent dupe in private.— Do you 
think that Reynolds would touch 
a bribe, and become an informer ? 
No-, no, he said he would be no 
informer—but did he not consent 
to do a little business in private 
;—and did he not get money for 
it? Perhaps he said, I thought 
to be no villain—I would not 
have the world think me a vil¬ 
lain, yet as I can confide in my¬ 
self, why should I mind what the 
world says of me, though it 
should call me a villain? But is 
it not a real fact ?—Even though 
I should become the talk of all 
the porter-houses, though \ 
should become the talk of all 
the tea-tables, yet perjury is not 
brought home to me.—No; no 
human being has knowledge of 
what is rankling within. Has 
it not been said, I was an honest 
man, to come upon the public 
board as a public informer?— 
They did call me an honest man, 
and a worthy, a respectable in¬ 
former; and thus my character is 
at bay. The world indeed heard 
of the progress of these crimes, 
and that I was, unfortunately, an 
United Irishman. 


“It is you who are the sole 
judges as to whom you will give 
credit to; but though you know 
this witness has given evidence 
on two former trials , and though 
the then jury did give credit to 
his testimony, yet you are not to 
determine on vour verdict on the 
faith or precedent of any former 
jurors, but you are to be solely 
guided by your own consciences; 
and you will observe we have had 
here two more wittnesses, to im¬ 
peach the character of Mr. Rey¬ 
nolds, that were not produced on 
the former trials, and you will no 
doubt, throw out of } our minds 
whatever did hot come this day 
before you in evidence* on the 
part of the prosecution; and 
which will come before you on 
the part of the prisoner’s defence* 
You will find your verdict flow¬ 
ing from conscious integrity* and 
from the feelings of honourable 
minds; notwithstanding the evi¬ 
dence of the witness, Mr* Rey¬ 
nolds, who has been examined 
upon the table, and whose tes¬ 
timony I need not repeat to you* 
Perhaps you may be inclined to 
think he is a perjured witness, 
perhaps you will not believe the 
story he has told against the pri¬ 
soner at the bar, and of his own 
turpitude: you will do well to 
consider it w^as through a per¬ 
jured witness, that a Russel and 
a Sydney were convicted in the 
reign of James II.—If juries are 
not circumspect to determine 
only by the evidence adduced 
before them, and not from any 
extraneous matter, nor from the 
slightest breath of prejudice, then 
what will become of our boasted 
trial by jury ; then what will be¬ 
come of our boasted Constitution? 
If you should, on the evidences 




721] June 28,1817. [722 


you have heard, condemn the 
prisoner to death, and; after¬ 
wards repent it, I shall not live 
among* you to trace any proof of 
your future repentance.—1 said 
I rose to tell you what evidences 
we had to produce on behalf of 
my client, the prisoner at the 
bar; we shall lay evidence be¬ 
fore you, from which you can 
infer, that the witness produced 
this day was a perjured man; 
we have only to show to.you, as 
honest men, that the witness is 
not deserving* of credit on his 
oath; w T e have nothing more to 
ofler on behalf of my client the 
prisoner at the bar.—It is your 
province to deliberate in your 
consciences on what evidence 
you have heard, and w hether you 
will believe the witness you have 
heard, on his oath, or not.—Let 
me ask, w ill you, upon the evi¬ 
dence you have heard, take away 
the life of the prisoner at the bar, 
separate him from his wife and 
from his little children for ever? 
I told you I was to state to you 
the evidences which we had to 
bring* forward on behalf of my 
unfortunate client; I tell you it 
is to discredit the testimony of 
Mr. Reynolds ; when you have 
heard our evidences to this point, 
I cannot suppose you will give 
your verdict to doom to death 
the unhappy and unfortunate 
prisoner at the bar, and entail 
infamy onliis posterity. We will 
also produce respectable wit¬ 
nesses to the hitherto unim¬ 
peached character of the prisoner 
at the bar, and prove that he was 
a man of fair honest character; 
you, gentlemen of the jury, have 
yourselves known him a number 
of years in this city; let me ask 
you, do you not know that the 


prisoner at the bar has always 
borne the character of a man of 
integrity, and of honest fame ? 
and, gentlemen of the jury, I call 
upon you to answer my question 
by your verdict.-*-1 feel myself 
imprest with the idea in my 
breast, that you will give your 
verdict of acquittal of the pri¬ 
soner at the bar; and that by 
your verdict you will declare 
on your oaths, that you do not 
believe one syllable that Mr. 
Reynolds has told you. Let me 
entreat you to put in one scale, 
the base, the attainted, the un¬ 
founded, the perjured witness; 
and in the opposite scale, let me 
advise you to put the testimony 
of the respectable w itnesses pro¬ 
duced against Mr. Reynolds, and 
the witnesses on the prisoner’s 
hitherto unimpeached character; 
and you will hold the balances 
with justice, tempered with 
mercy, as your consciences in 
future will approve.’* 

Mr. Curran prefaced these re¬ 
marks to the Jury on Oliver 
Bond’s trial, by saying, “ You 
have heard Reynolds’s testi¬ 
mony; let me ask, do you think 
him incapable of being a villain ? 
Do you think him to be a villain? 
You observed with what kind of 
pride he gave his testimony. Do 
you believe his evidence by the 
solemn oath that you have taken? 
or do you believe it w r as a blasted 
perjury? Can you give credit 1 
to any man of a blasted cha* 
racter ? ” 

So much for Mr. Reynolds, 
who was late Post-master at Lis¬ 
bon—was lately intended to be 
representative of Ministers at 
Malta—is now a Pensioner of 
£1200. on the Irish establish¬ 
ment, with reversion to his wife 




723} 

and children-and doubtless 

awaits further proofs of gratitude 
from his employers, at the ex¬ 
pense of the People l 

Perceiving that Ministers are 
hastening the re-suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act, 1 thus 
publicly state my firm conviction, 
that undue measures have be n 
taken to. excite disturbance 
throughout the country, and pro¬ 
duce what a certain Noble Lord 
would call a premature explosion, 
as a pretext for the gradual sub¬ 
version of our constitutional 
rights and liberties. I shall re¬ 
late one or two facts in support of 
this opinion. 

Mr. Wooler, who is here in 
confinement with me, in a letter 
which appeared in the Mornhuj 
Chronicle fast Monday, stated, 
that Oliver the informer called 
on him shortly after his commit¬ 
ment to this prison, to induce 
him to put in bail, and go down 
into the country, in order to fur¬ 
ther insurrectionary movements; 
and next to obtain him to print 
bills for the same purpose; in 
both which objects he failed. 
From the description Mr. Wooler 
gives me of this man, I am per¬ 
suaded that he visited me about 
the same time. I was confined to 
my bed from illness, when he en- 
tered my room, expressing sor¬ 
row at my situation. He said he 
came from the country; that every 
thing was in a very bad state ; 
the people greatly distressed; 
the whole population of some 
districts ripe for any thing; and 
that with leaders and proper en¬ 
couragement, they would inevi¬ 
tably overwhelm the Government. 
He strongly recommended per¬ 
sons who were objects of perse¬ 
cution, or likely to become so, to 


[724 

turn round on the Government at 
once, and crush it. I told him 
that however distress might pre¬ 
vail, there was an immense mass 
of knowledge diffused through¬ 
out the country, and I was as¬ 
sured, that patience and right 
thinking would induce those 
who felt the most pressure to at¬ 
tempt constitutional means only 
for redressing their grievances. 
He replied, by urging the neces¬ 
sity of immediate action, and 
that it was an opportunity not to 
be missed; and he particularly 
represented that it could do no 
harm to encourage the People a 
little to come to London in 
bodies, and show their strength. 
He asked me if I had ever been 
at Birmingham, or other manu¬ 
facturing towns, where the work¬ 
men were unemployed ? I told. 
him no. He then inquired, if I 
knew any body at Birmingham, 
or Liverpool, or Leeds, as he was 
going to make a journey, and 
would be glad to take letters for 
me, or visit any of my friends at 
either place? To this I observed, 
that he was a stranger to me, 
that I could not think of troub¬ 
ling him with mere letters of 
business, which I was then too ill 
to write; that I never had any 
secrets, or entertained sentiments 
beyond those which I had fre- 
uently expressed in print; and 
deprecated all attempts to fur¬ 
ther invite or goad the People to, 
acts which would endanger the 
public safety. He attempted, 
with much ingenuity and suavity, 
to reason down what he called 
my scruples and want of confi¬ 
dence, which he said prevented 
public men from uniting to obtain 
a complete victory over the Go¬ 
vernment. I was then obliged to 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 




7*25] 


June 28, 18.17. 


tell him that he had mistaken his 


pa? 


stroyed as, soon as I recived ;1 


man, and that he could be no 
friend to the People or to me, 
who recommended such mea¬ 
sures. He contrived to prolong 
the conversation a considerable 
time, very dexterously feeling his 
way, and returning to his points, 
interlarding his remarks with 
praise and flattery. I at length 
informed him 1 was too ill to talk 
much, which he met by saying*, 
that though I did not know him, 
he would soon satisfy me who lie 
was; that he knew several of my 
friends, and would convince me, 
that when he called again I might 
trust him ; and said he was going 
to call ou Mr. Wooler in an ad¬ 
joining staircase, and inquired if 
i knew him. He further in- 
uired if I was generally alone, 
ended by telling him, I had no 
friends who would act in the way 
he described, and that if he called 
again, I should have a third per¬ 
son present. He took his leave 
witli great civility, and many pro¬ 
fessions of regard, and I saw him 
no more. As I stated before, lie 
fully answered Mr. Wooler’s 
description of Oliver. I forgot 
to mention, that he told me he 
wanted several thousand politi¬ 
cal bills printed, which he said 1 
should do. I wholly declined the 
offer, or even to look at the ma¬ 
nuscript, which he said was not 
quite finished. 

Previous to my confinement, I ! 
had several strangers call on me, 
who held violent language, and 
who, I am well persuaded, were 
emissaries to entrap me. I always 
manifested my disp'easure to such 
persons, and desired them to 
withdraw. I have received 
bushels of manuscripts, of very 
dangerous tendency, which I dc- 


some much to the displeasure of 
those who afterwards claimed 
them. One manuscript was of 
so peculiar a description, that I 
shall describe how it cyme into 
my hands, what it was, and how 
1 disposed of it. It is not my 
fault tliat it is not in the green 
bag now lying on the table of 
the House. If it is, I hope mca&s 
have been taken by the Suspen¬ 
sion Committee to discover the 
author. 

On Saturday, the 22d of March, 
about eight in the evening, I re¬ 
ceived a letter by the two-penny 
post, signed with initials. It 
stated the necessity of immedi¬ 
ately adopting measures to sho e 
Government the strength ef the 
People ; for which purpose it re ¬ 
quested that I would cause se¬ 
veral thousand copies of a NO, 
the manuscript of which was in¬ 
closed, to be printed immediately! 
as a poster, or placard. 1 was, 
assured that i should receive 
liberal payment for them, and 
was directed to send them off 
by different conveyances, so that 
they might reach every part of 
the kingdom on the same day. 
it mentioned particular towns 
to which they most especially 
should be sent. They were to 
be forwarded to every person 
throughout the country, whom 1 
might know or suppose to be 
j likely to dispose of them as di¬ 
rected; and where names could 
not be collected, it was requested 
they might be forwarded to 
venders of blacking, or other 
agents of small wares, or persons 
keeping similar shops in every 
town. Each of these persons was 
to be requested to take charge 
of the bills, and post them up 





£27] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [728 


befofe sun-rise on a day named. 
The posting-bill was an address 
to the People, acquainting them 
that the whole nation would be 
in arms on the same day, namely, 
on the 7th of April, by the in¬ 
habitants of each parish meet¬ 
ing in their respective church¬ 
yards, on that day, armed with a 
pike, and a small sword, or dag¬ 
ger—most minute instructions 
for making which instruments 
were given in the bill: and thus 
armed, every man was required 
to remain at the place of meeting 
for one hour, and then return 
home. Figures of the .arms were 
very neatly drawn in the manu¬ 
script, and required to be en¬ 
graved on wood, to he inserted 
in the hill. 

This hill, and the instructions 
to myself, were circumstantially 
drawn up, at great length, and 
copied in a neat law hand. Con¬ 
ceiving' as I still do, that this 
communication was a wicked 
plan to entrap me, J put the 
papers in my pocket, and imme¬ 
diately went down to the ollice 
of the Secretary of State, at the 
Treasury. No officer of the es¬ 
tablishment was in attendance, 
but I was informed there, that 
Mr. Beckett, the Under Secre¬ 
tary, lived in GreatGeorge-street, 
where,I went; but finding him 
at dinner, I retired to Ireson’s 
hotel, until ten o'clock, when his 
servant said lie would leave the 
dinner table. At that hour I 
sent in a signed note to Mr. 
Beckett, requesting to see him, 
and he received me in die par¬ 
lour, saying, “ What business can 
ou have with me, Mr. Hone V 9 
told him I had just before 
received a letter by the two¬ 
penny post, inclosing a paper 


which I considered dangerous to 
possess, and desired to put both 
letter and paper into his keeping. 
He read each of them delibe¬ 
rately, as soon as he had done 
which I departed—no further con¬ 
versation taking place. 

Having thus presented the 
papers to the Under Secretary of 
State, which if found in my pos¬ 
session might have subjected me 
to I know not what suspicion, 
imprisonment, and punishment, 
I was surprised to find that the 
attempts of this instigator, who 
had endeavoured to entrap me, 
were renewed upon other per¬ 
sons. 

On the 17th of April, ten days 
after that whereon, according to 
the hill sent to me, the nation 
was to have been in arms, Messrs. 
Hay and Turner, printers, of 
Newcastle-street,Strand, received 
a hill of like import, appointing 
the arming of the nation for 
Sunday, the 4th of May. Their 
hill was much shorter than mine, 
unaccompanied by diagrams or 
figures, and is as follows:— 

~ (Copy) 

« BRITONS, 

“ Petitioning avails you nothing. 
The Ministers say you are disaffected, 
and that the meetings to petition for 
Reform have been under pretext for 
treasonable purposes. You were un¬ 
armed, and obeyed the laws; yet 
your liberties are at an end. There 
is now only one way left you, and 
that is, to show them, with arms in 
your hands, that you can be obedient 
to the laws. The whole nation will 
assemble on Sunday, the 4th May, at 
live minutes past nine in the morn¬ 
ing, each parish at its own church¬ 
yard, armed as follows :— 

“ ARMS. 

(< Take a stick like a broom handle. 




729] June 28,1S17. [730 


nine feet long; bore a hole at the 
top, and fill it with rosin; take the 
blade of a strong dinner-knife, heat 
the shaft of it, and put it in the hole 5 
when cool, it will be fixed, the same 
as in a knife-handle, and make an ex¬ 
cellent pike :-the knife must be 

pointed. Each man should have a 
belt, and a good-sized carving-knife 
therein, as a sword. Being armed 
thus, meet as above 5 and exactly *as 
the clock strikes ten, disperse, and go 
quietly hom'e. You will be surprised 
the effect this proceeding will have ; 
but should it fail in the effect, our 

countrymen will hear further from 
* 

us. 

The following* is the letter sent 
to Messrs. Hay and Turn mi with 
tiie bill. It differs from that sent 
to me, inasmuch as it directs 
them to forward the printed bills 
to a Mi. Nicholas, an attorney, 
No. 2,9, Beanett-street, Stamford- 
street, Blackfriars-road:— 

(Copy) 

et Sirs, 

t( Some friends of reform and li¬ 
berty have determined on coercing 
Ministers, or rather frightening them 
into reason ; and intend to circulate 
through the country the enclosed 
bills i—no harm can arise from them, 
but some good ; as they will show 
Government what the People are ca¬ 
pable of, if not relieved. We have 
raised a subscription ; and if you will 
print a few thousand of the bills, we 
will, on your sending them to Mr. 
Nicholls, 29, Bennett-street, Stam- 
ford-street, Biackfriars-road, send 
you 101. per thousand. As some 
danger under the Suspension Act at¬ 
tends the matter, you will see the 
propriety of our not giving our 
names; nor will it be prudent in 
you to Jet your;> appear. Mr. N. 
need pot know from whom they 
rorne. Seal them up, and write pri¬ 
vate on the parcel, 


“ Bet, Mr. N. have them at latest 
on Monday.—Be secret. 

“ Yours, 

" G. F. B. & C. 

" 17 April , 1817.” 

On receiving the letter and 
bill, Messrs. Hay and Turner 
addressed a note to Mr. Nicholls, 
designedly telling him they bail 
received an order for some bills 
to be addressed to him, and re- 
questing the 101. to be remitted, 
previous to their proceeding to 
print. Hearing nothing from. 
Mr. Nicholls, they had almost 
forgotten the matter, until nearly 
a week afterwards, when it oc¬ 
curred to them that it was per¬ 
haps dangerous to keep this 
paper, and they went to Sir N, 
Con a nt, at Bow-street, w ho re¬ 
commended such an application 
to Mr. Nicholls as they had ab 
ready made, and sent them to 
the Secretary of State’s, where 
they were introduced to Mr, 
Noble, one of the senior clerks, 
who took charge of the papers, 
and said they should see Lord 
Sidmouth. He left them in an 
antichamber. About ten minutes 
afterwards a person entered the 
room, and sat down with Messrs, 
Hay and Turner in silence. 
This person was presently fami¬ 
liarly beckoned into another 
room, by a servant in waiting, and 
was immediately closeted with 
Lord Sidmouth. Messrs. Hay 
and Turner waited upwards of 
an hour in vain, expecting him 
to come out; and, from other 
engagements, • were obliged to 
leave the office, without see¬ 
ing his Lordship. To their as¬ 
tonishment they afterwards dis¬ 
covered this person to be Mr. 
Nicholas, the attorney, of No. 29, 
Ben a e tt-sti ee t, Staffer d-str ee 





* 


31] 


Hoke's Reformists’ Register. 


[732 


Blackfriars-road, to whom. they 
were to have sent the bill's! 

Letters mid posting-bills to the 
like effect were also received by 
Mr. Harvey, a printer, of Black- 
iriars-road ; by Mr. Molineux, a 
printer, of Bream’s- buildings, 
Chancery-lane; and by several 
other printers. The bills were 
requested to be sent to the same 
Mr. Nicholes, the Attorney, te 
whom Messrs. Hay and Turner 
w ere to hare > ent theirs, and w hom 
they left closeted with Lord 
bioMourn, His Majesty’s Princi¬ 
pal Secretary of State for the 
' Home Department! 

Perhaps some Member of Par¬ 
liament will inquire into these 
facts, all which 1 will prove, or 
afford him means of proving. 
There appears to have been a de¬ 
liberate plan to ensnare persons 
connected with the press: I say 
a plan to ensnare us; because it 
must be recollected, that though 
so far back as the 22d of March 
i gatfe the Under Secretary of 
State the paper which affected to 
announce a rising on the 7th of 
April; and though Messrs. Hay 
anti Turner about a month after¬ 
wards deposited their announce¬ 
ment of the rising for the 4lh of 
May ; yet the Reports of the two 
Houses, which notice various 
intended risings, do not men- 
tion either to have been de¬ 
signed to take place on those 
days. Is it possible that the em¬ 
ployment of spies and informers, 
now unbiushingly avowed, has 
subjected us to such dreadful 
machinations as these? 1 firmly 
believe it has. Having escaped 
rhe insidious and horrible attacks 
of concealed incendiaries, surely 
in a prison, and under three 
(Government prosecutions, men 


might suppose themselves secure 
from further persecution; and yet 
Oliver’s attempt to entrap Mr. 
Wooler, and the like attempt 
made on me, I believe by the 
same man, show the unrelenting’ 
earnestness with which these 
wretches prosecute their cruel 
purposes. Surely, surely, we 
have a right to supplicate ven¬ 
geance on those who thirst after 
innocent blood. 

I did)' attended the nomination 
of three* Special Juries, at the 
Crow n Office ; and I am told, on 
Monday next, I shall be called 
on to attend there to reduce each 
Jury, which is now 48, to a panel 
of 21, This morning, however, 
I have caused the following 
protest to be delivered to the 
Master of the Crown-Office:— 

(Copy) 

“ IN THE king’s bench. 

<( The King against William Hone. 

“ Understanding that the book or 
list from which the Special Juries have 
been nominated by you, as Master of 
the Crown Office, to try the issues on 
the three ex-officio informations filed 
against me by the Attorney-General, 
is imperfectly and illegally construct¬ 
ed ; 1, the above named Defendant, 
do hereby protest against the Juries so 
nominated, and against all proceed¬ 
ings to try the said issues before the 
said Juries. As witness my hand, this 
2 ntli Day of June, 18 J 7. 

“ William Hone, 

<e King’s Bench Prison.” 

“ To S. Lushington, Esq. 

“ Master of the Crown Office. 

f ‘ Witness, T. J. Wooler, 

C. Clarke,” 

My next sheet will probably 
enable me to state the grounds 
for tliproceeding'. Mr. Wooler 
was*kind enough to deliver the 
notice to the Master of the Crow n-. 





June 28, 1817. [734 

house of bond^^6 worse than that of 


733J 

Office, when he went this morn¬ 
ing to strike the Jury for his new 
ttial; which Jury was struck 
from twenty seven books, pro¬ 
duced for that purpose by order 
of the Sheriffs. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

King’s Bench Prison? 

No. 2 i?i'No. 7. 

26th June, 1817. 


LIBERTY, 

BV 

WILLIAM COW PER, Esq . 

See the Task, Book 5. 


I insert these elegant lines at 
the especial request of a kind and 
intelligent correspondent. 

W. H. 


i( ITkose freedom is by suff’ranee, and 
at will 

Of a superior , he is never free. 

Who lives, and is not weary of a life 

Expos’d to manacles, deserves them well. 

The state, that strives for liberty, though 
foil’d. 

And forc’d to abandon what she bravely 

9 

sought, 

Deserves, at least, applause for her at¬ 
tempt, 

And pity for her loss. But that's a cause 

Not often unsuccessful: pow’r usurp’d 

Is weakness when oppos’d j conscious of 
wrong, 

’Tis pusillanimous and prone to flight. 

But slaves, that once conceive the glowing 
thought 

Of freedom, in that hope itself possess 

All that the contest calls for; spirit, 
strength, 

The scorn of danger, and united hearts ; 

The surest presage of the good they seek. 

“ Then shame to manhood, and oppro¬ 
brious more 

To France than all her losses and defeats/ 
Old or of later date, by sea or land, 


old 

Which God aveng’d on Pharaoh—the 
Bastille. 

Ye horrid tow’rs, th’ abode of broken 
hearts ; 

Ve dungeons and ye cages of despair, 

That monarchs have supplied from age to 
age 

With music, such as suits their scv’reign 
ears, 

The sighs and groans of miserable men ! 
There's not an English heart that would 
not leap. 

To hear that ye were fall’n at last; * to 
know 

That ev’n our enemies, so oft employ’d 
In forgiDg chains for us, themselves were 
free. 

For he, who values liberty , confines 
His zeal for her predominance within 
No narrow bounds ; her cause engages him 
Wherever pleaded. ’Tis the cause of man. 
There dwell the most forlorn of human¬ 
kind. 

Immur'd though unaccus'd, condemn'd un - 
tried. 

Cruelly spar'd, and hopeless of escape. 
There, like the visionary emblem seen 
By him of Babylon, life stands a stump. 

And, Allotted about with hoops of brass, 
Still lives, though all his pleasant boughs 
are gone. 

To count the hour-bell and expect no 
change ; 

And ever, as the sullen sound is heard. 

Still to reflect, that, though a joyless note 
To him whose moments all have one dull 
pace. 

Ten thousand rovers in the world at large 
Account it music ; that it summons some 
To theatre, or jocund feast, or ball: 

The wearied hireling finds it a release 
From labour j and the lover, who has chid 
Its long delay, feels ev’ry welcome stroke 
Upon his heart-strings, trembling with de¬ 
light— 

To fly for refuge from distracting thought 
To such amusements, as ingenious wo 
Contrives, hard-shifting, and without her 
tools— 

To read engraven on the mpuldy walls, 

* This was written before the destruc¬ 
tion of the Bastille, in 178D-—Eo. 


♦ 


/ 









735] Hone’s .Reformists’ Register. [736 


In starring types, his predecessor’s tale, 
A sad memorial, and subjoin htsbtvflP- 
To turn purveyor so an overgorg’d 
And bloated spider, till the pamper’d pest 
2 s made familiar, watches his approach, 
tomes at his call, and staves him for a 
friend— 

To wear out tunc in numb'ring to and fro 
The scuds, that thick emboss his iron door; 
Then downward and then upward, then 
aslant 

And then alternate; with a sickly hope 
By dint of change to give his tasteless task 
Some relish ; till the sum exactly found 
In all directions, he begins again — 

O, comfortless existence ! hemm’d around 
With woes, which who that suffers would 
not kneel 

And beg for exile, or the pangs of death ? 
That man should thus encroach on fellow- 
man, , 

Abridge him of his just and native rights, 
Eradicate him , tear him from Ids hold 
Upon th* endearments of domestic life 
And social, nip Ids fruitfulness and use, 
And doom him,for perhaps a heedless word, 
To barrenness, and solitude, and tears, 
Moves indignation, makes the name of 
' king [please) 

(Of king, whom such prerogative can 
As dreadful as the Manichean god, 

Ador’d through fear, strong only to de¬ 
stroy. 

“ ’Tis liberty alon£, that gives the flow’r 
Of fleeting life its iustre and perfume ; 

And we are weeds without it. All con¬ 
straint. 

Except what wisdom lays on evil men, 

Is evil: hurts the faculties, impedes 
Their progress in the road of science ; 
blinds 

The eyesight of discov’ry ; and begets, 

In those that suffer it, a sordid mind, 
Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit 
To he the tenant of man’s noble form. 

Thee therefore still, blameworthy as thou 
. art, [squeez’d 

With all thy loss of empire, and though 
By public exigence, till annual food 
Fails for the craving hunger of the state, 
Thee I aecoqnt still happy, and the clpef 
Among the nations, seeing thou art free ; 
My native nook of earth ! Thy clime is 
rude, 

Pceplete with vapours, and disposes much 
All hearts to sadness, and none more than 
mine : 

Thine unadulterate manners are less soft 


And plausible than social life requires. 

And thou hast need of discipline and art. 
To give thee what politer France receives 
From nature’s bounty—that humane ad¬ 
dress 

And sweetness, without which no plea¬ 
sure is 

In converse, either starv’d by cold reserve, 
Or flush’d with fierce dispute, a senseless 
brawl. 

Yet, being free, I love thee : for the sake 
Of that one feature, can be well content, 
Disgrac’d as thou hast been, poor as thou 
art, 

To seek no sublunary rest beside. 

But once enslav’d, farewell! I could en~> 
dure \Jwme, 

Chains no where patiently; and chains at 
IE here I am free by birthright, not at all. 
Then what were left of roughness in the 
grain 

Of British natures, wanting it’s excuse 
That it belongs to freemen, would disgust 
And shock me. I should then with dou¬ 
ble pain 

Feel all the rigour of thy fickle clime; 

And, if I must bewail the blessing lost. 

For which our Hampdens and our Sidneys 
bled, 

I would at least bewail it under skies 
Milder, among a people less austere ; 

In scenes, which having never known me 

free, 

Would not reproach me with the loss I felt. 
Do I forbode impossible events, 

And tremble at vain dreams? Hcav’n 
grant I may ! 

But th' age of virtuous politics is past , 

And we are deep in that of cold pretence. 
Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere , 
And we too wise to trust them. He that 
takes 

Deep in his soft credulity the stamp 
Design’d by loud declaimers on the part 
Of liberty, themselves the slaves of lust, 
Incurs derision for his easy faith, 

And lack of knowledge , 1 and with cause 
enough : 

For when was public virtue to be found, 
Where private was not ? Can he love the 
whole, 

Who loves no part? He be a nation’s 
friend, 

Who is in truth the friend of no man there ? 
Can he be strenuous in his country’s cause, 
W ho slights the charities, for whose dear 
sake 

That country, if at all, must be belov’d ?” 


London t Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
L<jd gate Hill ; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed; 
and sold at 55, Fleet Street—Price Two-Pence each, 12$. per litipdied. or 51, 10sl 
pr Thousand, 








Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 24.] Saturday, July 5, 1817. [Vol. I. 

-- r t utpMU '''■■* m — ■ ■ « ■ . — —■ . - - -j ' .. — 


MY LIBERATION 

FROM PRISON. 


TToic my Imprisonment terminated— 
The Crown abandons its Special Ju¬ 
lies— Various Surmises why— Names 
and Addresses of the 1 44 Special Ju- 
rymen— Mr.WooLER’s Liberation— 
My own—My Sensations on leaving 
my Prison — The Surry Hills and Im¬ 
prisonment—Villany and Misfortune 

-Re-suspension of the Habeas 

Corpus Act —Remarks of the Exa¬ 
miner— Mr. Bennett — Mr, Barham 
— Lord Nugent—Mr. Macdonald— 
Sir F. Burdett — Solitary Confinement 
of the Evanses in Surry Gaol—Mr. 
Home Sumner s Account of the Man- 
ner in which Evans can sec the Surry 
Hills—A Lord and a Lickspittle— 
Trench's Description of his Confine¬ 
ment— Fortitude of Innocent Men, 
imprisoned under Mr. Pitt's Suspeji- 
sion. 

Sir R. Phillips's Golden Rules for Ju¬ 
rymen. 

I am now at home. I was this 
morning' released from prison, 
after being confined from the 
3d day of May. 

I stated in my last Register, 
that a protest against the three 
special Juries nominated to try 
the Attorney-General’s ex-officio 
informations against me was de¬ 
livered to the Master of the 
Crown-Office. This occasioned 
a letter from Mr. Litchfield, 
Solicitor to the Treasury, inti¬ 
mating, that in consequence of 
such 'protest, the Crown would 
waive the Special Juries so no¬ 


minated, and proceed to obtain 
an appointment of the Master of 
the Crown-Office, for the nomi¬ 
nation of other Juries in their 
stead. 117*?/ the Crown waived 
their Special Juries will per¬ 
haps, hereafter, as the lawyers 
say, “ more fully and at large 
appear.” In the mean time, 
people wonder and inquire how 
all this has happened; they never 
heard of an Attorney-General or 
Solicitor to the Treasury consent¬ 
ing to have fresh Special Juries 
selected in the room of those 
already appointed, merely be¬ 
cause the Defendant objected to 
them; and they inquire the reason 
of it. They conceive that I have 
done very wrong in protesting- 
against Special Juries, which the 
Crown Lawyers immediately give 
up, as soon as my protest makes 
its appearance. They suppose 
that the Crown w r ould never 
consent to my liaving new Juries, 
unless such Juries are likely to 
be less advantageous to me than 
the old ones; and thus my friends 
alarm themselves, and hope 1 
have not done a bad thing for 
myself. They imagine that this 
easy compliance of Mr. Attorney- 
General is a mere trap he has let 
me fall into, that I may be more 
securely at his mercy. But whe¬ 
ther this be so or not, the reader 
shall judge for himself. I will 
give the lists of the three Special 
Juries so consented to be waived* 
They are as follow;— 


rriulctl by aim! for W, Hone,' W, CM Bailey, London. 



















730] 


Host's Reformists’ Register. 


[740 


(Copy) . 

London —Names of the Special Jurors 
between out Sovereign Lord the King 
and William Hone— c Wilkeg’s 
Catechism.' 

1. 

WILLIAM KEY, 

Abchnr ck-lane. 

2 . 

‘ SOLOMON PElL, 

IdoFhme. 

- j i !i •';i *i ■. g . • -.. 

THOMAS ABBOT GREEN, 
Ludgate-street. 

•' . 4 t 

GEDDES MACKENZIE SIM?- 
< •• SON, t 

Tower-street. 

\ ► j . „ • t r, [ . ■ ’ ( ; ? t } * A * 'f • 

v D ANIEL JONES, 

\ Ncwgate-strcet. 

■ 6 . 

JOHN EDE, 
i KingVarms-yard. 

7. . 

SAMUEL STRATTON, 
Great St. Helens. 

! 8 

JOHN ORB, 

Lower Thames^street. 

9. 

• WILLIAM HUNT, 

117, Bislippsgate-strcet. 

10. ' 

JOHN AD'DINELL, 

B ishop.sgate-street. 

11. 

JOHN HANCOCK, 
Bread-street-hill. 

12 . 

ROBERT STEVEN, 

Upper Thames-street. 

13. 

GEORGE HENCKELL, 
Austin Friars. 

14. 

. .WILLIAM JAMESON, 
Lawrencc-Pouxitney-lane. 

15. 

CHARLES ENDERBY, 
Earl-street. 


16. 


RICHARD DEBAUFRE, 
Coleman-street. 

17. 

JAMES VINE, 
Size-lane, 

18. 

WILLIAM WHITWORTH, 
CornhilL 

19. 

THOMAS MORTON, 
Lad-lane. 

20 . 

THOMAS TOWLE. 
Cripplegate-huildiugs. 

• 21 . 

WILLIAM WYLDE, 
Lawrence -Pountney-1 ane. 
oo 

-At w • 

WILLIAM BROOKS GARDI¬ 
NER, 

St. Paul’s Churchyard. 

23. 

CHARLES PRICE, 
William-street. 

24. 

WILLIAM BORRADAILE, 
Fenchurch-street. 

25. 

THOMAS PRICE, 
Leadenhall-street. 

26. 

JOHN COWELL, 
Crescent, Portsoken Ward. 
27. 

JAMES LYON, 
Queenhitlie. 

. 28.' 

CHARLES RAIKES, 
Mincing-lane. 

29. 

THOMAS BUTLER, . 
Water-lane, Ward of Tower, 

30. 

THOMAS FURNELL, 
Brickliill-iane, 

31. 

JOHN ROGERS, 
Swithin’s-lane, 




741] 


July 5, 1817. 


[742 


32. 

GEORGE SCOTT, 
Bond-court. 

, 33. 

william harrison; 

Tower-street. 

. 34. , * 

CHARLES FRISBY, 
Mark-lane, (Wine Merchant). 

35. 

JAMES RANDALL, 
Queenhithe. 

36. 

JOHN JACOB BATTIERE, 
Gold-square. 

37. ' "" 

DANIEL FOWLER, 
Lime-street. 

38. 

FRANCIS BARSTOW NIXON, 
Brabant-court. 

39. 

RICHARD SAMLER, 
Bridge-street. 

40. 

WILLIAM CROKATT HOOPER, 
Old Change. 

41. 

FRANCIS SMITH, 
Scott’s-yard, Ward of Dowgate. 

42. 

SAMUEL TRIST, 

Dyer’s Court, Ward of Cripplegate 
Within. 

43. 

JOHN BRIDGMAN, 

John’s Coffee-house, Cornhill. 

44 

THOMAS LUCK, 

Cornhill. 

45. 

JOSIAH JOWETT, 
Tokenhouse-yard. 

r ' . 46. k ' 

WILLIAM LANE, 
Ironmonger-lane. 


47. 


SAMUEL NORMAN COWLEY, 
Cateaton-street. 

,48. ' 

JOHN FIELD, 

Old Fish-street. 

MERCHANTS. 


(Copy) 

London— Names of the Special Jurors 
betu ecu our Sovereign Lord thcKisa 
and William Hone—‘ Sinecurist's 
Creed/ 

1 . 

WILLIAM JAMESON, 
Lawrence-Pountney-lane. 

2 . 

THOMAS BLAXLAND, 
Broad-street. 

3. 

JOHN NESBITT, 

T okenhouse-y aid. 

4. 

JAMES BARNES, 

3, Copthall-court, 

5. 

CHARLES DANVERS, 
Thames-street. 

6 . 

GEORGE LAMB, 
Watling-street. 

7. - .. 

CHARLES BUND, 

Devon shire-street. 

8 . 5 \ : 
THOMAS BOWDEN, 

Camomile-street. 

9. 

WILLIAM PARNELL, 
Botolph-lane. 

10 . 

BENJAMIN RANKIN, 
Savage-gardens. 

11. 

JOHN REID, 

Aldersgate-street. 

12 . 

GEORGE KING, 
Falcon-square, 







Hone's Reformists’ Register, 


744] 


[744 


13. 


WILLIAM RAMSBOTTOM, 
Aldersgate-street. 

14. 

HENRY FEARON HEATH, 
Little Mitfre-court, Ward of Aldgate. 

15. 

HENRY .4AMES BROOKE, 
Sambrooke-court. 

16 . 

SAMUEL LANCASTER, 

, St. Mary-at-hjll. 

17. 

‘ PHILIP PERKING. 
Bishopsgate-street. 

18. 

GEORGE CLODE, 

Bishop sgate-street, Without. 

1J>. 

WILLIAM CRAUGHTON, 
Friday-street. 

20 . 

ALEXANDER SINCLAIR GOR¬ 
DON, 

Fish-street-hili; 

2h 

GEORGE WARD, 

New Broad-* street. 

22 . 

THOMAS IIALL, 
Copthall-court. 

; 

•aO * 

DANIEL LAMBERT, 

/ • , St. Martin’s-lane. 

'24. 

WILLIAM SAMLER, 

St, Andre w’s-hill. 

' 25. 

JOHN WILSON, 
Quccn-strect. 

26. *' 
FRANCIS PAYNTER, 
Colemari-street. 

27. 

THOMAS SMITH, 

Little St. Thomas Apostle, 


28. 


RICHARD MOUNTFORD, 
Birchin-lane. 

29. 

BENJAMIN FULLER, 
Clement’s-court. Milk-street. 

30. 

JOSEPH DAKER, 
White-cross-street. 

31. 

THOMAS ATKINSON, 

Old Swan. 

32. 

THOMAS LEE, 

St. Paul’s Churchyard, 

33. 

THOMAS HODGKINSON* 

' Holborn-bridge. 

34. 

JOSEPH JELLICOE, 

■' Fenchurch-street. 

, 35._ 

THOMAS JAMESON, 

, Fen-court. 

36. 

RICHARD PAGE, 

. ' . America-square. 

37. 

THOMAS WHITEHURST, Juit. 
Red Bull Wharf, Queenhithe. 

38. . 

JOHN WILLIAM ADAM, 
High LordVcourt, Crutched-friars. 
y[ 39. 

JOSHUA WATSON, 
Mincing-lane. 

, 40. 

JOHN MAVIER. 
Pancras-lane. 

41. 

FRANCIS HERVEY CHRISTIN, 
Salter’s-hall-court. 

42. 

DENNISON BUTLER, 
Crutched-friars. 

43. 

JOSIAII WHALLEY, 

High Lord’s-court, Crutched-friars. 





f 


[74G 


745J - July 5 

V *u.>, • 

44. 

WILLIAM ANDERSON, 
Lcadenhall-street. 

45. 

RICHARDSON BORRADAILE, 

Fenchurch-srreet. 

46. 

CHARLES MAWHOOD, 

West Smith field. 

47. 

THOMAS MALTBY. 

... Gutter-lane. 

48. 

JOHN GREEN, 
Suffolk-lane. 

MERCHANTS. 


(Copy) 

London— Names of the Special Jurors 
between our Sovereign Lord the 
King and William Hone — f Poli¬ 
tical Litany 

1. 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, 
Milk-street. 

2 , 

JAMES MILL, 

John's Coffee-house, Cornhill. 

3. 

ALEXANDER BALM ANNO, 
Queen-street. 

4« 

JOHN HARMAN EAMER, 
Rutland-place. 

5. 

JOHN PUCKLE/ 
Nicholas-lanc. 

6 . 

BOYCE COMBE, 

28, Great Winchcstcr-strcci. 

7. 

JOSEPH CLANSIE, 
Threadneedle-strect. 

w • ' V • * 

\ s. 

JOHN PEARSON, 

Rutland Wharf. 


1S17. 

9. 

WILLIAM FARRAR, 
Bread-street. 

10 . 

JOHN BLUNT, 

New Broad-street. 

11 . 

JOHN PHILLIPS, 

• Camomile-street, 

12 . 

WILLIAM AUSTEN, 
Botolph-lane. 

13. 

DANIEL BRITTEN, 
Basinghall-street. 

14. 

WILLIAM BOUSFIELD, 

St, Mary-axe. 

15. 

SOLOMON HOUGHAM* 
Aldersgate-street. 

16. 

SAMUEL WARD, 
Aldersgate-street. 

17. 

JOSEPH GIBBS BARKER, 

St. Mary-axe. 

18. ' 

JACOB OSBORN, 
Sambrook-court. 

19. ' 

TIMOTHY ABRAHAM CURTIS, 
Austin Friars. 

20 . 

RICHARD HOWELL, 
Upper Thames-street. 

21 . 

CHARLES WRIGHT, 

Old Jewry. 

22 . ■** 

NATHANIEL JARMAN, 
Coleman-street. 

23. 

TIMOTHY YATES BROWN, 
Lombard-street. 


/ 









747] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register 


[748. 


24. 

t JAMES DEACON, 
Lad-lane. 

25. 

THOMAS WALKER, 

CVipplegate-buikiings. 

26. 

JOSEPH BROWN, 
Lawrence-Pountney -lane. 

27. 

JACOB WOOD, 

27,. Cheapside. 

28. . 

JOHN ALPORT, 
London-bridge. 

29. 

GEORGE GIBBON, 
Rood-lane. 

30. 

DANIEL SHIRLEA r , 

• Lime-street. 

31. 

BENJAMIN STANDRING, 
152, Minories. 

32. 

RICHARD SHARP, 
Mark-lane. 

33. 

WILLIAM WILLIAMS, 
Mark-lane. 

34. 

JAMES ALLEY, 

St. Swithin’s-lane. 

35. 

MATHIAS PRIME LUCAS, 
Harp-lane. 

36. 

WILLIAM LINGHAM, 
Beer-lane. 

3?. 

NATHANIEL BRICKWOOD 
Crescent, Ward of Portsoken. 

38. 

JAMES TOWNSEND, 
Lime-street. 


39. 

WILLIAM FORSTER, 
Philpot-larre. 

40. 

RICHARD EATON, 

Smith tield-bars. 

. 41. 

JOHN WALKER, 
Paternoster-row. 

42. 

THOMAS KINGSBURY, 
Lawrence-Pountney-lane., 

43. 

EDWARD VAUX, 
Lloyd’s Coffee-house. 

44. 

EDWARD CURLING, 
Castle-court. 

45. 

THOMAS BARNEWALL, 
Coleman-street-buildings. 

46. 

CHARLES WILLIAM HICK, 
Cheapside. 

47. 

JOHN COOKSON, 
Bucklersbury. 

48. 

JAMES GRIEEITHS, 
Little Knightridev-street. 

MERCHANT S. 


When these Juries were no* 
minuted, I could not refrain from 
observing to Mr. Lushington, the 
Master of the Crown-Office, and 
to Mr. Litchfield, the Solicitor 
to the Treasury, it was very ex¬ 
traordinary that out of these 
three lists of Special Jurymen, 
consisting of one hundred and 
forty-four names, there were not 
above three or four persons of 
whom I had any knowledge 
whatever, although I had lived 
in London nearly all my life. 
Since then I have caused inqui¬ 
ries to be made as to the clia- 





74.9] . July 5 

racter and condition of die per¬ 
sons composing these Special 
Juries, and the result thoroughly 
satisfies me that they were nomi¬ 
nated from, an improper source. 
The Crown itself has been unable 
to support Special Juries nomi¬ 
nated from such a source ; hence 
it abandons them, and hence 1 am 
liberated. 

When Mr. Wqoler’s Petition 
was presented to the House of 
Commons by Sir Francis Bur- 
dett, the Attorney-General sur- 
rised Sir Francis, by telling 
im that it was Mr. Wooler’s 
fault if he remained in prison, 
because instructions had been 
given to liberate him on his own 
recognizance; which liberation 
be gave the House to understand 
Mr. Wooler declined to accept. 
Sir Francis could do no otherwise 
than admit, that if £Uch offer had 
been made to Mr. Wooler, he 
had no just ground to complain 
of remaining in prison. I was 
with Mr. Wooler when a gen¬ 
tleman came from the gallery of 
the House, and stated what had 
taken place. Mr. Wooler in¬ 
stantly denied that such offer had 
been made him,and the following 
morning addressed a letter to 
the x4ttorney-General, containing 
such denial, and acquainting him 
that he loved liberty too much to 
have refused iL The Attorney- 
General, in answer to Mr. Wooler, 
wrote, that he certainly had 
given instructions, for his libe¬ 
ration, but finding no steps had 
been taken to communicate it to 
Mr. Wooler, he had given di¬ 
rections for his being released on 
his own recognizance for £ ICO. 
This recognizance Mr. Wooler 
entered into before the Marshal, 
and left his prison. Mr. Pearson, 


> 1817 . [750 

of St. Helen Vphice, Mr. Wooler’, 
intimate friend and solicitor, hav¬ 
ing attended the Master of the 
Crown-Office on the nomination 
of my Juries, now kindly wrote 
to Mr. Litchfield, Solicitor to 
the Treasury, suggesting the pro¬ 
priety of liberating me on the 
same terms as Mr. Wooler, which 
produced a letter from Mr. Litch¬ 
field, announcing the consent 
of the Attorney-General to my 
being discharged out of custody 
on entering into three recogni 
zances of £100. each, to appear 
in Court on the first day of next 
Term, and so from day to day, 
and not to depart the Court 
without leave, if a verdict should 
he obtained against me on either 
of the informations. Mr. Litch¬ 
field’s letter further intimated, 
that for the present he would not 
call on the Master for an appoint¬ 
ment to nominate fresh Special 
Juries instead of those he had 
before consented to waive. This 
morn i n g, th e vefore, at ni n e o'cl ock, 

I entered into recognizances be¬ 
fore the Marshal; and the order 
for “my discharge arriving almost 
immediately afterwards, I was 
informed the prison gates were 
open to me. I ran up to my 
room, which was at the top of the 
prison, to take a last look from 
the window, at some objects 
whereon my eyes had frequently 
rested, and my mind mused. 
Above the walls, in the distance, 
were the $urry hills, clad in their 
verdure, whereon,in the days of my 
health and youth, I had rambled 
alone, with Thomson or Collins 
in my hand, stopping* now and 
then to listen to the wind—to the 
chirrup of the grasshoppers—to 
the hum of the bee—or to inhale 
at leisure the fragrance of th« 





75 tj 


Hone's Rjeeorm i&rs’ Register, 


£752 


fresh air. Ou those hills I had 
sat, with my face towards London, 
bending’ my mindVeye on the 
ceaseless turmoil and perplexity 
of man in crowded cities. I now 
looked vtowards the spot, w here I 
.fancied I had so seated myself, 
and so reflected, from a place how 
different—the depository of aches 
and cares; and sorrows, and jea¬ 
lousies; and vice, and misfortune. 
The thousand ills and mishaps 
of social life were condensed and 
confined within its walls. One 
window g-ave light to a villain, 
who had so managed his crimes, 
that the gallows had no terrors 
for him—he revelled in the fruits 
of his injustice. Another was 
opened to admit air to a family, 
debilitated from insufficient food. 
Here the extremes of depravity 
and suffering were almost blend¬ 
ed. To the thorough knave 
alone imprisonment, is no punish¬ 
ment; he knows its metes and 
its bounds with as much certainty 
as the gambler who cogs his dice 
knows his game. Thus 1 thought 
to myself, as I turned the key in 
my door, to go down stairs and take 
leave of a few gentlemen, from 
whom I had received attention 
and kindness, and in whose so¬ 
ciety 1 had spent many pleasant 
hours. When I passed the gates, 
1 seemed as a bird that had es¬ 
caped from the fow ler. 

Thus has ended my confine¬ 
ment on the proceedings hitherto 
adopted against me by the At¬ 
torney-General. 

The re-suspension of the Habeas 
Corpus Act gives Ministers the 
power of still further confining 
persons already in custody, and 
of apprehending whom they 
please, and keeping them in pri- 
•^n without trial,—There is only 


j one qualification of this pow er—- 
the warrants must specify that 
the arrested persons are suspected 
of treasonable practices. “ Hie re¬ 
suspension,” says the Examiner, 
u comes upon us like a darkness; 
and we sit in the thick of that 
momentary hopelessness (for it 
shall be no greater), wondering 
at the success of the petty minds 
who have pow er enough to inflict 
such measures—and the infatua¬ 
tion of the Members, corrupt as 
they may be, who can counter 
nance them—and at the misery 
and degradation of our once 
happy and free countrymen 
who have to bear them. Good 
God ! and so the country is 
once more turned into a thing of 
bastilles and lettres de cachet, 
under the direction of men, who. 
make the grossest blunders even 
in language, and who, if we are 
to believe affidavit upon affidavit, 
presided over the tortures of 
Ireland ! Before the debate came 
on, a Petition was presented from 
Mr. Evans, now suffering impri¬ 
sonment on suspicion,—which 
stated, that when he and his son 
were first committed, they were 
put into irons (since taken off’) ; 
that among other hardships, he 
was deprived of his flute! and 
that since the 10th of April, they 
had not had a mouthful of fresh 
air, or the smallest exercise !! It 
adds, that the petitioner “ had 
(i never in the slightest degree 
‘ been concerned in any schemes? 
“ calculated to disturb the pub- 
“ lie tranquillity,” and that his 
imprisonment had totally ruined 
their affairs, “ his wife being re- 
“ duced to a condition little bet- 
“ ter than that of a pauper.” The 
Petition was read; and 31 r. Bar¬ 
ium gave notice, that unless the 




353] 


July 5, 1817. 


statements of it were previously 
explained to the satisfaction of the 
House, he should move, on Tues¬ 
day, that the facts be referred to a 
Committee. To Mr. Barham, 
Mr, Bennet, Lord Nugent, Mr. 
Brougham, Mr. Macdonald, Sir 
Godfrey Webster, and Sir 
Francis Burdett, the remainder 
of Englishmen are deeply in¬ 
debted for their opposition to tbe 
Bill. In some instances their 
speeches were very bold, in 
others pathetic, in other.- argu¬ 
mentative, in all truly manly and 
noble. As it is not in the limits 
of a weekly paper to be able to 
give such speeches entire, we 
shall ttjake up the rest of our 
present article wtth extracts from 
them. We will not despair at 
any time, much less when we see 
gentlemen thus coining forward, 
who are situated and connected 
these are % for they are all 


[751' 


as 


either of noble families, or nobly 
connected, or country-gentlemen. 
Would to God we could waken 
that race of Englishmen above 
ail others. They had much bet- 


dreadful want of what is : called 
sentiment ! But of this more by 
and by. We proceed With our 
extracts, * » 

Mr. Bennet, on Reports and 
Spies :—• 

“ He denied that there were strong 
marks of a political character in the 
discontents. Whenever Englishmen 
were distressed, as they were happily' 
in the habit of looking to political 
subjects, the consideration of ichicK 
icas not conjined, as in some other 
countries , to the upper classes , they 
would naturally put forward the faults 
and mismanagement of their rulers, 
as in fact the causes of their suffer¬ 
ings, but there was nothing of a sys¬ 
tematic hostility to the Constitution,, 
though some individuals had been 
urged on to hostile measures by spies 
and informers. One of The princi¬ 
pal facts mentioned in the Report 
was, the march to London, under the 
pretence of petitioning, From the 
best information, viz that of the. 
Magistrates themselves, he could state 
that the impression on the minds of 
the Magistrates engaged in the late 
examinations at Wakefield was,’ that 
the whole plan and project referred 
to, had been the work of spies. It' 


ter be waked by Reform than by j not olivcr alone, who hail been 

Revolution; and if the poor half- j at work > hut a thousand others;' the 

virl*.,itv» ; business of spy was a trade, which 


witted creatures to whom they 
have delivered up their own 
senses bound hand and foot, go 


I had been pursued with great success 
j and unfortunately it was the only 
j trade successful at present in. these 


on as they do, they may be cer- j so much as t0> , 2) anc ! 13 


tain that such will be the case. 
It is not in the nature of the com¬ 
mon rights and decencies of 
things—of the natural strength 
of knowledge and justice—to lie 
thus subjected to all that is really 
foolish and weak. But such 
jaieantime is the pernicious effect 
of that love of gain and posses¬ 
sions which has been growing 
faster and faster upon the coun¬ 
try for the last fifty years, and 


; shillings a night had been paid to 
these workers of mischief As, in 
the first Report, there was a plot to 
destroy London, so, in the second,, 
there was a plot to destroy Manches¬ 
ter. This suggestion, he had no 
doubt, was the work of the spies. 
In 1812 it was proved, that the men 
who were employed to detect the rioters 
had suggested that they should burn 
tbe Poor Houses. t( What!” said 
one of the rioters, “ shall \ve hum 
the Poor r ”—“ Yes," rejoined the Spy, 


which has induced upon us aj (< any thing to do mischief. 






755] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [756 


Mr. Barham, on the Suspen¬ 
sion :— 

c< He had heard said, and heard it 
with astonishment, that if the Ha¬ 
beas Corpus Act were taken away, 
the Constitution would not be de¬ 
stroyed! Not destroyed ! Why the 
Habeas Corpus was the Constitution. 
What injury could be added to the 
treatment of a man imprisoned on 
suspicion, and ruined ? Yes, there 
might be another— he might be insult¬ 
ed by being told of his privileges, and 
that he was entitled to the blessings of a 
free Constitution: — [hear, hear!] 

He would prefer the Suspension of 
the Trial by Jury, to the Suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus.—And why ? 
Because under the former he should 
have some sort of trial, and might 
stand a chance of having a fair one; 
but under the latter, he could have no 
trial at all: — [hear, hear /] ’ 

Lord Nugent on the same, and 
on the alternative that must re¬ 
sult from it’s frequent recur¬ 
rence :— 

<e It was on the evidence disclosed 
in the late trial; that was, on the 
testimony of the vilest and most con¬ 
temptible part of the human charac¬ 
ter— on the testimony of spies and in¬ 
formers, that Parliament were about to 
suspend the Constitution of the coun¬ 
try : — [hear, hear!] —Who would 
believe them ? Who would give 
credit to wretches, who, having pass- 
ed through the odious process of 
abetting and fortifying the treasons 
of their victims for their vile blood- 
money, had also the shameless auda¬ 
city to become the accusers of all 
England?— [hear, hear!] — By what 
form of abjuration can you bind the 
consciences of men like these ? — [hear, 
hear /]—Were we reduced to decide 
between popular commotion or fre¬ 
quent suspension of its liberties— 
were this the dreadful alternative for 
our choice, he had no hesitation in 
saying, that he would prefer popular 
commotion to the extinction of public 


freedom: — [hear, hear /]*—Were it 
the awful issue on which a choice was 
to be taken, he would rather see the 
country revolutionized than enslaved .— 
[Cries of hear from the Ministerial 
benches.]—He would repeat the obser¬ 
vation, that in such an awful alter¬ 
native, he would rather see the country 
revolutionized than enslaved [hear, 
hear, hear!]" 

Mr. Macdonald, on the same, 
—on the danger of connexion 
with foreign despots, end on the 
first cause of the victory of Wa- v 
ter 1 00 :— 

“ It was painful to see such a mea¬ 
sure adopted iyifhe third year of peace, 
and to reflect that this was the only 
reward the People had received for 
the many privations, during the long 
and arduous war, and it was painful 
to contemplate it enforced by Minis¬ 
ters, with the aid of an un cons tit i - 
lional standing army. When he con¬ 
templated how ardently they clung to 
the property tax, and with what re¬ 
luctance they were compelled to give 
if up, [hear, hear, hear /] — for never 
would there be grounds wanting to 
constitute a plot, and thereby secure 
the possession of the power—they 
would see that the prosperity or dull¬ 
ness of trade would be the criterion 
Ministers would decide by, and that 
on accounts from Nottingham and Bir¬ 
mingham would depend what ‘was 
done with the freedom of the People. 
Now, for the first time, did the na¬ 
tion witness the baneful consequences 
of our connexion with foreign des¬ 
potic powers : and now, unhappily 
for themselves, did they know what 
the result was of being familiarized 
to absolute power. Ministers sent 
down the Prince Regent to Par¬ 
liament last Session, with an iro¬ 
nical congratulation on the prosperous 
state of the finances of the country, 
thereby showing how well they were 
acquainted with the real situation of 
the public, [hear hear!] and had ever 
since been more anxious to increase 



757] 

their powers and keep tlieir places, 
than to redress public grievances;; 
they had shown the utmost reluctance 
to an inquiry into public wrongs, and 
had appointed a committee of disaffec¬ 
tion before they would appoint one 
bn finance : [hear /] If the Consti¬ 
tution were once annihilated, as this 
measure threatened to do, they might 
build Waterloo bridges and Water loo 
monuments, but they would find the 
spirit for ever extinguisfted which had 
led to such a victory as that of Wa¬ 
terloo." 

Sir Francis Burdett, on soli¬ 
tary imprisonment, and on the 
mysteries of religious sympathy, 
politically considered:— 

., “ He confessed he was astonished 
at the concurrence in this measure of 
an honourable and religious gentle¬ 
man, who laid claim to superior piety, 
as it unquestionably was of all others, 
the most hostile to vital Christianity. 
Nothing could be more opposite to all 
the laws of Christianity, as well as 
those of morality—nothing could be 
more anti-christian, than to shut up 
persons in solitary confinement, and 
cut them off from all communication 
with their nearest and dearest friends. 
The honourable and religious gentle¬ 
man no doubt recollected the denun¬ 
ciation of Jesus against the wicked : 
ft I was hungry, and ye gave me no 
meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
no drink ; 1 was naked, and ye 

clothed me not; 1 was sick and in 
prison, and ye visited me not.” 
How affecting was the last clause ol 
this passage! “ I was sick and in 
prison;” two of the greatest calamities 
that could befal human nature. But 
when to that was added, that the sick 
prisoner was deprived of every other 
consolation, what could be said of 
those men who not only did not visit 
liim themselves, but would not allow 
others to do so? Could any thing be 
more atrocious ? Could any thing be 
more contrary to the spirit of humanity 
which pervaded the law ot England ? 
Another material part of the Bill was. 


[758 

that it allowed Government to send 
the persons whom they apprehended 
to distant gaols; thus augmenting 
their hardships and their danger.— 
The Honourable and Rel igious Mem¬ 
ber was shocked the other day at the 
description of the Africans chained 
and carried into slavery. How hap¬ 
pened it that the Honourable and 
Religious Member [Order, order /] 
was not shocked at Englishmen being 
taken up under this Act (not having 
committed any crime) and treated 
like the African slaves—-chained, and 
sent to a distance ? Some were so 
sent hundreds of miles.” 

The re-suspension of the Ha¬ 
beas Corpus Act is in fact an 
abolition for the time being- of the 
Constitution; and every man 
living whom Ministers dislike is 
in their power. At this moment 
1, or any other person in tlieir 
way, may he sent to prison, and 
there kept, as the Evanses are 
in Horsemenger-lane gaol. Mr. 
Home Sumner, Member of Par¬ 
liament for Surrey, stated in the 
House, that “ as to the accom- 
“ modation and apartments fur- 
44 nislied to the Evanses, they 
“ were much better, he was per- 
“ suaded, than could be had in 
“ the generality of prisons—for 
“ he presumed that prisons were 
“ not to he made pleasant places, 
as that would be a perversion 
44 of the object of imprisonment. 
“ But with respect to the room 
44 occupied by Evans, he could 
“ assert, that there was a view of 
the Surrey hills f rom its win- 
“ dows, which however were very 
“ high above the floor—but if 
44 Evans would stand upon a 
“ table, he could look through at 
“ them !!! 99 It is to he remem¬ 
bered, that the Evanses are in 
solitary confinement. Ministers 
having thus began, and being 


July 5, 1817. 




75D] 

thus supported, may perhaps put 
their victims in irons, and sus¬ 
pend the Habeas Corpus for ever. 

There is no great distance be¬ 
tween confinement and cruelty— 
cruelty may be justified on pre¬ 
tence of safe confinement. “These 
men cannot be safely kept, with¬ 
out being in irons,” says my 

Lord-, over his wine. 

“ Iron them, by all means,” my 
Lord, says his myrmidon. “ And 
yet we cannot do that without a 
clatter in the House.” “ That’s 
true* my. Lord,” says the same 
personage. “ But then we’ve a 
‘majority” “ Your Lordship has 
no occasion to fear,” says his 
Lickspittle. And thus tire use of 
onr limbs and health may be dis¬ 
posed of. How finely Trenck 
describes his imprisonment after 
he had attempted to escape:— 

“ As my hands.” he says,“were 
fastened to a bar of iron, and my 
feet chained to the wall, I could 
not wear shirt or stockings of 
die common kind: I tied the 
former, which was open all the 
nay down, with string's, and 
changed it only once a fortnight. 
My stockings were of worsted, and 
buttoned on both sides. A blue 
frock, of coarse linen, tied also 
with strings, covered my body, 
and a pair of slippers supplied 
the place of shoes. 

“ By'* insensible degrees I be- 
came accustomed to my chains. 
I learned to comb my hair, and 
even to tie if. As I was never 
shaved, my beard gave me a' 
frightful appearance, and I de¬ 
termined to pluck it out. 1 suf¬ 
fered much from this operation 
at first, especially from the hairs 
round my mouth ; but, like other 
things, it became habitual; and, 
during the following years, I 


(.ft*) 

never failed to repeat it once in 
six weeks or two months, i was 
free from every kind of vermin, 
the humidity of my prison being, 
without doubt, unfavourable to 
their existence. My limbs were 
prevented from swelling, by the 
continual exercise I was carclul 
to take, cither by jumping in my 
chains till I perspired, or when 
I was freed from them, by the 
different occupations in which I 
passed my time. The darkness 
I lived in was the only thing 1 
could not accustom myself to. 

“T had learnt too much, and 
seen too much of the world, to 
be without constant subjects for 
meditation; the habit I contract¬ 
ed pf thinking became so great, 
that I composed several dis¬ 
courses, fables, poems, and sa¬ 
tires, which I recited aloud, and 
which remained so deeply im¬ 
pressed on my memory, that after 
my deliverance, I was able to 
commit two volumes of them to 
papeff ^ 11 

\ “ Thufe Employed in mental 
faboiilVwithout pen or paper, my 
ajiys or sorrow passed away with 
wonderful rapidity. The eon- 
elusion of my history will prove 
that I owed to the occupation I 
had chosen, the attentions that 
were shown me, several friends, 
permission to write, light, and at 
length liberty. The consolations 
l received in my prison were the 
fruits of the ardour with which 1 
had applied myself in my youth 
to the study of the sciences. 
Let me therefore advise my read¬ 
ers to employ their time as use¬ 
fully as I did mine. As every 
King lias it in his power to be¬ 
stow employments, honours, and 
a fortune on the man who least 
deserves them; so may he take 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 







July 5, 1817. 


761] .. 

them again away, and reduce 
him to his original obscurity. 

But all the endeavours of sove¬ 
reign power would be vain, if it 
attempted to give knowledge or 
an elevated soul to a fool, or de¬ 
prive the man of genius of his 
mental advantages. This is the 
wise dispensation of Providence, 
which has ordained that the at¬ 
tainments we owe to ourselves, 
such as virtue, knowledge, and a 
love of labour, shall still he ours, 
in spite of misfortune, and all the 

efforts of human power; while rri x ~ , . 

all that others give us, or all that , Tiie Worst .°* soc . ,al ” ie * 
_ _^ _> bem<r oppression under the sane¬ 


st 7ft, 

man laughed at—may become as 
cruel as Nero, if we do not as 
resolutely oppose them as we 
thoroughly despise them. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

From my Home, 67, Old Bailey, 
Wednesday , 2d July, 1817. 

» 4 . f ' \\ 

SIR RICHARD PHILUPS’s 

V- 

'Golden Rules for Jurymen . 


I. 


we obtain from their w eakness, , w . - r - , ~ , 

is frequently ns fleeting- as a P™’ colour and form of law, the 
mnrnincr drim” , te.ance of the country, and the 


morning dream/ t v . 

Under the suspension of the | s0 e llo P e , of P ersons ander acc >- 
Habeas Corpus Act, when Mr. f at '?" , 1 a '“ l °f sultars 1,1 
Pitt was alive, innocent men ! le .-, a "’ a '| C (; ° n 10 ,^ 0< f s * nse » 

were imprisoned, who are now ! 111 t?. 1 , 1 a . nt . °f Uiaml 

living, and who may exclaim, as « 

Trenck did, in the Dedication of 
his Life, to Frederick II., King 
of Prussia, the author of his mi¬ 
series. 

“ I never was guilty of a crime ; 
and, in spite of your pow er, your 
dungeons, and your chains, in 
spite of the base contrivances of 
which I was the victim, you were 
neither able to deprive me of my 
honour, or weaken my virtue. 

My philosophy and my know ¬ 
ledge gave me fortitude and re¬ 
sources in my misfortunes, afford¬ 
ed me amusement in the most 
gloomy of prisons, furnished me 
with arms to oppose the despo¬ 
tism of princes, and inspired me 
with contempt for their abuse of 


power. . , 

This is the right way of think¬ 


ing and speaking. Bad men are 
only strong when the virtuous 
are timid and irresolute. The 
present Administration—certainly 
the most contemptible that over and boldly; and to bear in mind 


II. 

An honest Juryman should die 
rather than consent to a decision 
which he feels to be unjust ; or, 
which, in his own private judg¬ 
ment is not warranted by clear 
and uncontrovertible evidence. 

III. 

The attendance of Jurymen 
might be dispensed with, if any 
other opinion than that of tho 
Jury were allowed to make the 
decision; and their office would 
be a mockery on themselves, on 
the parties, and on their country, 
if their decisions were not the 
result of their ow n unbiassed, un¬ 
shackled, and independent con¬ 
victions* 

IV. 

In deliberating on tlieir ver¬ 
dict, every Juryman is bound to 
exercise his own judgment; to 
give liis individual opinion freely 








768] , 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [764 


that it is the sole and entire object 
of the institution of Juries, that 
every Juryman should decide ac¬ 
cording* to his own conviction on 
the points at issue* 

V. 

The Jury are bound to decide 
fully and finally by a general ver¬ 
dict of guilty or not guilty ; or 
for the Plaintiff] or for the De¬ 
fendant ; unless, at the request 
of the Judge, they reserve some 
point of law; but such special 
verdict should be explicit, final, 
and conclusive, with respect to 
the facts of the case. 


■VI. 

Every man is presumed to be 
innocent, till he has clearly been 
proved to be guilty; the onus of 
the proof of guilt lies therefore 
on the accuser; and no man is 
bound, required, or expected, to 
prove his own innocency. 

VII. 

The accused ought to enjoy 
the benefit of all doubts, and of 
all uncertainty in the evidence; 
because it is better' that a hun¬ 
dred guilty persons should escape 
punishment, than one innocent 
man be unjustly convicted; and 
because the issue of a criminal 
trial involves every thing dear to 
the accused, if he be found 
guilty; but bis acquittal, though 
perchance he might be guilty, is 
comparatively unimportant to the 
public. 

VIII. 

Every Juryman should perform 
his duty in regard to the accused, 
or decide between Plaintiff and 
Defendant, as he would desire 
those parties to act in regard to 
himself, were their situations 
changed. 

IX. 

It is necessary to guard against 


popular prejudices and undue 
influence, in whatever quarter 
they may arise, and to decide on 
a consideration of the facts only, 
and on the valid evidence of ere- * 
dible witnesses. 

X. 

Unanimity is required in every 
verdict of a Jury, because univer¬ 
sal concurrence is the only test 
of truth, and a true verdict must 
necessarily produce universal- 
concurrence ; such required una¬ 
nimity serving at the same time 
to render every one of the Jury 
responsible to his own conscience, 
to the public, and to the parties, 
for the integrity of his conduct. 

XI. 

Every Juryman should be 
specially cautious, even as he . 
values his peace of mind through 
life, of convicting persons of any 
species of offence on evidence 
merely presumptive and circum¬ 
stantial—the conviction and the 
legal punishment are positive, 
and so, as far as possible, ought 
to be the proofs—and Jurymen' 
should, in such cases, bear in 
mind, that no reasoning, however 
ingenious, and no circumstances, 
however corresponding, are equi¬ 
valent to one positive proof, when¬ 
ever law, justice, or truth, require 
that proofs should be positive. 

XII. 

The Jury should carefully con¬ 
sider how far the evidence sus¬ 
tains the charge of a criminal 
design; no act whatever, which 
has not been committed with a 
criminal mind or intention, in¬ 
volving guilt and penal respon¬ 
sibility. 

XIII. 

A careful Juryman will com¬ 
mit the material points to writ- 





7C5] July 5, 

iug, and compare from his notes 
the evidence on both sides, de¬ 
ciding on his intuitive percep¬ 
tions of right and wrong, and 
maintaining a vigilant caution 
against the prejudices or mis¬ 
conceptions of witnesses and pro¬ 
secutors. 

XIV. 

As G] *and Juries examine wit- 1 
nesses only against the accused, 

v 7 

every* case, so unopposed by any. 
defence, ought to be completely 
and unequivocally'made out as 
to the facts, the evil intention, 
and the application of the law ; 
and the exercise of a scrupulous 
and jealous caution against un¬ 
founded, malicious and irrelevant 
charges, can he attended with 
little danger to the public, com¬ 
pared with the irreparable injury 
which an erroneous decision may 
inflict on innocent persons. 

XV. 

No man being responsible for 
the crime or act of another, no 
prejudice should lie against an 
accused person, because some 
one has committed a crime, unless 
it shall be brought home to the 
accused by distinct and satisfac¬ 
tory testimony, as weli in regard to 
the fact as the criminal intention. 

XVI. 

Warning to others being the 
sole design of legal punishment, 
all decisions of juries should be 
made dispassionately, and should 
not be influenced by collateral 
circumstances, or by any sinister 
or artful appeals made to the 
feelings of the Jury. 

XVII. 

Tli-e punishment being gene¬ 
rally founded on the abstract fact 
of the Jury’s conviction; and the 
laws being made for extreme 


, 1817. [7GG 

cases of turpitude, the Jury ought 
to recommend the convicted to 
mercy as often as they feel a 
justifiable reason. 

XVIIL 

Jurymen should protect the 
rights and liberties of their fellow 
citizens, and view with jealousy 
charges against accused persons 
who appear to be deprived of the 
privileges to which they are en¬ 
titled by the Constitution, and 
a due respect to the ends of 
justice; thus, no accused person 
ought, to be committed tor trial 
except on the.oath of at least one 
credible witness; or called on to 
plead unless on the indictment 
of twelve of a Grand Jury, or ar¬ 
raigned on trial, unless he has 
been supplied with a copy of the 
same, in time sufficient to sum¬ 
mon witnesses, and has enjoyed 
the free access of his friends to 
concert measures for his justifi¬ 
cation. 

XIX. 

In trying charges of libel, se¬ 
dition, or treason, the Jury should 
be jealously on their guard 
against prejudices raised by the 
influence of the administration 
for the time being ; and they 
should bear in mind, that it is in 
such cases that Juries are so 
eminently the harriers of public 
liberty, and the guardians of their 
fellow-citizens against abuses of 
power. 

XX. 

In trying libel causes, Juries 
ought never to lose sight of the 
important services rendered to 
mankind, by the sacred rights 
appertaining to freemen, of dis¬ 
cussing’ public topics, and the 
public cop duct of public men; 
and of examining, asserting, and 
printing the truth on all subjects 



7€7] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [7&R 


of general interest; and as the 
law of libel lias expressly em¬ 
powered them on negativing* 
the- charge of evil intention, to 
find a general verdict of not 
guilty* so the preservation of the 
liberty of the press depends en¬ 
tirely on their public spirit and 
careful discrimination. 



The foreman should ascertain 
and equally respect every opi¬ 
nion in the Jury; and the verdict, 
after it has been unanimously 
settled, should be solemnly deli¬ 
vered, no variation being per¬ 
mitted, unless the Jury, before 
their decision is recorded, choose 
To retire again, and formally 

sanction it by a new verdict. 

* 

XXII. 

Previous to declaring their 

c? 

verdict, the Jury should give the 
accused the fair beneiit of those 
distinctions in the time, quantity, 
and quality of offences, which 
have been explained by the 
Judge or Council; and they 
should anxiously consider, Svhe- 
titer the fact charged be the 
crime alleged within the mean¬ 
ing and cognizance of the law, 
founding their verdict on their 
combined view of fact and law. 

XXIII. 

The sole object of the proceed¬ 
ings in every trial’ being to ac¬ 
quire a correct view of the facts 
which beat' on the questions,at 
issue, and to enable the Jury, 
according to their oath, to frame 
a true verdict, it is the duty of 


every Juryman to possess him¬ 
self of the entire case; he ought 
therefore to protect timid, inex¬ 
perienced, and embarrassed wit¬ 
nesses ; to receive with caution 
the testimony of others, who are 
under the influence of fear, ha¬ 
tred, or expected reward ; and to 
require the production of any 
evidence which is tendered or 
attainable, and which appears to 
him to be necessary. 

XXIV. 

Above all things, it is the de¬ 
licate but sacred duty of Jury¬ 
men to guard against the undue 
interference or mistaken views of 
Judges, who, in bad times, have 
not only misled and dictated to 
Juries, but have sometimes pre¬ 
sumed to reprimand them. The 
Judge is authorized to expound 
the law, but not to direct and 
over-rule the decision ; he is to 
be respected by the Jury, but by 
no means to be implicitly obeyed. 

XXV. 

Every Juryman should recol¬ 
lect, that he is acting for his 
country ; that, for the time being, 
lie is the uncontrouled arbiter 
of justice ; .that he is the consti¬ 
tutional protector of suitors and 
accused persons, against legal 
quibbles and oppressions; that 
lie is the living guardian for his 
posterity of those sacred powers 
of Jurymen, transmitted to him 
by his forefathers ; and that the 
preservation of justice and li¬ 
berty depends on one firm and 
upright man doing his duty in 
every Jury. 


Lot .Jon.: Printed by. and for WILLIAM HONE, $7, Of.o Bai lev, three doors 
Luigatb Hav, wb pi* COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be, addressed* 
artf Void at 55, fleet Street— True Two-pence each, ITs, per Hundred, Or 51, Ujst 
per Thousand. ;. : 







Price Tvvo-Pcnce. 


HONE S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY, 

’ m ' t ^ . • i 

No. 25.] Saturday, July 12, 1817. [Vor.. I. 


SPECIAL JURIES, 

v 1 

AND 

THE SPIES. 


fisit to the SPIES —(Thanks to my 
Friends)— Mr. fVOOLER on his 
and my Liberation — Mr. PEAR¬ 
SON'S Motions in the Common 
Council on Special Juries —His Let¬ 
ter on the Attorney-General's Con¬ 
duct —Mr. Sam DIXON and my 
bad Pen, and the RECORDER’S 
Carriage —Characters of Special 
Jurymen- The Informer REY¬ 

NOLDS'S Qualifications for a Cabi¬ 
net Minister—. -Mr. Morality KECK, 
and OLIVER the Spy—Occupation 
and Character of a Spy —If OLI¬ 
VER'S Employers be guilty of 
High Treason, they should receive 
Sentence of Death as Traitors— 
Ohver a Scape-goat—Mr. Morality 
KECK to write his Elegy . 

COMMUNICATIONS. 

1. Humble Petition— 2. New Illumi¬ 
nati—3. POETRY— Oliver alive— 
4. Oliver's Epitaph and Character . 


The spies and the blood-men 
being objects of high considera¬ 
tion with Ministers, I purpose to 
drop in upon the wretches now 
and then, and take a look at 
them. Not that I desire inti¬ 
macy, for that would be as ha¬ 
zardous as putting ones hand on 
the cockatrice* den ; and my soul 
desires not to come into their 


secret : but though I apa innocent 
of their crimes, yet I would not 
be altogether ignorant of their 
ways; 1 would fain learn some- 
thing of their mysterious pro¬ 
ceedings; and I cannot be worse 
frightened than he who escaped 
with the loss of his mare’s grey 
tail, after he had seen sights 

-- * horrible and awfu!. 

Which ev’n to name wad be unlawfu'.'” 

Tam a Shanter. 

Besides, I am in good company. 
I have my readers with me; and 
we will see something of the 
grisly band, and be acquainted 
with as much as is useful to know. 
It would certainly be delightful 
to witness their sacrifices in high 
places , to learn which is a waive 
offering, and which has a sweet 
smelling savour; but this is de¬ 
nied us; and we will be contented 
w ith what we can get at without 
trouble. 

Before our first visit—just by 
way of passing observation as we 
stand at the door, waiting to see 
“ the crying nyrenas , which can 
“ never be tamed ”—I would say 
to my friends, that I sincerely 
thank them for their visits to me, 
and their correspondence whilst 
I was in the King’s Bench. At¬ 
tentions so numerous press upon 
me on my return to my family, 
that I cannot make time to make 
so many calls, or write so many 
letters as I ought; I therefore 
take this opportunity of assuring 
them all , that I am sensible of 


1 rintt^ by and for W. Hone, G9, Old Bailey, London. 
















771] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [772 


their kindness; that I hope I 
shall not deserve it less in future; 
and that, as I was always at home 
whilst I was in prison, so 1 am 
mostly in now I am out. How 
my departure was occasioned ap¬ 
pears in part by the last Register; 
and Mr. Wooler has this day 
published a letter in the Times , 
and other newspapers, which 
more circumstantially relates his 
and my own liberation. 

• “ Sin, 

oeveral misrepresentations hav- 
itto- been made of the terms un- 
der which I am now at liberty, 1 
take leave to inform the public, 
through the medium of your 
paper, that in consequence of the 
language made use of in the 
House of Commons, by the At¬ 
torney-General, on Thursday 
week, when my Petition was pre¬ 
sented by Sir F. Burdett, 1 
wrote to that officer of the Crown 
to deny that any such offer had 
been made to me as that of be¬ 
ing liberated upon recognizance 
U) appear when called upon. To 
the letter 1 received an answer, 
stating, that the Attorney-General 
had expressed a wish to the 
effect alluded to, but upon in¬ 
quiry be found that it had not 
keen communicated to me: the 
Attorney-General added, lie bad 
then ordered the communication 
to be made to my solicitor, and I 
received my discharge on the 
following day. The process of 
the new trial had proceeded as 
far' as the nomination of the 
panel to try the cause; but 
Mr. Pearson having objected to 
the list generally used, and in¬ 
sisted upon the Sheriffs furnish¬ 
ing a correct list of all the par¬ 
ties qualified to serve on Special 


Juries in the City of London, in¬ 
stead of a list of about 4 or 
half of whom were dead, or re¬ 
moved, or never attended, and 
the other half made a regular 
trade of serving as Special Jury - 
men , the usual plan was de¬ 
ranged: and Mr. Pearson hav¬ 
ing at the same time given notice 
of his 'intention to apply for a 
criminal information against the 
Master of the Crown-office, for 
persisting in nominating oniy 
self-styled merchajits on the 
Jury, it was proposed that the 
process against me should be sus¬ 
pended until that question was 
determined. What share this 
important discovery of the ille¬ 
gality of the Special Jury list 
had in producing the offer of my 
liberation, it is not for me to say; 
but it is worthy of remark, that 
the discovery was made on the 
Thursday morning, and the Peti¬ 
tion w as presented on the Thurs¬ 
day night, when the Attorney- 
General hoped a communication 
had been made to me. At the 
same time a protest was present¬ 
ed to the Master of the .Crown- 
office against the three panels no¬ 
minated to try the three informa¬ 
tions filed against Mr. Hone ; 
and a few days after a letter was 
sent to Mr. PeaRson, from the 
Solicitor of the Treasury, to state 
that the Juries appointed in 
Mr. Hone’s case would he waived , 
and the nomination of others 
would stand over until the ques¬ 
tion w r as decided as to what par¬ 
ties are legally authorized to sit 
on Special Juries. A few days 
after Mr. Hone also received his 
liberty upon his own recogni¬ 
zance, and the matter stands 
over until next term> when 
Mr. Pearson will bring forward 






173] 

this important question in a pro¬ 
per manner before the Courts. 

I remain, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

T. J. WOOLER. 

1, Catkerine-street, Strand , July 8.” 

It was necessary that Mr. 
W ooler should write the above 
letter; for ever since the Attor¬ 
ney-General stated in the House 
of Commons, that he had offered 
to liberate Mr. Wooler on his 
simple recognizance, it was ima¬ 
gined that Mr. Wooler chose to 
lay in prison, rather than submit 
to the formality of signing his 
name to an engagement to appear 
when called upon. IIow it hap¬ 
pened that the Attorney-General 
did not take proper means to 
communicate his offer of Mr. 
Wooler’s liberation to that gen- 
Jeman. himself, and how it hap¬ 
pened that the offer was withheld 
from Mr. Wooler, the Attorney- 
General can and ought to ex¬ 
plain. The learned Gentleman's 
extremity in the House was great, 
and he talked of his offer; but 
his sincerity is behind a cloud, 
and reminds me of the sincerity 
of “ a gentlewoman,” who, ac¬ 
cording to a curious old book, 
<c being in extremitie of labour, 
sware, that if it please God she 
might escape death for that once, 
she would never in all her life 
after hazard herselfe to the like 
danger ag-aine; but being at last 
safely delivered, and seeing a 
consecrated candle, used only on 
such occasions, burning in the 
chamber, she said to one of the 
mid wives, 4 So, now put out the 
candle—and keepe it 9 till the next 
time ! ” Mr. Attorney-General 
must pardon me for telling him 
that his reputation for plain deal¬ 
ing' is to seek. 


[774 

Mr. Pearson, of St, Helen’s 
Place, Mr. Wooler’s Solicitor, 
lias also had occasion to remark 
on another statement of the At¬ 
torney-General, which places the 
learned Gentleman’s conduct still 
further in an equivocal light. 
Mr. Pearson addressed the fol¬ 
lowing letter to the Morning 
Chronicle Office, for insertion, on 
the Friday after Mr.’ Wooler’s 
Petition was presented ; but the 
Editor of that paper declined the 
insertion, and it appears in Mr. 
Wooler’s Black Dwarf to-day. 

“ Sir, 

fc Not having been present at the 
discussion which took place in the 
House of Commons, last Thursday 
evening, when Mr. Wooler’s Peti¬ 
tion was presented, on the subject of 
Mr. Wooler’s trial, I can only take 
for granted that the report of the 
speech of the Attorney-General, on 
that occasion, as given in your paper 
of this day, is correct. The represen¬ 
tation made by that officer of the 
Crown, to which I wish to call your 
attention, and that of the public, is 
conveyed in these words :—‘ It was 
f stated that the second trial was 
f pressed on him (Mr. Wooler), but 
e the fact was, that so far from being 
f unwilling to postpone it, when he* 
(the Attorney-General), f was look- 
‘ ing over some papers, and pausing in 
f the proceeding, Wooler’s Attorney 
‘ desired to have his’ (the Attorney- 
General’s) ‘ warrant, as a sufficient 
‘ number of Special Jurymen was not 
f present, to pray a tales.' The fair 
inference from these words would cer¬ 
tainly be a decided negative to the 
assertion of Mr. Wooler, which it 
was intended to answer, and so was 
considered by Mr. Brougham, and 
the other Members who alluded to the 
circumstance. I think, however, that 
by stating the facts as they really oc¬ 
curred, I may reconcile the apparently 
contradictory statement of both par¬ 
ties /and prove that they do not at all 


July 12, 1817. 




775] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [770 


differ in fact^o nly that Mr. Wooler’s 
words are intended to be taken in a 
literal, and those of Mr. Attorney -Ge¬ 
neral in a mystical sense. The facts 
are these :— 

Immediately after the Jury ap¬ 
pointed to try the first cause had re¬ 
tired to consider their verdict, the 
superior officers of the Crown (the 
King's Counsel) directed the inferior 
officers of the Crown (the Crier, &c.) 
to call on the second issue ; and after 
the names of all the Special Jurors had 
been called over, and only SIX of 
them appeared, and were sworn— 
then, and not till then—the Attorney- 
General f paused in the proceedings ; ’ 
and * looking over some papers,' also 
looked over the countenances of these 
Jurors ; but whether, as f the face is 
‘ as a book, where men may read 
' ‘ strange matter,’ Sir Samuel Shep¬ 
herd, Knight, might • see, or think 

* he saw,’ a spirit of research which 
might have led them to go beyond the 
dicta of the modern Holt, to know 
whether facts are libels j—whether 
this circumstance produced the ‘pause 
‘ in the proceedings ,’ or whether the 
gentleman could not ‘ screw his cou- 

* rage to the sticking place/ I know 
not, but it is sufficient that then, and 
not till then, when only six special 
Jurors could be obtained, the Attor¬ 
ney-General seemed disposed 

* To shun the dangers that might come of it, 
And pay his losses with his profit j’ 

and in kind consideration of Mr. 
Wooler’s weakness and his own 
strength, appeared willing to leave 
the farther discussion of the question 
till another day. Upon this. Sir, ex¬ 
ercising* my discretion in behalf of 
my client, I was unwilling 

‘---——■ that he should run 

The smallest danger he might shun 

and finding that the absence of the 
other six Special Jurors ‘ had struck 
‘ more terrors to the soul of Richard/ 
and had produced a greater effect on 
the conduct of the Attorney-General, 
than all the mild and charitable dis¬ 
positions which that gentleman 


assured us on the previous trial he 
possessed (and as Mr. Brougham 
very candidly remarked, ‘ from long 
knowledge’ of this meritorious officer 
of the Crown, we r have every rea¬ 
son to believe his statement ’) : on 
consideration of these circumstances, 
I was desirous of proceeding with the 
trial, although it had been first called 
on (not as insinuated by Sir S. Shep¬ 
herd, at my request) without Mr. 
Wooler’s or my consent, or applica¬ 
tion, either expressed, or implied—- 
called on at, the will and by the agents 
of the Crown—over whose discre¬ 
tion and will Mr. Wooler could 
have no controul,—called on almost 
immediately after the termination of 
the former trial—after Mr. Wooler 
was considerably exhausted by his 
address to the former Jury, and while 
he remained in suspense as to the 
verdict of the former Jury, which 
was to give to him either the unin¬ 
terrupted enjoyment of the light of 
heaven, or permission ‘ to live, and 
move, and have his being’ in such 
manner, and subject to such restric¬ 
tions, as it might please LAW, tem¬ 
pered with Justice, to assign to him. 
Knowing, therefore, that the same 
weighty circumstances which ope¬ 
rated to induce the Attorney-General 
to ‘pause in the proceedings/might 
benefit Mr. Wooler, I then, but not 
till then, prayed (not demanded, ut 
dixit the Attorney-General) his war¬ 
rant of tales, which warrant, be it 
known, in the event of there not be¬ 
ing present a sufficient number of 
those favoured Jurors, who had been 
f bidden to the marriage supper,* 
authorized the parties ‘ to go out 
into the highways and hedges/ and 
compel all the blind and deaf, halt and 
hungry, to come in, and sit down in 
their places. I do not mean. Sir, that 
common Jurors must possess those 
qualifications in a literal, but in a spi¬ 
ritual mystical sense. Thus, Sir, it 
is presumed that they may not have 
eyes to see the wisdem of the Attor¬ 
ney-General, nor ear to be gratified 






777 ] July 1% 1817. [778 


with his eloquence ; nor indeed iiave 
they always understanding to compre¬ 
hend the law cf the Judge—they 
f hunger and thirst after righteous 
judgment,’ instead of being influenced 
by the auri sacra fames, which I have 
heard is to be found on some special 
occasions. 

The fact is. Sir, that Common 
Juries have no other qualification than 
being c good and lawful men, of the 
bailiwick,’ taken without selection, 
and impanelled without choice ; and 
being called good men, they might 
fancy that their decisions should be 
regulated by Justice : and foolishly 
imagine that being called lawful men, 
they had a right to decide for them¬ 
selves on the law of the case before 
them. 

I should be very sorry. Sir, to ven¬ 
ture upon these speculations, had not 
the argument been justified by the 
fact, that although the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral assured the Jury that the sub¬ 
ject of the second investigation was 
f a libely aye, ‘ a very wicked libel $’ 
and although the Judge did not think 
it polite to contradict this worthy 
officer of the Crown, yet the six Spe¬ 
cial Jurors concurred in thinking that 
there must be a mistake somewhere, 
as their optics would not enable them 
to discover the sedition which lurked 
under the cloak of a playful satire 3 
and until they had as long an ac¬ 
quaintance with the Attorney-General 
as Mr. Brougham, f they had not 
every reason to believe his statement.’ 

Thus, Sir, I think, that the public 
can decide whether the observation 
attributed to Sir S. Shepherd, by 
-your reporter, and that mentioned in 
other papers, is true (as said by Mr. 
Attorney-General), that ‘ so far from 
Mr. Woolkr being unwilling to come 
to the second trial, his Attorney wish¬ 
ed him (Sir S. Shepherd) to bring it 
on.’ If I demanded the second trial 
in writing, I challenge him to pro¬ 
duce that writing. I did pray a war¬ 
rant of tales , but that was after the 
,six Special Jurors had been sworn. 


1 had nothing to do with calling on 
the trial, unless a consequence can he 
proved to include a cause 5 and after 
I saw the Attorney-General, from 
motives which it does not require a 
special pleader to state, or a metaphy¬ 
sician to comprehend, I was anxious 
to postpone it. Mr. Brougham and 
the public will decide whether the 
statement of Mr. Wooler, or that of 
the Attorney-General, is most worthy 
of credit. 

I remain, Sir, yours, &c. 

CHARLES PEARSON, 
Solicitor to Mr. Wooler, 

10, St. Helen’s Place, Bishopsgate. 

June <17, 1817.” 

Mr. Pearson being* a member 
of the Court of Common Coun¬ 
cil, brought the subject of Spe¬ 
cial Juries before the Court yes¬ 
terday, by moving, first, “ That 
u the Secondaries of the City of 
u London be ordered to lay be- 
t; fore the Court, the books or 
“ lists of persons qualified to 
“ serve as Juries in and for the 
<c said City of London.” Secondly, 
“ That the Secondaries of the 
“ City of London be ordered to 
“ lay before this Court, the books 
“ from which Special Juries have 
“ heretofore been struck, by rule 
“ or order of the Court at West- 
” minster.” These motions Mr* 
Pe arson said he made as “ merely 
introductory to the ORE AT 
QUESTION of Special Juries in 
London, on a future day; when 
he would (jo into the subject his¬ 
torically, and state what appeared 
to him to he the law on the subject . 
Corruption and abuses had long 
since crept into the system, and 
it was impossible not to perceive, 
that in cases not very distant, 
the manner in which Special 
Juries had been formed, de¬ 
manded a speedy and vigilant 
inquiry.” Mr. Dixon, who i« 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 


[760 


called here in London by the fa¬ 
miliar appellation of Sam Dixon, 
is said, by the papers, to have 
agreed to the motion; from which 
I infer, that he is to pit himself 
against Mr. Pearson, as the 
defender of Special Juries as 
now constituted—a thing not at 
all to be wondered at, consi¬ 
dering who Mr. Dixon is, and 
what he is. Who he is, Mr. 
Waithman has pretty well let 
us know, in the course of the 
speeches he has done Sam Dixon 
the honour to throw away upon 
liim—the said Mr. Dixon re¬ 
maining like the old stump I am 
slow writing with, and which I 
shall toss out of the window as 
soon as I have written the next 
word—here goes—-Faith, I be- 
jieve it has fallen on the Re¬ 
corder’s carriage, which has 
just passed ;—however, it has 
done Sir John no harm. I have 
wasted a few upon him before— 
good ones, and to good purpose; 
and this, which I compare to Sam 
Dixon, I could well spare, without 
meaning injury to Sir John —it 
was a pen often cut, but never 
'mended. However, as to what 
our friend Sam DjxOn is—I hap¬ 
pen to know that he is a Special 
Juryman —aye, a downright re¬ 
gular bred Special Juryman ! one 
of the SELECT Special Jurymen, 
who would make no more of 
swallowing up alive MitWooler 
and myself, and one or two others, 
if need be, into the bargain, than 
the Dragon of Wantley made of 
swallowing churches and stee¬ 
ples, or than he himself would 
make of swallowing a contract — 
not lie!—Why, he is just your 
feorf of man for a Special Jury¬ 
man. Things as they are, and 
.Special Juries amongst them, for 


ever! Just the man-—one of your 
thick-and-thin, slap-dash men— 
l call him a SELECT Special 
Juryman , because his name is in 
the 'SELECT List. He stands, 
1 say, in the SELECT LIST; 
and I warrrant you he* II not do 
any thing to get out. I mean, 
that he is dowm in Mr. Colling- 
ridge’s list of Special Jurymen ; 
and a very pretty list it is. Mr. 
Collingridge’s list was sent 
down to the Crowm-Office, for my 
Juries to be nominated from; 
and, as nearly as 1 can guess, my 
three Juries took a wav, perhaps, 
ONE THIRD of Mr* Colling¬ 
ridge’s WHOLE LIST. I think 
there could not be five hundred 
names in the book, or list; and 
yet this book, or list, ought to 
have contained tire names of ALL 
persons qualified to serve on Ju¬ 
ries in London! 

Mr. Colling ridge is the Se¬ 
condary, and the list comes from 
his office. When Mr. Lushington, 
the Master of the Crown-Office, 
w 7 as nominating my Juries, this list 
was objected to, which very much 
surprised Mr. Barlow 7 , the Clerk 
in Court, who took down the 
names as Mr. Lushington pricked 
them. « Mr. Horne Tooke,” said 
Mr. Barlow’, “ never objected to 
“ these lists—I struck his Juries, 
“ and he never made such ob¬ 
jections as these to the lists.’* 
But though it did not occur to 
Mr. Tooke to object to the lists 
themselves, he objected, and that 
stoutly too, to the mode of taking 
the names; and had he known, 
perhaps, as much of the lists as 
is now known, he would have 
objected and protested against 
the lists altogether. 

It is a mighty convenient thing* 
for a man to get his name put 




7$lJ July 12, 1817. . . , [7&2 


down in a Special Jury list;—“ 1 
* can go,” says one, “ and be on a 
“ few Insurance causes, and put 
“ a guinea or two into my pocket, 
** before I go to ’Change.” Ano¬ 
ther says, “ It’s pleasant to touch 
“ a guinea for sitting still, when 
“ there’s no business to do at 
“ home.” A third observes, confi- 
dentially,.“ Why, if I had not been 
“ on the Special Jury list, I should 
u never have rubbed on since 1 
fi failed. I attend regularly, and 
“ have knocked off four causes 
“ in a morning ; and let me tell 
“ you, four guineas are a great 
“ help to a man in my circum- 
“ stances—I’ll take special care 
“ to keep on the list. I always 
“ attend to what my Lord says— 
“ he knows best what the law is; 
“ and I can always tell what a 
“ verdict ought to be, before we 
“ put our heads together—no de- 
“ taining' the Court on my ac- 
“ count — I know better than 
“ that—-I’ll take care and give no 
“trouble. Why, bless you, if 1 
“ was struck off, it would be a 
“ hundred and fifty pounds a 
“ year out of my pocket. You 
“ don’t think I’d be such a fool 
“ as to knock my head against a 
“ stone wall, do you ? No, no;— 
“ if I was once off the list, 1 
“ should never get on again ■ and 
“ then how should I live?” 

There are men like these on 
the Special Jury lists, and also 
such men as Sam Dixon, who is 
a supporter of things as they are 
—of such things as the present 
Administration, who gave Sam 
Dixon’s son a place—who de¬ 
fend Reynolds, the informer, and 
Oliver, the spy; and who sup¬ 
ported and clothed Castle, the 
companion of the blood-men; 
who hung one friend, and trans¬ 


ported another; and who, with 
two wives at his back, was put 
up in a witness-box, by the At¬ 
torney-General, as evidence for 
the Crown—to testify on its be¬ 
half against four men, who, if 
a British Jury had believed him, 
would have been sentenc id to 
be hanged and beheaded, and 
their bodies cut into quarters, 
their bowels being first taken 
out, whilst they were alive, arid 
burnt before their eyes ! To 
this end has Sam Dixon sup¬ 
ported such men as the present 
Ministers: but I will no longer 
detain the reader from a look at 
their other friends. 

Reynolds, in whose defence 
Lord Castlereagh said nothing 
could be urged against that ho¬ 
nourable gentleman, but that he 
had been a bit of a traitor — 
against whom the noble Lord 
said, he never heard any thing 
alleged, but that he w as a rebel -~ 
Reynolds, who had done his 
Lordship the honour of taking 
office under him, after having 
done Government the favour to 
hang the men at whose houses 
he had resided, whose hospitality 
he had shared, and with whom 
he had taken sweet counsel— 
Reynolds, who, had he a heart 
of flesh, would have felt it wi¬ 
thering and dying in his bosom, 
at the recollection of his having 
sent his friends, one after the 
other, to die on a public scaffold, 
and ere now have dropped into 
his grave, under the compunc¬ 
tions of bis conscience—this 
Reynolds, bearing about his 
heartless carcase, with pensions 
during his unhallowed life, and 
reversions or allowances to his 
children, the price of their, la¬ 
ther’s man-selling services—thil 






783] Hone’s Reform 

REYNbi/DS, disappointed of a di¬ 
plomatic situation at Malta, may, 
perhaps, under the wing' of Lord 
Castlereagh; yet shine forth, 
not at a foreign Court, but here, 
at St. James’s. Why should not 
he, who was to represent the 
Government at Malta, be a mem¬ 
ber of the Government at home? 
Would not Reynolds have 
bowed to file Regent on his 
appointment, and kissed his 
hands on going abroad ? And 
what ill things have his Ma¬ 
jesty’s servants been informed 
of in Parliament respecting 
him, which they did not know 
before ? 

What is to prevent the in¬ 
former Reynolds kissing hands 
and going into the Cabinet ? 
He does not want experience; for 
he has passfed a probation both 
here and at Lisbon. Arthur 
O’Connor and the ghosts of Lord 
Edward Fitzgerald and Oliver 
Bond, with whom he sat in council, 
may be summoned to give evi¬ 
dence of his talent; and the gib¬ 
bets in Ireland will testify that he 
has no disqualifying feelings. 

Oliver the informer, whom Mi¬ 
nisters acknowledge to have em¬ 
ployed as a SPY, has had the 
honour of being, in the House of 
Commons, defended as a moral 
man, by Mr. George Anthony 
Lech Keck, who says he has 
heard nothing against Oliver’s 
morality . Ip opposition to this, 
and without the least apology, I 
positively affirm, that Mr. Keck 
has heard a great deal against 
Mr. Oliver’s morality. 

I w ould not, by the ordinary 
formality of civil expression, be 
supposed to have any sentiment 
in common with this Mr. Keck, 
for all his wealth, were he as rich j 


< « • 

ists’ Register. [784 

as Croesus, Who is Mr. Keck ? 
He is a Member of Parliament; 
but that is nothing. He sits for 
Leicestershire; respecting which 
county, Oldfield, in his Repre¬ 
sentative History , says, that its 
representation is dividedbetweea 
the Whig and Tory interest—a 
compromise having taken place, 
whereby the Duke of Rutland 
always nominates one Member, 
and the opposite connexion the 
other ! Is this true ? If it is, I 
suppose it is moral . Pray which 
interest does Mr. Keck represent? 
As to representing the comity , if 
Oldfield is correct, that is out 
of the question. However, 1 
w ant to know who Mr. Keck is, 
I am anxious about him. I am 
eager to learn all that 1 can get 
together respecting him. He 
appears to have feelings and opi¬ 
nions so opposite to my own, that 
lie w ould he the last man living 
I should wish to be acquainted 
with, or even to see ; but I am 
as eager to be informed respect- 
him, as school-boys are to raise the 
Devil; and 1 have much the same 
kind of apprehension that they 
have, when, having repeated 
pretty nearly the whole of the 
Lord’s Prayer backward, in a 
dark passage, on a winter's night, 
they think it is possible Satan 
himself may appear. 

A spy in social life is a vile 
impostor, a base and detestable 
traitor. He works his way by 
cunning and dissimulation. His 
manners are artificial, and his 
conversation false. He is a hy¬ 
pocrite, whose business is to 
cheat you into a good opinion of 
him. There is no mixture of 
good in his character. He 
speaketh peaceably to his neigh¬ 
bour ‘with his mouth,- but ik 



785] July 12, 1817. [7&> 


heart he layeth Ids wait * Such 
men deceive every one his 
neighbour, and will not speak the 
truth: they have taught their 
tongue to speak lies, and iveary 
themselves to commit iniquity ,f 
Their throat is an open sepulchre ; 
with their tongues they have used 
deceit ; the poism of asps is un¬ 
der their lips : their feet are swift 
to shed blood.X 

According to Mr. Keck, who 
defended Oliver as a SPY, there 
is nothing IMMORAL in the 
character or occupation of a spy. 
According to Mr. Legh Keck, 
fair dealing, walking uprightly, 
dealing- honestly, being in charity 
with all men, may now be laid 
aside ; and Mr. Keck, M. P. for 
Leicestershire, may obtain leave 
to bring in a bill enacting- such 
qualities as immoral, inasmuch as 
they are opposed to Oliver’s 
bloodthirsty hypocrisy. But 1 
will ever call a knave a knave, 
whether he be a knave against 
the statute, or according to the 
statute ; and Mr. Keck —this Mr. 
Legh Keck I shall henceforth 
call Mr. Morality Keck. 

Oliver’s mission to Yorkshire 
is illustrated by an article from 
the Leeds Mercury , as follows:— 
“ Oliver the Spy —A fact has 
“ conve to our knowledge, con- 
“ nected with the mission of this 
“ arch-traitor, which, though it 
u can be communicated in a few 
14 words, speaks volumes to the 
« mind of every British subject. 
“ On the first arrival of Mr. 
« Oliver in the neighbourhood 
“ of Sheffield , where he spread 
44 terror among the peaceable and 
“ well-disposed part of the inha- 
44 bitants, and by his flattering 

* Jer. ix. 8. f Jer. ix.. 5. 

X Roua. iii. 13. 15. 


“ representations imparted joy 
“ and confidence to the disaffected 
“ and evil-minded, the vigilance 
“ of the Magistrates at that place 
“ enabled them to trace out his 
“ proceedings, and to discover 
“ that he was disseminating the 
“ poison of his treasons in every 
“ direction . The first use made 
“ by the Magistrates of this dis- 
“ covery, was to apprize the con* 
“ servators of the public peace in 
“ other parts of the Riding, of 
“ the arrival of this incendiary ; 
“ and their next step was to 
“ address a letter to the Secretary 
“ of State for the Home Depart- 
“ ment, informing him that a 
“ London delegate, a man appa- 
“ rently above the lower ranks, 
“ had arrived in the county, and 
“ was actively employed in OR- 
“ GANIZING SEDITION, AND 
“ EXCITING THE PEOPLE 
“TO ACTS OF TREASON. 
“ This letter was written by Hugh 
“ Parker, Esq. the Senior Ma- 
“ gistrate of the district, who, by 
“ return of post, received an an - 
“ swer from LORD SIDMOUTH, 
“ informing him that the person 
“ lie described as so dangerous a 
“ character was—AN AGENT 
“ OF GOVERNMENT!! 1” 

If this be true—\f it be true 
that Mr. Parker, the Magistrate, 
wrote to Lord Sidmouth, the Se¬ 
cretary of State for the Home 
Department, acquainting him 
that Oliver had arrived in York¬ 
shire, and was organizing sedi¬ 
tion, and exciting the People to 
acts of treason; and if Lord 
SIDMOUTH, in answer to such 
communication, informed Mr. 
Parker that Oliver was an agent 
of Goveinment —I say, if this be 
true, they who employed Oliver 
as an agent to organize sedition, 



787 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [788 


and excite the People to treason, 
ought to be forthwith tried with 
Oliver himself, on charges of 
high treason; and if found guilty, 
they and Oliver ought to receive 
sentence of death as traitors. 

It it «>e true, that Oliver was 
employed by a Minister or Minis¬ 
ters, to organize sedition , and 
excite the People to acts of trea¬ 
son, that Minister, or those Mi¬ 
nisters, should be tried for high 
treason forthwith. If it be true, 
and if it cannot be discovered 
who appointed Oliver “ an 
agent <g Government” yet if 
Oliver was acknowledged by 
Lord Siomouth to he an “ agent 
of llie Government.” and if after 
being so owned by Lord Sin- 
MOUTH, Oliver still organized se¬ 
dition, and excited the People to 
acts of' treason, then, in my opi¬ 
nion, Lord SIDMOUTH, His 
Majesty’s principal Secretary of 
State for the Home Deparment, 
ought to be fried for high treason, 
and if found guilty, receive sen¬ 
tence of death as a traitor. 

The wre ch Oliver must share 
the bile of his employers. His 
most favourable lot will be to 
make an atonement for them; to 
have their iniquities and trans¬ 
gressions put upon his head ; to 
he sent away by the hand of a fit 
man; and when he dies, to have 
his elegy written by Mr. Morality 
Keck. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

6 7 s Old Bailey, 9th July, 1817 . 


HUMBLE PETITION. 

[I was favoured with .the following com¬ 
munication whilst in the King’s Bench 
Prison, and mislaid it before I had an 
opportunity of reading it through. My 
residence there not, on many ac¬ 


counts, the most, favourable to literary 
avocation ; and 1 have to ask indulgence 
from my Readers and Correspondents fof 
many negligences and offervees, amongst 
which may be reckoned the omission of 
this Article until now.] 

To the Gentlemen, Honourable or 
otherwise, at whose desire and 
instigation he has been prose 
euted ; 

The humble Petition of William 
Hone, Prisoner in the King’s 
Bench, •' 

Sbeweth, 

That your Petitioner, since he has 
been an inhabitant of this 
abode, has been visited by 
sober reflection, and is come 
to a due sense of his errors ; 
insomuch, that instead of re¬ 
gretting as a calamity the cir¬ 
cumstance of his being drag¬ 
ged from a peaceful home and 
harmonious family, to live 
amidst the turbulent wretch¬ 
edness of a crowded gaol, and 
brooding over the possibility 
of ruin and want, he rejoices 
in an event which has shown 
him the absurdity of that boast¬ 
ed enjoyment of an English¬ 
man, an innocent and cheerful 
fire-side, and corrected in him 
certain ridiculous feelings of 
pity, and the like, for the vic¬ 
tims of our debtors 4 laws ; 
which has also brought him to 
reprobate his own misdeeds, 
in attempting to ameliorate the 
distressed condition of his 
country, so strongly, at least, 
as to laud the conduct of the 
men who have been the 
authors of it; and has above all 
filled him with the hopes of a 
better situation in life than he 
has hitherto enjoyed, by fixing 
him in a resolution to abandon 
his cause, and turn his stock in 

v J ' 7 %• T 






T'O] ,v July ]‘ 

trade to the purpose of flatter¬ 
ing- those who have hated and 
persecuted him, and slander¬ 
ing all his old and faithful 
companions. 

That your Petitioner not being 
able, from an aversion to smoke, 
to attend the political debates 
which are held in the tap , and 
having no taste tor push-pin 
or dominoes, has been fain to 
pass his time in reading your 
speeches in the House—a cir¬ 
cumstance of the happiest 
kind for him, since it has 
obliged him to give up an opi¬ 
nion, unfortunately too long 
entertained, prejudicial to the 
consistency of the same with 
your measures, which nothing 
but ignorance can excuse. 
He now finds, and is free to 
confess (though in confine¬ 
ment), that they are as much 
of a piece as the two ends of a 
yard of linsey-woolsey, and 
as like to each other as the two 
ends of a goose’s egg: he sees 
plainly that there is as much 
wit in one, as judgment in the 
other; and that so far from be¬ 
ing a deceitful set, you are 
really and truly—what you 
are thought to be. 

That great and manifold are the 
advantages which your Peti¬ 
tioner has reaped from this em¬ 
ployment of his leisure hours, 
not the least of which is his 
extended comprehension of 
your enlarged benevolence 
and manifold virtues: for 
while he is prompt to ad¬ 
mit, that, under certain cir¬ 
cumstances, which in the pre¬ 
sent early stage of the busi¬ 
ness it would not be safe to 
disclose, with reference to the 
interest of individuals, whom 


\ 1817 . [700 

he is sure it must be allowed 
it would be imprudent to men¬ 
tion, it may be a necessary 
feature in (he fundamental 
maxims of a Minister of an high 
power, that wretches who 
would put out the eyes of reli¬ 
gion and social order behind 
their backs, and back-bite 
them before their faces, should 
be condemned to wander 
in dose confinement, lying 
straight up under the hands of 
legitimacy; nevertheless, while 
he is prompt to admit, as afore¬ 
said, the principle in a general 
sense, and feels proud of the- 
conformity of his sentiment 
with those of a certain great 
statesman now no more, he 
cannot yield unqualified as¬ 
sent to the application of it in 
this particular instance, and 
thinks that it is really inexpe¬ 
dient at the present moment. 
Therefore, your Petitioner be¬ 
comes impatient of a liberation 
of incarceration within these 
walls, and hopes he shall soon 
be able to see what gentlemen 
on the other side have to say, 
and whether they can make out 
a case upon the situation of the 
nation. 

That in making this request your 
Petitioner does not come alto¬ 
gether as a beggar of favours. 
Ou the contrary, he has much 
to offer by way of exchange 
for liberty and exoneration 
from costs. He has, in the first 
place, a very good conscience, 
that he will part with on 
adequate terms. lie has hap¬ 
pily, though at considerable 
pains, diyested himself of cer¬ 
tain old-fashioned feelings of 
right and wrong, and supplied 
their place with the modern 





701] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [702 


notions of expediency. He 
has quite conquered a foolish 
habit of blushing at iniquity, 
and has accomplished the ossi¬ 
fication of a sense of shame, 
which was born with him, and 
cherished by his ignoraut fa¬ 
ther and mother; and can boast 
of possessing an admirable 
stock of hardy insensibility to 
every thing but his own in¬ 
terest. He flatters himself that 
he is as able as willing to 
undertake any work, however 
dirty, that you have occasion to 
engage him in; to lend a hand 
in colouring any job now in¬ 
progress ; and to supply your 
places in squatting upon any 
design that may be hatching 
against the disaffected. He is 
your man for virtuously turn¬ 
ing evidence against societies 
to which he has formerly been 
vicious enough to belong. He 
will very cheerfully betray to 
you the secrets which the 
friendly confidence of certain 
fellows calling themselves pa¬ 
triots, with whom he has been 
on terms of intimacy, may have 
afforded him the means of ob¬ 
taining. He can number a 
dozen, at least, of men who 
have come voluntarily to con¬ 
dole with him since he has 
been here, and who he has 
reason to think are not 
friendly to your measures, 
because they are so friendly to 
him; any or all of whom he 
will be happy to sacrifice to 
your implacable vengeance, by 
way of atonement for his own 
transgressions. He has com¬ 
piled and arranged a large as¬ 
sortment of virtues,to which you 
have hitherto been strangers, 
and which he will make over 


to you without reserve. And 
he has compounded a wonder¬ 
ful literary elixir, for beauti¬ 
fying speeches, which corrects 
grammatical errors, removes 
superfluous expletives, and 
gives poignancy and gusto to 
the most insipid—an experi¬ 
ment of which he will be 
happy to make on one of any 
of your worships, in order to 
convince you of its sovereign 
virtues. 

That in addition to the above 
claims on your notice, lenity, 
and g enerosity, your Petitioner 
has acquired a considerable 
fund of scurrility, and has 
stocked himself with epithets 
for rancorous abuse, which it 
w ill be a pleasure to him to de¬ 
vote to your purposes, and in 
the application of which he will 
manifest an equal disregard to 
truth and delicacy. Neither 
should he forbear to mention, 
that lie has in his possession 
a small but valuable portion of 
private history, concerning 
certain public characters and 
their families, which no respect 
for honour or decency will 
prevent him from ex nosing to 
vulgar notice, in the worst 
colours they can possibly be 
made to appear in. 

That your Petitioner, thinking 
that “this is not a world to 
hide virtues in,” came to a de¬ 
termination of a declaration of 
qualification, in the confident 
hope that such abilities as he 
has set forth will procure him, 
as they undoubtedly entitle 
him to, due notice from your 
worships. He very modestly 
assures himself, that he is not 
a man to be thrown away in 
this time of need; and reckons 




793 ] July 12 , 1817 , [794 


with the utmost security upon 
a pension ora sinecure; which, 
it* he should obtain it, he will 
do his best, or more properly 
speaking, his worst, to deserve 
at your hands, and to render 
no more than a just reward 
for services that would do ho¬ 
nour to the “sour little gen¬ 
tleman, ” or the great Mr. 
Canting. If a total want of 
principle, of decency of manly 
feeling, of common honesty 
and regard for truth, together 
with the positive qualities of 
envy, hatred, malice, and all 
uncharitableness, are the va¬ 
luable possessions which the 
new morality proclaims, then 
your Petitioner trusts that he 

w 

shall not be the only person 
to whom they will not ensure 
a place in your esteem and 
service; and humbly hopes that 
you will speedily promote him 
to some nothing-to-do office, 
with a good salary attached to 
it, where he may qualify him¬ 
self, at his leisure, for “higher 
employments,” and learn to 
have a hearty contempt for 
every body that happens to be 
less fortunate or less vicious 
than himself. 

And your Petitioner, &c. 


NEW ILLUMINATI. 


To Mr. William Hone. 

Sin, 

It has been truly said, that 
wandering individuals have been 
ofiCn brought by reflection to re- 
trace tlioir steps and reform their 
.conduct—corporate bodies sel¬ 
dom—governments never. To 
whatever cause this mav beattn- 

»/ ‘ . * » O' 


buted, it is certain that collective 
bodies are influenced by a diffe¬ 
rent principle to individuals; the 
latter are probably more fre¬ 
quently directed by their judg¬ 
ments, the former, by their pas¬ 
sions ; and appear to consider 
themselyes under the protection 
of some charm, that renders un¬ 
necessary the common dictates of 
prudence. Akin to this feeling 
is that of some of the inferior 
animals; instance the hound, 
which collected in the chaee 
equals in ferocity the tiger, yet 
naturally, it is the most timid and 
obsequious of animals. 

In answer to the almost unani¬ 
mous application for Reform by 
the thinking part of the English 
nation, the Ministerial pack have 
exhibited a most formidable front, 
and are apparently in good voice; 
but does this betoken the absence 
of all apprehension ; nay, does it 
not rather betray their fears ; as a 
coward is best known, and his 
fears evinced most, by the supe¬ 
rior violence of his tone and ges¬ 
ticulation ? No one supposed that 
the oligarchy, the polluters of 
the Augean stable, blit waited to 
be addressed to commence “ the 
godly thorough reformation.” 
No disappointment can therefore 
ensue, Hercules u - is not dead, 
but sleepeth”—the purification 
is but deferred, not abandoned— 
the vital necessity of Reform be¬ 
comes daily more apparent, and 
its advocates more numerous and 
powerful. It behoves us, how¬ 
ever, to watch and counteract the 
movements of the enemy, and if 
possible, to neutralize any auxili¬ 
aries that may be preparing to 
range under his standard. We 
may be well assured, that if the 
/sound and honest part of the 







795 ] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[7 0G 


community are on our side, they j lialisted, freedom, justice, and 


-will take what they can get, and 
•‘ the laine, and the halt, and the 
blind,” “ they will in no wise 
cast out,” but receive with open distillation of an ascetic spirit 
arms. I upon the originally benevolent 

In compliment to whom has 


public spirit, are words uncouth 
and unintelligible; “ from Dan to 
Beersheba, all is barren;” the 


been in’induced this new visitor, 
“on w t*se forehead is written 
blasphemy,” and to whom the 
pious Lord Sidmouth has conde¬ 
scended to act as master of the 
ceremonies? Treason and sedi¬ 
tion are our old and “ tried ” 
friends; hut who are ye? Are 
ye not the first fruits of an unholy 
alliance, the illegitimate con¬ 
ception of the tabernacle, pre¬ 
pared “ to fight the good fight” 

despotism, under the garb of 
sanctity ? No one is ignorant of 
the growing importance in the 
state of a class of people distin¬ 
guished for their narrow views 
cf that great and best of Beings 
who fills all space, contracting 
bis power and benevolence, 
“• whose tender mercies are over 
ail his works;” and describing 
as cruel, partial, and vindictive, 
Him, who thus describes himself, 
‘"the Lord, the Lord God, mer¬ 
ciful and gracious, long suffer¬ 
ing, and abundant in goodness 
ami in truth.” Now, “ as perfect 
love casteth out fear,” so per¬ 
fect fear casteth out love, and ex¬ 
tinguishes all the finer sympa¬ 
thies of our nature. By degrees 
the circle of our affections is 
contracted; the bulk of mankind 
i? first given up ; then comes our 
countrymen, friends, and rela¬ 
tions; till, like poor Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim, we are fain to leave the 
** City of Destruction,”alone and 
unattended. 

The heartfelt current of the 
scu.1 being dried up and ex¬ 


a 


heart, has converted “ the milk 
of human kindness” into the 
o-all of bitterness.* 

oD ^ 

From minds so perverted, can 
we expect any co-operation in 
the recovery of constitutional 
principles? Need we look for 
grapes from thorns, or figs from 
thistles.” On two occasions, how¬ 
ever, they have stood forward; 
the one to oppose a projected 
regulation of Lord Sidmouth, as 
to the admissibility of preachers, 
and “ they came, they saw, they 
conquered,”—they spake, and 
the waves were still ; the other 
in opposition to the modern 
Romans, to whom, like Hannibal 
of old, they have sworn perpe¬ 
tual enmity; here, also, they are 
as yet triumphant: but will this 
provoke comparison ? If so, which 
presents the noblest front, Eng¬ 
land Catholic, or England Metho- 
distic? To the former w r e owe the 
glory of our country, the great 
Charter of our liberties ; at the 
head of the illustrious confede¬ 
racy that fought for the glorious 
prize, the grand keystone of the 
arch, stood the Catholic Primate 
of all England : it should also be 
remembered, that the sacred lamp 
of ancient wisdom, and the im¬ 
mortal relic of ancient art, which 
there is no doubt these modern 
Vandals would extinguish as pro- 

* “ ITovv charming is divine philosophy! 
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools sup¬ 
pose ; 

But musical as is Apollo’s lut;e ; 

And a perpetual feast of neetared sweets, 
Where no crude surfeit reigns.” 

Milton. 





797 ] 


July 12 , 1817 . 


[W8 


fane, was preserved and cherished 
by the fostering care of the Ca¬ 
tholic clergy, through a long and 
dreary night of ignorance; and 
are they to be refused the com¬ 
mon rights of humanity, by an in¬ 
tolerant faction,dead to every prin¬ 
ciple that can ennoble the human 
mind? The saintly illuminati boast 
they want neither the light of rea¬ 
son or nature; and, to do them jus¬ 
tice, they certainly contrive to 
do without either: but they have 
as a substitute, an ignis fatuus, 
drawn from the bogs of their 
own distempered imaginations. 
They modestly arrogate to them¬ 
selves the distinguishing title of 
Evangelical, otherwise, dealers 
and chapmen in “ glad tidings of 
great joy,” as the name imports. 
Will they condescend to be 
brought to the touchstone of 
scripture ? The prophet Isaiah 
says, “ O Zion, that bringesf good 
tidings, get thee up into the high 
mountain. O Jerusalem, that 
bringest glad tidings, lift up thy 
voice with strength; lift it up, be 
not afraid: say unto the cities of 
Judah, behold your God. Behold 
the Lord God shall come with 
strength, and his arm shall rule 
for him. Behold his reward is 
with him, and his work before 
him. He shall feed his flock, 
like a shepherd. He shall ga¬ 
ther his lambs with his arm, and 
shall gently lead those that are 
with young.” How we should be 
led and fed were we to submit 
to the modern evangelical go- 
cart, let those declare who have 
received spiritual nourishment 
from the Cheap Tract Repository 
of babes and sucklings: let it 
not also be forgotten, that while 
month by month laudatory mat¬ 
ter is poured forth in favour of 


their own puny and ricketty 
offspring, the proud names of 
Fox, Russell, and Shekidax, 
have been assailed with the ve¬ 
nom of an impotent malice, I 
am sorry on the present occasion 
to introduce religious topics, hut 
it is forced upon me, because 
religion, so called, is an ingre¬ 
dient of the present political 
system; and so mixed up with 
it, that it cannot be dissevered—• 
it is not merely the old and open 
union of church and state;—it is 
“ a holy alliance” between poli¬ 
tical imbecility and fanatical des¬ 
potism—the stiff stays of Me¬ 
thodism on the body of the cor¬ 
rupt courtier. 

I am also justified in assuming 
the fact of the aforesaid alliance, 
because the party have had the 
effrontery to re-echo the charge 
of blasphemy, in a late circular 
address to their own body; nay, 
they have gone farther; and, 
puffed up with their rising im¬ 
portance, have, in some of their 
monthly trash, dared to belch 
forth menaces against “ the un¬ 
godly.” If an additional proof 
of the fact be wanting, do we 
not see the leader of the saints , 
in collusion with certain other 
leaders of the “Commons House,” 
arrayed against our rights and 
liberties? Indeed, I have but 
little doubt that the green spec¬ 
tacles, through which the People 
of England are now viewed, owe 
a great part, if not all their co¬ 
louring, t© this unnatural in- 
flue nee. 

There is a passage in one of 
the Epistles which says, “ Know 
ye not that the saints shall judge 
the earth?” This being taken 
literally, and said party having 
no doubt who arc meant to be so 




S03] Hone’s Reformists’ Register, [804 


cruelties! When Mr. Bennett 
said this, there were cries of order; 
and Lord Castlereagh having 
risen to order, a conversation en¬ 
sued between the Noble Lord, 
Mr. Bennett, Lord Milton, Mr. 
Yorke, Mr. C.Wynne, Mt.Brand, 
and the Speaker, wherein Mr. 
Bennett declared that he meant 
the charge to apply not to one 
hand in the Ministry, but the 
whole Ministry, who acted under 
the former Suspension Bill, du¬ 
ring whose fatal reign, such enor¬ 
mity took place IN IRELAND. 
Upon this, Lord Castlereagh 
said, in his own name, and that of 
his colleagues, and on public 
grounds, if a charge of cruelty 
was brought against them, and 
they were described as embruing 
their hands in the blood of 
the country, he would use the 
w'ords that the Honourable Gen¬ 
tleman applied to the Report of a 
Committee, of which his Rf. Hon. 
friend, Mr. Ponsqnby, was a 
member, and say it was a direct 
falsehood. To this denial, Mr. 
Bennett said, when he spoke of 
cruelties, they were impressed 
deeply in his mind; for they were 
cruelties perpetrated, not in re¬ 
mote regions—not beyond the 
hounds of our own country—not 
by a mandate to be executed at 
a distance—but at home, under 
the eye of Government, in the 
Castle yard! Lord Castlereagh 
agaifo rose to order; and Mr. 
Bennett having avowed that he 
did not mean to pursue the sub¬ 
ject further, there the matter for 
that time rested. 

Aliout a fortnight afterwards, a 
meeting of the county of Kent, 
convened by the High Sheriff, 
was held at Maidstone ; on which 
occasion, Sir Robert Wilson 


affirmed, tl^it the consequences 
of the present system are forty-six 
millions of permanent annual 
taxes, which, notwithstanding 
their intolerable exaction, are not 
adequate to the payment of the- 
public creditors and the expenses 
of the state—eight millions of 
annual poor rates, which are not 
sufficient to feed and clothe the 
hungry and the naked; stich, Sir 
Robert Wilson said, are the le¬ 
gacies left us by successive Par¬ 
liaments, in which Ministers had 
such undue and absolute influ¬ 
ence as to insure the approval of 
all their measures, except in one 
or two instances, where the indi¬ 
vidual interests of the Members 
constituting the majority were 
immediately concerned. To that 
influence, he observed, must be 
attributed a system which has 
suspended the pride of our birth¬ 
right, and the shield of our liber- 
ties—a system of policy which 
only requires the establishment 
of a censorship over the press, to 
accomplish all which it has been 
said by the scoffers of the Holy 
League was proposed by that 
alliance;—viz. “ To make every 
man in Europe a slave in his per¬ 
son, and a brute in his mind :”— 
a system of policy which intro¬ 
duced TORTURE into Ireland —* 
“ that TORTURE which” said 
Sir Robert, “ I myself' witnessed, 
and whose dreadful images I 
never remember without shudder¬ 
ing !—a TORTURE, where the 
innocent were not only confounded 
with the guilty, by uns u p po r teb 
charges , but where THE 
LASH (as I declare to Gob , I 
SAW IT MYSELF) was ap¬ 
plied promiscuously, on the chance 
of extorting a confession, or obtain¬ 
ing an accusation ! !! ” 




$05] July 19, 1817. [SOG 


On Friday last, the day before 
the close of the session, Mr. 
Brougham said, that it was mat¬ 
ter of peculiar jealousy and alarm, 
when it was considered to whom, 
with hardly domestic dissension 
enough to scare a child, the liber¬ 
ties of the country were aban¬ 
doned. With regard, ho ob¬ 
served, to the Noble Lord oppo¬ 
site, Lard Castleheagh, it could 
not be forgotten with what scenes 
h is ad mini stratum in Ireland had 
formerly been attended, lie pre¬ 
sume.'! that the Noble Lord had 
been ignorant of them at the 
time of their occurrence ; but the 
circumstances were cm record: it 
was not now a fact that could be 
controverted, that men had been 
flogged with a merciless spirit 
which was not satiated till their 
bones appeared to ike face of day ! 
The House cried hear , hear . It 
was not to be denied, continued, 
Mr. Brougham, that one man, 
w ho had been thus lacerated, had 
been rubbed over with gunpowder , 
in order to )3e a second time 

• , . • i « 

mangled, till Ms bowels burst 
through his wounds /—and was 
then abandoned without medical 
t aid ! If all this took place, and 
the Noble Lord remained in ig¬ 
norance of it, although in his im¬ 
mediate vicinity, how was he, 

I sitting in London, to prevent 
similar barbarities in Cornwall 
and in Yorkshire l Lord Cas- 
tlereagh, in answer to Mr. 
Brougham, said, 4 *' lie was sat s- 
j fled that none who w ere ac¬ 
quainted with bis disposition 
would accuse him of cruelty (the 
Members on the opposition 
benches loudly cried hear,'hear); 
and if cruelties and atrocities 
were perpetrated at that period 
—«fad which he did not deny — 


the blood which had been spilt, 
was on tlie bead of those who 
had encouraged and sanctioned 
that guilty and unnatural rebel¬ 
lion. At that eventful period the 
loyal were a persecuted party, and 
they struggled w ith such arms as 
nature and resentment gave tfrem, 
to save themselves from attacks 
on their lives and property. It 
was not to be wondered that in 
the heat of self-defence and j ustly 
excited anger, they should be 
carried beyond the strict bounds 
of discretion or mercy; and in the 
heat of the struggle , Government 
had no power to repress their loyal 
indignation. But it was most in¬ 
vidious and unmanly, at this dis¬ 
tance of time, when every indi¬ 
vidual, who had then conducted 
himself, ill might so long since 
have been brought to punishment 
if he deserved it, to stand up as 
the advocate of those whom Go¬ 
vernment, if it chose, might have 
consigned long since to the lash 
of the law. How could any man 
who had sat silent during the last 
20 years now rise up and expa¬ 
tiate on facts, which, if true, 
ought to have been, and would 
have been, long since the subject 
of impeachment ? It w as unmanly 
thus to countenance that spirit of 
calumny out of doors w hich had 
long prevailed on this subject, 
though without any just jounda - 
tion:’ 

Sir Francis Bitrdett said, no 
person but the Noble Lord could 
smile at the state of vile and ab¬ 
ject servitude to which they were 
reduced, w ho were removed from 
prison to prison, from one solitary 
dungeon to another, at the beck 
of the Noble Lord and his col¬ 
leagues. The Noble Ford, in¬ 
deed, might smile at the mention 







Hone’s Reformists’ Register 


807] 


[SOS 


of such tortures; and after the 
scenes he had gone th rough in Ire - 
land) might think them lenient. 
After such transactions* it was 
little to be wondered at, that the 
Noble Lord should be found 
transferring' men like cattle from 
one despot to another (for notwith¬ 
standing' all the Noble Lord might 
s<vy, lie [Sir F rancjs] would call 
despots despots), or taking- credit 
to himself for a deliberate viola¬ 
tion of the law of nations, 

Mr. Bennett said, if he would 
nor say that Government did most 
improper acts, yet they might 
have encouraged them. There 
was a supineness in the House on 
these subjects; but a man's 
heart must he colder than marble 
not to feel them ! 

During this discussion, some 
affidavits were read by, 1 believe, 
Sir Francis Burdett; in conse¬ 
quence of which, Lord Castik- 
itEAGH said, those affidavits, he 
understood, had come from Mr. 
Finnerty— against whom, IN 
VINDICATION OF HIS 
CHARACTER, he had found it 
necessary to institute LEGAL 
PROCEEDINGS for a libel . 

This prosecution was in 1811, 
and the alleged libel consisted, I 
believe, in imputing to Lord Cas- 
tlereagh, that be bad, from per¬ 
sonal malice and ill-will, and in 
order to injure, harass, and op¬ 
press Mr. Finnerty, issued an 
order, as Secretary of State, for 
Mr. Finnerty to be sent Lome 
from Walcheren, wjiitber be bad 
proceeded for the purpose of col¬ 
lecting materials for a history of 
the expedition; and it further 
charged tyranny, cruelty, and 
oppression, on the part of Lord 
Castlereagh, during Lord Cam- 
pent, Government in Ireland, to¬ 


wards Mr. Finnerty, and oth-ers, 
and in the execution of Mr. Orr.* 


* Mr. Finnerty published & 
pamphlet In Dublin, in 1797, on Mr. 
Orr’s case ; it was prosecuted as a 
libel, and be Was found guilty. Mr. 
Curran, in defending Mr. Finnerty, 
in one part of his speech, thus ad-* 
dressed the Jury :— 

<<r Let me suppose that you had 
known the charge upon which Mr. 
Orr was apprehended—the charge of 
abjuring that bigotry which had torn 
and disgraced his country—of pledging 
himself to restore the People of his 
country to their place in the Consti¬ 
tution—and of binding himself never 
to to be the betrayer of his fellow- 
labourers in that enterprise; that you 
had seen him upon that charge re¬ 
moved from his industry, and .con¬ 
fined in a gaol; that through the 
slow and lingering progress of twelve 
tedious months you had seen him con¬ 
fined in a dungeon, shut out from the 
common use of air and of his own 
limbs; that day after day you had 
marked the unhappy captive cheered 
by no sound but the cries of his fa¬ 
mily, or the clinking of chains ; that 
you had seen him at last brought to 
his trial; that you had seen the vile 
and perjured informer deposing against 
his life j that you had seen the 
drunken, and worn-out, and terrified 
Jury, give in a verdict of death ; that 
you bad seen the same Jury, when 
their returning sobriety had brought 
back their conscience, prostrate them¬ 
selves before the humanity of the 
bench, and pray that the mercy of the 
Crown might save their characters 
from the reproach of an involuntary 
crime, their consciences from the tor¬ 
ture of eternal self-condemnation, and 
their souls from the indelible stain of 
innocent blood. Let me suppose that 
you had seen the respite given, and 
that contrite and honest recommenda*- 
tion transmitted to that seat where 
mercy was presumed to dwell; that 








S09] -Jut.y 1 

Iii consequence of the Court of 
King’s Bench, before whom the 
indictment against Mr. Finnehty 
was to he tried, having: refused to 
put off the trial until liis witnesses 
arrived from Ireland, and else¬ 
where, Mr, FiNNTuiTY, after having 
attended at the Crown-office to see 
t he Jary strifek, andinquiredabout 
those whose names were upon the 
list? thought proper to decline go¬ 
ing to trial, and lot judgment go by 
default. On being brought up for 
judgment, he put in his own affi¬ 
davit, which, being in part read. 
Lord Ellenborough required 
him to amend by a future day, 

new and before unheard of crimes are 
discovered against the informer ; that 
the royal mercy seems to relent, and 
that a new respite is sent to the pri¬ 
soner; that time is taken, as the 
learned counsel for the Crown has ex¬ 
pressed it, to see whether mercy could 
be extended or not! that after that 
period of lingering deliberation passed, 
a third respite is transmitted ; that the 
unhappy captive himself feels the 
cheering hope of being restored to a 
family that he had adored, to a cha¬ 
racter that, he had never stained, and 
to a country that he had ever loved; 
that you had seen his wife and chil¬ 
dren upon their knees, giving those 
tears to gratitude, which their locked 
and frozen hearts could not give to 
anguish and despair, and imploring the 
blessings of eternal providence upon 
his head, who had graciously spared 
the father, and restored him to his 
children ; that you had seen the olive 
branch sent into his little ark, but no 
sign that the waters had subsided. 

“ Alas ! nor wife, nor children, more 
shall behold, nor friends, nor sacred 
home!” No seraph mercy unbars 
his dungeon, and leads him forth to 
light and life; but the minister of 
deatli hurries him to the scene of suf¬ 
fering and of shame; where, un¬ 
moved by the hostile array of artillery 


& LSI?, £810 

when he again appeared, and 
after much altercation, Mr. Fin- 
nerty said:— 

“ --~ When I Inst, ap¬ 

peared here, the first interruption £ 
experienced was from the informality 
of Dr. O’Coxxor’s affidavit ; provi¬ 
dentially I have received n more cor¬ 
rect one since, from Bandori; 1 now 
offer it. 

The Court. "Who is this O'Cox- 
xou ? 

Mr. Fixxerty. lie is a gentleman 
of respectability, who was, in the 
year 1T99, transported to Botany Bay, 
where he remained nine years, upon 
the mere warrant of Lord Castle- 

REAGIl. 

and armed men collected together, to 
secure, or to insult, or to disturb him, 
he dies with a solemn declaration of 
his innocence, and utters his last 
breath in a prayer for the liberty of 
his country. Let me now ask of you, 
if any of you had addressed the public- 
ear upon so foul and monstrous a sub¬ 
ject, in what language would you 
have conveyed the feelings of horror 
and indignation ?—would you have 
stooped to the meanness of qualified 
complaint ?—would you have been 
mean enough ?—but I entreat your 
forgiveness—I do not think meanly 
of you ; had I thought so meanly of 
you, I could not suffer my mind to 
commune with you as it has done; 
had I thought you that base and vile 
instrument, attuned by hope and b.y 
fear into discord and falsehood, from 
whose vulgar string no groan of suf¬ 
fering could vibrate, no voice of in¬ 
tegrity or honour could speak, let me 
honestly tell you, I should have 
scorned to fling my hand across it ,* I 
should have left it to a fitter minstrel: 
if I do not, therefore, grossly err in my 
opinion of you, 1 could use no lan¬ 
guage upon such a subject as this, 
that must not lag behind the rapidity 
of your feelings, and that would not 
disgrace those feelings, if it attempted 
to describe them.” 









sii] Honk’s Reform i 

LordELLENBORGUGH. 1 reject this. 

Mr. Finnerty. I must again re¬ 
quest to know upon what principle 
your Lordships mean to proceed to¬ 
wards me. The truth of a libel has 
been uniformly held by this Court to 
extenuate its guilt, and has always 
served to mitigate the punishment. 
Now either you believe the libel for 

J ' 

which I appear before you, to be true, 
br you do not. If the former, and 
that you will deal with me accord¬ 
ingly, you may reject this affidavit: 
I have no objection. But if the latter, 
how can you consistently exclude me 
from the opportunity, or deny me the 
right of producing such evidence as 
must remove your disbelief—as must 
do away even any apology for scep¬ 
ticism—as must convince you that I 
do not deserve punishment for cen¬ 
suring such a man ? If you do not 
believe Lord CasTlErEagii guilty to 
the extent that I have stated in the 
alleged libel, l pledge myself to pro- 
. duce—indeed, I have here before me, 
a host of affidavits, confirming on his 
part, atrocities so enormous, as no 
man can hear without invoking the 
throne of justice tor vengeance on his 
head. This Court has not acted upon 
such a principle: Lord Mansfield 
refused an information in General 
Plastoe’s ease, in consequence of the 
character of that officer, and because 
the statement complained of was true. 
J offer this affidavit to prove that every 
word in tiny publication is true. 

The Court. We will not hear it. 

Mr. FinnErty. Here, then, is the 
affidavit of Mr. Clare. 

The Court. Who is Clare? 

Mr. Finnerty. The affidavit will 
tell that. The description will take 
up as much time as the reading. It 
lias been sworn before a Judge of the 
King’s Bench in Ireland. 

Mr. Clare’s affidavit stated, that 
in the year 1798, various kinds of 
torture, such as whippings, picketings, 
half hangings, &c. &c. were practised 
in Dublin, close to the Castle gate, 
lie swore. also that Lord Castle- 


• ' < 

sis’ Register; [812 

reagii might have heard the cries of 
the sufferers in his office. 

I'he Court. Can it be en¬ 
dured, that such affidavits as this 
are to be put in, when w’e have ex¬ 
pressed our determination on the sub¬ 
ject, and given our advice ? 

MilGarrow. Certainly, my Lord, 
it ought not to be tolerated he is only 
uttering fresh libels. You have given 
this man eight days to amend his 
affidavit, and he has chosen to remain 
obstinate. 

The Court. Have you, sir, any 
inoffensive affidavits ? 

Mr. Finnerty. Noiie that are 
inoffensive with regard to Lord Cas- 
tlereagji, and none that are offensive, 
as I conceive, with regard to the law, 
or to this Court. In consequence of 
your Lordships’ dictum, that truth 
was no justification of a libel, anti 
that therefore I should not be allowed 
to prove the truth of my letter, I let 
judgment go by default: I did so, 
because I understood, that on being 
brought up for judgment, I might 
produce the truth in mitigation. This 
was no idle fancy of my own; it was 
built upon your precedents and prac¬ 
tice. Since your law was against 
me, I have deferred to it; but nothing 
on earth shall induce me to make any 
submission to Lord Castlereagii. 
No, no, my Lords, remember your 
own words in the case of Jones : 
“ You have thornht fit to charge ki$ 
Lordship with acting in that high office 
from motives of personal ill-will to¬ 
wards a private individual, and of 
having made use of his authority and 
infiuehce, as Secretary of State, to 
harass and oppress such individual, 
in ?uch a way, as, if true, would 
not only render him unfit to fill 
that high station in which he had been 
placed, but would prove kirn so base an 
individual, that no gentleman could as¬ 
sociate with him." —This was the lan¬ 
guage of your Lordship, addressed to 
Mr. Jones, when pronouncing sen¬ 
tence upon him for a libel upon Lord 
Castlereagii, in consequence of my 





833] 

letter. Now I am ready to prove, 
that Castlereagh does deserve the 
description, which your Lordship 
charges me with applying to him, 
of being the basest of individuals. 
And will you then punish me for cen¬ 
suring the conduct of such a man ? 

The Court.— We cannot hear this. 
You may now utter fresh libels 
against Lord Castlereagh, which he 
can have no opportunity of rebutting. 

Mr. Finnerty. 1 thought I had 
fully obviated this objection about 
“ fresh libels.” But, in fact. Lord 
Castlereagh has an opportunity of 
rebutting my “ fresh libels,” as you 
term them 3 lbf he can, as was done 
in Draper’s case, put in counter affi¬ 
davits, if in his power to produce 
them. Nay, more 5 he will, by the 
admission of my affidavits, be afforded 
the opportunity, not only of repelling 
the charges contained in these affi¬ 
davits, but of punishing for perjury 
those by whom the charges are made, 
it such charges are unfounded. Thus, 
if you receive my affidavits, the Noble 
Lord will have the means, not only 
of vindicating his own character, but 
of exhibiting his accusers to universal 
infamy. Do, then, in justice to Cas- 
tlereagii, as well as in justice to me, 
allow these affidavits to be read. 1 
have shown you, that if they are false, 
they can produce no evil but to those 
with whom they originate 3 and if 
they are true, I ask you, in the name 
of all that is sacred, how can you 
reconcile it to your conscience to send 
me to a gaol for uttering the truth 
against such a man ? Will you hear 
my affidavits ? 

Lord LeI/EN borough. 3 said be¬ 
fore that we should not receive any 
affidavits of the same character and 
to the same purport as those you have 
already offered. 

Mr. Finnerty. I will then state 
the purport of a few, and your Lord- 
ships can receive or reject them as 
they proceed. I have here an affi¬ 
davit of a father and son having been 
tortured side by side, in Dublin, 


[Si4 

under Lord Castlereaoii’s Govern¬ 
ment, in the year 1798. The affi¬ 
davit is from the father. Will you 
allow it to be read ? 

The Court. No. 

Mr. Finnerty. Here is another 
affidavit from a Mr. Hughes, whom 
Castlereagh saw one or two days 

•i 

after the torture had been inflicted ; 
his back raw with the scourge ; his 
shirt one^mass of blood, and his coat 
hanging loosely around liinl. 

The Court. Why, this is contu¬ 
macy to the Court. 

Mr. Finnerty. 1 wish not to 
offer any contumacy 3 I desire not to 
repel your judgment, hut to vindicate 
my own character. That character is 
dearer to me than life, and in compa¬ 
rison with its loss, any punishment 
within power’s limits to inflict, has 
little terrors for me. I offer to prove 
the truth of all my statements.—Ac¬ 
cording to your law, I may be called 
a libeller 3 but if I had not these affi¬ 
davits to produce, I might be called a 
liar also. The latter is an odious cha¬ 
racter, in every state of society 3 but I 
do not know that in the present state 
of England, a libel upon a public man 
furnishes any presumptive evidence 
against the morality or judgment of 
the author. I am, therefore, moue 
anxious to rescue myself from the 
imputation of the one than of the other. 
Since the Court does not think proper 
to hear the whole of the affidavit of 
Hughes, 1 will proceed to another. 

Mr. Justice Le Blanc. Let the 
clerk rea«l the affidavits, sir. 

Mr. Dixon’s Affidavit stated, that 
he was a yeoman in 17*98 j that 
he saw three peasants whipped and 
tortured without trial— 

The Court. What does this 
prove ? 

Mr. Finnerty. It goes on to state 
that these cruelties were committed 
with Castlereagh’s sanction and 
privity. 

The Court. You have been often 
told that these things were irrelevant. 
Do not compd. us to send you back to 


July 19, 1817. 




615] Honk’s Reformists* Register. [81 (> 


prison till next term, in order that you 
may come hero to receive our judg¬ 
ement in a becoming manner. 

The affidavits produced by Mr. 
FinnRrty, on the day he received 
bis sentence of 18 months’impri¬ 
sonment in Lincoln gaol, are, I 
presume, those which Lord Cas- 
teereagh alluded to as having 
been read against hint in the 

o 

House of Commons, when he 
said he felt himself called upon, 
in vindication of his own charac¬ 
ter, to institute the above-men¬ 
tioned proceedings against Mr. 
Finnerty. Mr. Finnerty, how¬ 
ever, said ta Court, “ If the vin¬ 
dication of (diameter —if genuine 
iustice were Lord Castlereagii’s 
object, an action would have 
been his course of proceeding; 
because, ds the enlightened editor 
of Blackstone’s Commentaries ob¬ 
serves—‘ The chief excellence of 
the civil action for a libel con¬ 
sists in this, that it not only 
affords a repartition for the in¬ 
jury sustained, but is a full vin¬ 
dication of the innocence of the 
person traduced.’ But the mo¬ 
tives of my prosecutor for de¬ 
clining to brum an action arc ob- 
vious. They speak a volume to 
every intelligent mind. They 
show most clearly, that he sought 
only to gratify resentment; but 
did not think it prudent to ha¬ 
zard an investigation of charac¬ 
ter, and therefore chose to avail 
himself of the doctrine, that £ the 
greater the truth the greater 
.the libel.’” So that, as to the 
mode of prosecution adopted by 


Lord "Castlereach for vlndicctr 
ting his character, there was va¬ 
riance of opinion between his 
Lordship and Mr. Finnerty. 

In conclusion of his speech 
on Friday, Lord Castlereach 
said,—“ If there had been airy 
'punishment of the rind, he would 
agree in calling it TORTURE; 
hut there hud been none such in 
Ireland* He abhorred torture for 
the purpose of extorting truth as 
much as the Hon. Gent, did ; but 
such a practice had never pre¬ 
vailed In Ireland. The punish¬ 
ments had been punishments for 
offences committed, and had been 
the means of saving the country 
from much bloodshed: but while 
he vindicated the IRISH GO - 
VERN.MENTagainst the charge 
rf inflicting TORTURE, he 
must at the same time say, that 
he had not been present at any of 
the punishments in question . lie 
had never in the course of his 
life seen any punishment of the 
kind alluded to inflicted, except 
in his own militia regiment.” 

The printed speeches of Mr. 
Curran, delivered in Ireland, 
speak of the use of TORTURE 
as familiar. In one he said,—- 
“ He did not wonder that the pa- 
Irons of burning and TORTURE 
should be vexed that their fa¬ 
vourite instruments were not em¬ 
ployed in recruiting for rebel¬ 
lion.” And, again, speaking of 
the abatement of the troubles, 
and of their attendant horrors, he 
most eloquently says,—“ I see no 
frightful spectacle of infuriated 







R17] 

power or suffering Immunity—/ 
see no TORTURES—l hear no 
shrieks —I no longer see the 
human heart charred in the flame 
of its own wild and paltry pas¬ 
sions—black and bloodless—ca¬ 
pable only of catching' arid com¬ 
municating' that destructive fire 
by which it devours and is itself 
devoured;' Here, therefore, in 
the popular speeches of Mr. Cur¬ 
ran, are allusions to it as a well- 
known practice in Ireland : yet, 
in 1801, Lord Castlereagii as¬ 
serted in the House of Commons, 
‘ k that TORTURE never was in¬ 
flicted in Ireland with the know¬ 
ledge, authority, or approbation 
of Government/’ But Mr* John 
Claudius Beresford, a member 
of tlie Government, observed, 
that “ it was unmanly to deny 
TORTURE , as it was notoriously 
practised in order to .obtain con¬ 
fessions and Lord Clare, the 
Irish Lord Chancellor , avowed 
TORTURE in tlie House of 
Lords, and endeavoured to jus¬ 
tify it. 

My object in bringing these 
statements together, is to enable 
my readers to judge for them¬ 
selves respecting charges of 
TORTURE, which have been 
often urged, particularly of late ; 
and on which, from want of in¬ 
formation, or precise recollec¬ 
tion, persons have been slow in 
forming an opinion. It is a very 
tender, subject to remark upon; 


[818 

and therefore 1 shall close this 
Number and the Volume to<re- 
ther, purposing to commence my 
next with one less painful,.and 
of equal interest. 

WILLIAM HONE, 

6 7, Old Bailey, 

1 6th July, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

The first Volume of the Re - 
FORMiSTs’ Register being now 
concluded , may be had , Price 
Five Shillings , in extra boards* 


I beg to inform Country Inquirers, who 
desire to have the Reformists' Register , 
that they should give their orders for it to 
country Booksellers, most of whom have 
usually a parcel of various publications 
every week from their agents in town, and 
these town agents will procure and for¬ 
ward the Register , in their weekly parcels, 
regularly; but Booksellers, and persons in 
the country, who take the Reformists' Re¬ 
gister to sell' again, may have them for¬ 
warded in any Way they point out, by re^ 
mitting with the order, or appointing pay¬ 
ment by some person in London, at stated 
periods. r . 


TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

I cannot this week pay due attention to 
several Correspondents. In the next Re¬ 
gister, which will be the first Number of 
the new Volume , I purpose noticing various 
Communications. W. H. 


July 19,1817; 








INDEX TO VOL. I. 


Agricultural report of the distresses, 399. 

America, South, its emancipation antici¬ 
pated, 315. 

Aifnari, &c. representation of, 266. 

Annual Parliaments, 4 !—Contended for by 
Sir F. Burdett, 67 —and Mr. Brougham, 
113. 

Armagnac, the Princes d', cruelties inflicted 
on them, 345. 

Ass, great, Lord Cochrane’s adventure 
with the, 577* 

Barham, i. F., on the suspension of the 
Habeas Corpus Act, 75. 

B^tille in France described, 342, 344. 

Be ckett, J., the Under Secretary, my inter¬ 
view with him, 727. 

Bennett, Hon. H. G., his imputations 
against Cord Castlereagh, 201,801 -— On 
the reports and the spies, 754. 

Bentham's, J., Reform Catechism, extract 
from, 519- 

Birmingham Petition for Reform, 444. 

Bishops, a lecture to, 521 

Blaskstone, Sir YV., on arbitrary imprison¬ 
ment, 343. 

Blood-money men, 403. 

Boiingbroke, Lord, on the corruption of 
Parliament, 213, 277- 

Bqroughmongers and the state trials, 711 . 

Boswell, A., an anti-Reformist, 265, 268. 

Brougham, IL, declares his enmity to uni¬ 
versal suffrage, 16,41, 104—His former 
written declaration for annual Parlia¬ 
ments and suffrage extepsive as taxation, 
114—Attacks Major Cartwright, 108, &c. 
—His vacillation, 125. 

Burdett’s, Sir F., notice on Reform, G— 
His plan of Reform, 66 —His first, re¬ 
turn for Westminster, 68 —His speech 
2X Westminster, on the address to the 
Regent, 89—and on the suspension of 
tin: Habeas Corpus Act, 167—Presents 
nearly a waggon load of petitions to the 
House, 204—His description of cruelties 
in Cold-bath-fields prison, 346—Speech 
on Reform, 587, 634—on solitary con¬ 
finement, 757. 

Burke, E., on rotten boroughs, 253—on 
early Reform, 27 6 . 

Butcher’s horse, 153. 

Butt, R. Gr, caricatured by Berenger, 619 . 

Buixlon, l 7 ., on Spitalfields distress, 405. 

Caleraft, J., on Parliamentary attention to 
distress, 236. 

Canning’s, G., Parody, 513—invited to the 
King’s Bench Prison, 516. 

Carteret, Lord, on rotten boroughs, 272. 

Cartwright, Major, defended against Mr. 
Brougham’s attacks, 121. 

Casey, Mr., of Liverpool, and Col. Caw- 
thorne, 387- 

Cashmau’s, John, Execution, 228. 


Castle’s, J., cross-examination, 683—Ifis 
conduct, 705. 

Castlereagh, Lord,, his manner qf leaving 
the House, after throwing the Green Bag 
on the table, 59 —Charges against him 
by Mr. Bennett, 198 —Torture, 801. 

Causes of our present condition, by R. Mr 
622. 

Cawtihorne, Col. J.F., some account of him, 
390. 

Chatham, Lord, on potten boroughs, 253.’ 

Cheap Repository Tracts, 324. 

Chesterfield, Lord, on rotten boroughs,271. 

Child-murder, Sir G. G. Paid, on, 627. 

Christian Club at Shoreliana, 184. 

Clubs, convivial, 4T4. 

Cobbett, \y., his alleged horsewhipping a 
lie, 257—His departure for America, 317 
—His readers addressed,321---His address 
on leaving England, 331—My last inter¬ 
view with him, 333—His advantages and 
conduct as a public writer, 337—Mean¬ 
nesses of his enemies, 37.0—His last re¬ 
quests, 371 — His and Milton’s conduct 
compared, 409. 

Cochrane,. Lord, presents several Petitions 
for Reform, 12 —Moves an aiuendment 
to the address, 25—Defends universal 
suffrage, 105--Reads in the House of Com¬ 
mons Mr. Brougham’s Declaration, 136 
—Is the probable liberator of South 
America, 315—The executions at bis 
Louse at Holly-Hill, 577. 

Cold-bath-field’s prison, cruelties and deaths 
there, 346. 

Coleridge, S. T., on land-graspers and 

mammonists, 407. 

Collingridge, S., his Special Jury Lists, 

788 . 

Committee of Secresy, with their places 
and pensions, a list of, 61. 

Commops, House of, how composed, ^3,559. 

Cornwall County Meeting for Reform, 297 . 

Courier newspaper, 54—Its taunts on the 
poor Manchester men, 3 . 77 . 

Crown and Anchor Society for preserving 
liberty and property, sends me a compli¬ 
mentary letter, 180—Publishes a parody 
of the Church Catechism, 1.01. 

Curran, R. P., on Reynolds and other In¬ 
formers, 7u$. 

De Foe, Dan., not the author of the History 
of Addresses, 2.94, vote. 

Dixon, Sam, compared to my bad pen, 779 
—A select Special Juryman, ibid. 

Douglas, Rev. Niel, his acquittal, 618- 

Douglas, W. R. K., and the wiser people of 
.Scotland, 265. 

Dying disorderly and orderly, 392*.' 

Edinburgh City, representation of, 261. 

-County, representation of, 26$. 

Electioneering scene, by Foote, 179 . 






821] 

England not to be despaired of, and why, 
313. 

Evans, Dr. Caleb, bis argument against 
passive obedience, 452. 

Evans’s, 1'., view of the Surry hills, 758. 

Evesham, representation for, 20b'. 

Examiner newspaper, on the Report of 
the Committee of Secresy, 16'2—On 
Boroughmongers, 7.11—On the re-sus- 
pension of the Habeas Corpus Act, 752 
— Its parallel between Milton and Cob- 
bett examined, 40f>. 

Fawkes’s, Walter, Englishman’s Manual 
noticed, 194—On Parliamentary corrup¬ 
tion and the French Revolution, 275— 
His endeavours for a meeting in York¬ 
shire, 28.9- 

Finnerty’s, P., charges of torture against 
Lord CaStlereagh, 807. 

Fox, Mr., on the revival of liberty after 
the murder of Sydney, 173—His invita¬ 
tions to the People afttir the Gagging 
Bills, 373. 

Freedom of the Press, 361. 

French Revolution, Mr. Walter Fawkes and 
Earl Grosvenor on the, 275. 

Gatton, representation of, 250. 

Gearv, Sir SV., on votes and elections, 23G. 

Governors and the Governed, a dialogue, 
534. 

Gray, S., suggests eating horseflesh, 247. 

Green Bag. 158. 

Grey, Earl, on Reform, and the efficacy of 
Parliament, 151—On the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act, 197—On the 
Parodies, 513. 

Grosvenor, Earl, on the French Revolution, 
27G. 

Guardian newspaper on parodies, 613. 

Habeas Corpus Act suspended in 1795, 53 
—in 1817, 161, 167—re-suspended, 751. 

Hall, Rev. R .,011 the freedom of the press, 
SGI. 

Hatchard, J., bookseller, his Tract Society 
men described, 326. 

Hay and Turner, and Nicholls the Attor¬ 
ney, 730. 

Higgjns’s, Godfrey, excellent address to the 
Gentlemen of Yorkshire, 93. 

Holland, Lord, on Reform, 155—On the 
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, 
195. 

Hotiiton, its corruption, 20, 577- 

Horseflesh recommended by Mr. Gray, 
247. 

Howard, J., on d?spo!ism, 343. 

Uchester, state of the representation there, 
]43-u_0j;e hundred houses pulled down, 
to limit the voters, ibid. 178—Men¬ 
tioned in the House by Lord Cochrane, 
208. 

Illuminati, new, by R. M., 793, 

Imprisonment described by Treacle, 75.9. 

Ireland, torture iftijeted there; W9> '80 1 . 


[822 

James II., anecdotes of, 419,422. 

Jefferies, Judge, his cruelties, 422. 

Jesus, a character of, 43G. 

Jurymen, Sir R. Phillips’s Golden Rules 
for them, 762. 

Justus, to the Friends of Freedom and Phi¬ 
lanthropy, 67 L 

Keck, L’egh, calls Oliver the spy moral, 

735-Called in return Mr. Morality 

Keck, 787. 

Knights of Brunswick at Norwich, 471* 

Lancaster, representation of, 388. 

Laud’s, Abp., fate, a warning, 436. 

Lauderdale, Earl of, on the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus Act, 196“. 

Legion letter to the Speaker, 273. 

Letter from a Yorkshire bookseller, 295. 

Lincoln, representation of, 389. 

Loffr, C., Letter from him on Reform, 318. 

London Merchants’, Bankers’, andTradtrs* 
Declaration, 63. 

Lord, a, and a Lickspittle, 759. 

Louis XI. and Tristan I’Hermite, his cru^l 
minion, 344. 

Loyalists and Loyalty, 322, 438. 

Maconochie, Mr., invited to see the politi¬ 
cal situation of England, 227—How and 
why he came into Parliament, 264—His 
remarks against Reform, 26'5. 

Manchester arrests, 240—Petition and Pe¬ 
titioners, 375, 408. 

Manners, Sir W,, pulls down 100 houses at 
IU hester, and puts the inhabitants in a 
workhouse, 144, 178. 

Martin’s, St., parish, distress there, 239. 

Melksham, in Wiltshire, distress there, 237* 

Michael’s, St., representation of, 207* 

Military operations at Manchester, 240. 

Milton’s mock funeral, 410. 

More, Miss H., a ballad by, 3.91. 

Morning Chronicle , its excellent article on 
Lord Sidnjouth’s Circular, 411. 

Murray, Rev. J., on Romans, chap, xiii., 
425—On Tithes, 501—On Bishops, 52 k 

Murray, Lord James, his evidence respect¬ 
ing the attack on the Regent, 7> 12. 

Names and addresses of my 144 Special 
Jurymen, 739. 

Napoleon, 270. 

Nero, and the Rev. D. Wilson, 420. 

Nicholls, the Attorney, 730. 

Norfolk counter Declaration, how signed, 
477. 

Nug2fi't, Lord, would rather see the coun¬ 
try revolutionized than enslaved, 755. 

Oldmixon, J., author of the History ol Ad¬ 
dresses, 294, note. 

Old woman and the Ministers, 609- 

Oliver the spy’s visit to Mr. Wpoler and me 
i>n the King’s Bench, 723—( tiled moral 
by Mr. Keck, 785—His agency in York¬ 
shire, 786—Lines, Epitaph and Charac¬ 
ter of him, 749. 

Out* and Tns, 33. 


INDEX 




INDEX. 



Paley’s Reasons for Contentment, 3.93. 

Parodies on the Athanasian Creed* Litany, 
&c. mere political squibs, 189—Parodies, 
the publication of them stopped by me, 
192—Parodies formerly published, where 
and by whom, 191. 217—Loyal Parody 
on theTe 1 )eum, 2 1H—On Parodies, 513, 
609—A Parody from Macbeth, 616. 

Passive obedience and non-resistance 
preached by the Rev. D. Wilson, 419- 

Paul, Sir G.O., on Child Murder, 627. 

Pearson's, C., Motion in the Common 
Council on Special Juries, 778. 

Petition of W. Hone (communicated), 787. 

Petitioning recommended, 25G. 

Phillips’s, Sir R., Golden Rules for Jury¬ 
men, 762. 

Pitt, Mr., on official ignorance, 274. 

Pitt, Mr., bequeathed us his storm, 325. 

Pitt Club, and the Pilot that weather’d the 
storm, 617* 

Plytnpton-Earle, representation of, 2G3. 

Poetry. 

Song, Mr. Southey, 157. 

Famishing, by Justus, 382. 

To R. Southey, by E. Rustiton, 633. 

Liberty, by WVCowper* 734. 

Oliver, 7.99- 

Epitaph arid character of him, 800. 

Rashleigh, J. C., his able speech at the 
Cornwall CountyMecting foi Reform,296. 

Reeves, J., the King ? s printer, publishes a 
Parody on the Catechism, 191. 

Reform in Parliament, 2, 6—The House’s 
treatment of, 12,35* 205—Parliamentary 

opinions respecting, 26, 31, 37—Sir F. 
Burdett’s plan of, 66. 

Regent, the, attacked-on opening the ses¬ 
sion, 4—Ilis Speech to both Houses, ib. 
—His Message on .certain practices, 49— 
Compared to Belshazzar, King of Ba¬ 
bylon, 618. 

Reports of the Committees of Secresy, 
158, 162—Thrown on the floor of the 
House hv Mr. Bennett, 200, 

Representation, complete view of, 559* 

Reynolds, T., the Informer, 711—Proposed 
fora Cabinet Minister, 782. 

Rich and Poor, 393. 

Richelieu, Cardinal, his apartment for 
secret murder, 344. 

Rotherhithe. distress there, 237. 

Rotting of the People, 327* 

Rushton, E., and R. Southey, 633. 

Rutherford’s, S., Lex Hex, 451. 

Sacheverel’s non-resisting notions punished, 
466. 

Shoreham, Christian club there, 184. 

Sidmouth’s, Lord, circular concerning pub¬ 


lications, 355, 411—Caricature of him, 
360—Oliver the spy, his agent, 785. 

Sidney, Algernon, 176. 

Slop, Dr., appearance of his ghost in Crane- 
court, Fleet-street, 222. 

Smith, W., on the suspension of the Habeas 
Corpus Act, 1,97. 

Southey, R., and Wat Tyler, 157—and E. 
Rushton, 638. 

Spa-fields row, an inflammatory hand¬ 
bill, 63. 

Spies, 705, 769—Their character, 734. 

Sterne’s Captive, 341. 

Sumner’s H., description of Evans’s view 
of the Surry hills, 758. 

Sun newspaper plot, 159. 

Surry hills, my view of thctii from the 
King’s Bench Prison, 750—Evans’s from 
Horsetnonger-lane gaol, 758. 

Times newspaper, oil the rotting of the 
People, 327. 

Tithes, a lecture, 501. 

Tooke, J. II., on Ex-officio informations, 
646. 

Torture in Ireland, witnessed by Sir R. 
Wilson, 249—Details respecting, 801. 

Tradesman, his distress, 403. 

Treasonable papers sent to me, &c. 726. 

Trenck’s, Baron, description of his impri¬ 
sonment, 759. 

Universal Suffrage the prayer of the Peti¬ 
tions for Reform, 39—See Brougham. 

Verdun, Bishop of, bis iron cages, 345. 

Ward, lion. W., opposes Refer til, 142. 

Westminster Electors, how they returned 
Sir F. Burdett, 68—Thfeir Address to the 
Regent, on the insults to his person, 37 
—Meet to petition against the suspen¬ 
sion of the Habeas Corpus Act, 16— 
Their Address to (he Regent, to dismiss 
his Ministers, 254. 

Westminster counter Declaration against 
Reform, the persons signing it de¬ 
scribed, 2 iO. 

Wilson, Rev. D., his slave-making Sermon 
examined, 419> 449- 

Wilson, Sir R. on the present system, £43* 

Wood, Sir Mark, sole Proprietor, Magis¬ 
trate, Churchwarden, Overseer, Vestry¬ 
man, Collector of Taxes, and sole Voter, 
of the borough of Gatton, 251. 

Wooler, T. J., on the Parodies, 612—Ilis 
trials and triumph, 643—New trial, 681 
—Ilis liberation, 737- 

Yarmouth, representation of, 262. . 

Yorkshire meeting for Reform proposed, 
289—Arts used to frustrate it, 290 —Ad¬ 
dress in Queen Anne’s time, 294—Pre¬ 
sent state of the county., 295. 


END OF VOLUME 1. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be addressed. 
—Price Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. lbs. per Thousand, 











Price Two-Pence. 


HONE'S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 1 •] Saturday, July 20,1817. [Vol. 11. 


MORE 

POLITICAL 

PRIESTCRAFT. 


THE LORD MAYOR'S CHAP¬ 
LAIN, the Rev. G. F. RATES, 
preaches cm ANTI-REFORM SER¬ 
MON before his Lordship, fyc., at 
St. Paul's—The Common Council 
refuse to thank him for it—Preface 
and Dedication of the Sermon as if 
thanked—Discussion in the Common 

Council thereon - City Sermons 

cost *£200. or ^300. a Year to 
print—made into Thread-papers--- 
Mr. Chaplain BATES calls Moses 
and Ezra Christians, Egypt a City, 
and Conquest lawful— (Suppose Na¬ 
poleon had conquered England?) — 
Attacks the Reformists—Exhorts 
his Congregation, consisting of the 
Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Serjeants at 
Law, Sheriffs, Common Council, &c. 
against Rebellion !!!- The Dis¬ 

tressed and the Distresses—Im¬ 
putes to Providence the Crimes of 
Men—Mr. Coleridges affecting Nar¬ 
ratives ; Men displaced for Sheep — 
The sacred Character—The fVolf 
and the Lamb—Human and Lord 

Castlereagh - Boiling Lobsters - 

The Shadow of the Constitution — 
Chaplain BATES'S cowardly At¬ 
tack on me—Title and Dedication 
of a Church and King Parody on 
the Te Deirni—Notice respecting 
Mr. RATES. 

A SERMON TO ASSES— recom¬ 


mended to Mr. Chaplain BATES, 
and his Admirers. 


It is especially necessary 
when the Clergy fly ovt that they 
should be reminded of their 
duty; and therefore, when the 
Rev. Daniel Wilson, M. A., Mi¬ 
nister of St.John’s Chapel, Bed¬ 
ford Row, preached a slave - 
making Sermon, about three 
months ago, I took occasion to 
give that gentlemen a Lecture, 
in two successive Registers,* 
which I have no doubt has very 
much bene fit ted him. I have now 
to notice another of these high - 
flying gentlemen ; and, being no 
ceremony-monger, shall do it 
forthwith. May my present la¬ 
bours have the like good effect 
upon this object of my admoni¬ 
tion! 

On June the 8th, the first Sun¬ 
day in Trinity Term, the Right 
Hon. the Lord Mayor of London, 
the JUDGES, the Worshipful the 
Aldermen, the Serjeants at Law, 
the Sheriffs, the Common Coun¬ 
cil of the City, and its Officers* 
went to the Cathedral Church of 
St. Paul, according to annual 
custom, and there heard a Ser¬ 
mon preached by the Reverend 
George Ferne Bates, M. A. the 
Lord Mayor’s Chaplain. At a sub¬ 
sequent Court of Common Coun¬ 
cil, the thanks of the Court were 

* Vol. I. No. 14. p. 417. and No. IS, 
| p.449. 


Printed by and for W.Hone, b7>01d Bailey,London. 
































3] IIone’s Reformists’ Register. .[4 


moved to the Chaplain, for his 
.Sermon, according also to cus¬ 
tom ; which thanks, instead of 
being voted, likewise according 
to custom, were refused, wholly 
refused; the Court being of opi¬ 
nion. the Sermon was improper, 
and expressing their decided dis¬ 
approbation of it. 

Notwithstanding* this decision 
of the Court of Common Coun¬ 
cil, and just as if nothing bad 
happened, Mr. Chaplain Bates’s 
Serbian was printed, at ike ex- 
pense of the City , with the fol¬ 
lowing Preface on the leaf im- 
mediately following the title- 
page. 1 give the whole of it, 
verbatim, without the emission of 
a word ; and thus it begins:— 

(Copy) 

WOOD, Mayor. 

Tuesday, the 10th Day of .1 une, 16-17, 
and iu the Fifty-seventh Year of 
the Reign of George the Third', of 
the United Kingdom of Great Bri¬ 
tain and Ireland King, &c. 

Resolved unanimously. 

That the Thanks of this Court 
be given to the Rev. George Febne 
Rates, M. A., Chaplain to the Right 
Honourable the Lord Mayor, for his 
excellent Sermon, preached before this 
Court at the Cathedral Church of 
St. Paul, on Sunday, the 8 th Day of 
June, being the first Sunday in Tri¬ 
nity Term 3 and that he be desired to 
print the same, and cause a Copy 
thereof to be sent to every Member 
oi tliis Court, and City Officers. 

W OCDTilORPE. 

i here ends the Preface and the 
contents of that leaf, and the 
next leaf begins with a Dedica¬ 
tion, as follows:— 


(Copy) 

TO TIIE t 

Right Honhle . MATTHEW WOOD > 
Lord Mayor; 

The Worshipful the Aldermen,, 
The Sheriffs, 

AND 

The Common Council of the City of 
London, 

THIS 

SERMON. 

Is respectfully inscribed. 

At the Common Council of 
Thursday, the 17th instant,. Mr.. 
Fwell complained that the Re¬ 
solution printed in front of the 
Sermon was not true, inasmuch 
as the Court had not voted sx>ch 
Resolution.. Mr. Dixon said the 
words “ this Court ” referred to 
the Court oi Aldermen, Mr. Fa- 
vell said the Court of Aldermen 
was not mentioned, as by refer¬ 
ence to the Resolution printed 
above will appear; and it is also 
worthy of remark, that the Ser¬ 
mon is respectf ully inscribed in 
the next leaf, by Mr. Chaplain 
Bates, to the Common Council; 
and thus, by the Resolution of 
Thanks, and Dedication, it would 
appear that the Common Council 
gave Mr. Chaplain Bates their 
thanks, instead of having refused 
them. Mr. Favell, therefore, in 
order, as he said, that the Court 
of Common Council might riot 
slip into the fame which the 
Court of Aldermen seemed to 
covet, moved, « That in future 
the Resolutions of the Court of 
Aldermen shall not be printed 
along with the Resolutions of 
this Court, unless so ordered by 
this Court.” Mr. Waitiiman* 
supported the motion. lie said 
the City paid out of its exhausted 





»] July 20,1817. [o 


funds from £‘200. to £300. a year, 
for printing Sermons which were 
never read, or, indeed, seen,, by 
most of the Members of the Court. 
It was a most useless expense. 
He had applied to the oldest and 
most religious Members of the 
Court, to get a peep at one of 
them, without effect. This ex¬ 
cited his curiosity to know what 
became of these documents . He 
inquired amongst the officers of 
the Court, and here the answer 
was—Oh—the Sermons—they 
“ make very good thread-papers 
“ for my little girl!” He could 
not think the Court of Aldermen 
would unanimously approve of 
such a Sermon, more especially 
as the Lord Mayor w as one of its 
Members. Mr. Dixon said the 
stir made about the Sermon 
served to advertise it, and pro¬ 
mote the interest of the preacher; 
for he had been asked by many 
persons where it was to he got. 
Mr. Waithman replied that he 
well knew the discussions in that 
Court were calculated to serve 
the interests of the Reverend 
Gentleman—no man could be so 
dull as not to understand that ; 
but whatever might he the re¬ 
sult with respect to the Reverend 
Gentleman’s interests, it was for 
the Members of that Court to do 
their duty. After seeing such 
infamous wretches as Reynolds 
and Oliver applauded and re¬ 
warded, could it be doubted that 
any individual who chooses to 
attach the rights of the People 
will obtain the favour of the pre¬ 
sent Government? 

Mr. Oldham Oldham lias since 
given notice, that with a view to 
prevent discussions respecting 
these Sermons, as well as to save 
the money mentioned by Mr. 


Wattiiman, he intends moving, 
that no more Sermons be printed 
out of tlie City funds; 

I have obtained a copy of the 
Sermon which has excited this 
discussion, it fully warrants the 
Common Council in withholding 
their thanks from the Lord 
Mayor’s Chaplain for preaching 
it;—and, by the by, where his 
Lordship picked up this Chap¬ 
lain may perhaps be asked, with¬ 
out meaning offence to his Lord- 
ship, whose conduct, during both 
his Mayoralties, is most excellent 
and praiseworthy* His Lordship 
is a man of the People, and for 
the People; but his Chaplain is 
of another cast : lie belongs to 
a privileged order; he seems to 
think himself of a class to whom, 
as Sir Francis Burdett said at 
a late Westminster Meeting, 
Algernon Sidney would not 
allow the right to rule, unless 
they could prove they were bom 
ready booted and spurred to ride 
the People, and that the. People 
Were born with saddles on their 
backs, ready to be ridden. 

Mr. Chaplain Bates preached 
this Sermon in the Cathedral 
Church of the Metropolis, only 
three days after the memorable 
trial ejf Mr. Wooler in Guild¬ 
hall, and the very day before that 
whereon the State Prisoners were 
to be tried for hi oh treason in the 
Court of King’s Bench, West¬ 
minster; and what must not he 
forgotten, he preached it before 
the Judges who were to try them . 
The Chaplain’s Sermon, now be¬ 
fore me, I shall remark on 
from the beginning, and finish 
with it at the end. 

The Title, which, as the Ser¬ 
mon is not to he sold, lias no 
bocksellor’s name, the Preface, 



7] 

the Dedication, and the blank 
pages, occupy the first eight 
pages. On the ninth page, Mr. 
Chaplain Bates takes the fol¬ 
lowing verse for his text:— 

“ Whosoever will not do the 
“ law of thy God, and the law oj 
“ the King, let judgment he exe- 
14 cuted speedily upon him , ic/ie- 
“ it he unto death, or to 6«- 
“ niskment > or to confiscation oj 
“ goods, or to imprisonment 

The Sermon thus commences— 
“ The history of the Christian 
u Church has upon record several 
“ instances of God’s timely in- 
44 tcrposition in the season of her 
“ depression. But two are more 
44 singularly eminent, as taking 
“ place at those particular eras 
“ which serve more decidedly to 
“ mark his goodness ; and to 
“ which we may refer for direc- 
“ tion, under any similar circum- 
“ stances. Those 1 allude to, are 
“ the histories of Moses and 
“ Ezra.” Most unluckily the 
Chaplain forgot that the histories 
of Moses and Ezra are of men 
under the Jewish, and not under 
the Christian church. Mr. Chap¬ 
lain Bates having blundered on 
the very threshold, in the very 
first paragraph of his discourse, 
blunders again in the same pa¬ 
ragraph. He says, 44 Two of the 
“ greatest cities in the known 
44 world, and at that time the most 
“ remarkable for learning, power, 
“ ami wealth, i. e. Egypt and Ba- 
44 byion, were the birth-places of 
“ these men.”f Now Egypt was 
not a city, but was a nation—a land 
of many cities : when the dearth 
was,'Joseph gathered up all the 
food “ in the land of Egypt, and 

* Ezra, \ ii. Jtf. 

f Sermon, page 10, 


[8 

laid up the food in the cities.”% 
These obvious trips in the first 
paragraph, are only harbingers 
of the Reverend Chaplain’s er¬ 
rors on more material points, 
which he enforces with the au¬ 
thority of one under a due sense 
of his preaching before great 
men, in a great church, on a 
great occasion. 

After detailing, to the great 
edification of the Lord Mayor, the 
Judges, the Aldermen, the Ser¬ 
jeants at Law, the Sheriffs, the 
Common Council, and the City" 
Officers, the history and labours 
of Ezra, and what he compiled 
and copied in the Chaldaic lan¬ 
guage, which the Chaplain says 
was the old Phoenician, from 
which he also says the Greek 
was borrowed, and that it is 
used in Jewish coins, and that 
therefore it is likely to be the 
first written language; the Re¬ 
verend Chaplain, after thus edi¬ 
fying his congregation, says, that 
Ezra being commissioned by an 
imperial decree, “ it seems proba- 
“ ble had made a request that he 
44 might go and build the city , as 
44 well as the temple of Jerusalem.’’^ 
Tails decree, which Mr. Chaplain 
Bates calls an imperial decree, 
and he calls it so twice, is simply a 
44 letter that the King Artaxerxes 
gave unto Ezra;”|( and Artax¬ 
erxes being stiled King, Mr. 
Chaplain Bates has no authority 
for calling it more than a royal 
letter. As to Ezra desiring to 
go and build (lie city as well as 
the temple, the Reverend Chap¬ 
lain will find the temple built 
iu the chapter before-—it was 
finished on the third day of the 

X Gen. xii. 48. xlvii. 6, 11, &c. 

, § Sermon, page 15. 

j| EiSra, vii. 11, 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 





9] July 2 

month Ad nr, which was in the 
sixth year of the reign of Bari us, 

the King.* 

«' 

Mr. Chaplain Bates, after this 
little affair of the temple, pro¬ 
ceeds to say, “ that the Persian 
“ sovereign had by lawful con- 
“ quest obtained the right of go- 
u verning the Jews—and—as 
“ they were no longer properly 
“ their own, they were bound to 
ft obey the will of their laicful 
“ ruler.”t Indeed! What, is con¬ 
quest lawful? —Is it lawful to 
covet, and to be ambitious, and to 
go to war, and to pillage, and lay 
waste, take away lives by thou¬ 
sands, and occupy the land the 
survivors inhabited, because they 
were unable to keep it? And is 
it lawful to carry them away 
captive ? And are the captors 
their lawful rulers? And is it 
unlawful for the captured to en¬ 
deavour to free themselves, and 
regain their country and their 
independence ? If this be so, 
then if Napoleon had invaded 
our country, and vanquished us, 
and transported our best citizens, 
and burnt our public buildings, 
and garrisoned our towns, and de¬ 
stroyed our ileets, and choked 
up our harbours, and made us 
tributaries to France, and slaves 
of his will, it would have been 
lawful conquest, and we should 
have been no longer properly our 
oicn, but bound to obey his will, 
and the will of his successors, as 
our lawful rulers for ever. This is 
coming to our own times, and close 
home, but I take it to be a fair, 
though a very brief exemplifi¬ 
cation of the doctrine of submis¬ 
sion, preached by Mr. Chaplain 
Bates, before the Chief Magis- 

> J - yr 

* Ezra vi. 15. 

f Sermon, page IT. 


, 1817. [10 

Irate of London, and the Judges 
of England. * 

Mr. Chaplain Bates very soon 
discloses the real object of his 
Sermon, which is, to disclaim 
what he thinks proper to call 
“ the flimsy arguments, the subtle 
“ artifices , and daring assertions 
“ of SELF- CONSTITUTED 
“ REFORMISTS; their appa- 
“ rent love of justice, and pre- 
“ tended hatred of peculation ; 
“ their bold and unqualified de- 
“ durations of what they deem 
“ gross evils in Church and 
“ Stale."X I would ask Mr. 
Chaplain Bates to name the men 
he calls pretended Reformers, 
Does he mean the Lord Mayor, 
whose Chaplain he is, and before 
whom lie preached the Sermon, 
who has uniformly advocated the 
principle of Reform, and prac¬ 
tised it; or Mr. Alderman 
Combe, or Mr. Alderman Good- 
behere, or Mr. Alderman J. J. 
Smith, or Mr. Waithman, or Mr. 
Favell, or Mr. IIurcombe, and 
other gentlemen, who usually 
act and vote with them in the 
Common Council, before whom 
be also preached—does he call 
them pretended Reformers ; or 
Sir F. Burdett, or the Hon. H. 
Grey Bennett, or the Hon. T. 
Brand, or Lord Cochrane, or 
Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, or Sir 
Ronald Fergusson, or Lord 
Folkestone, or Mr. Grattan, or 
Sir Robert Heron, or Mr. Lamb- 
ton, or the Hon. Mr. Lyttleton, 
or Mr. Madocks, or Mr. Martin, 
of Tewkesbury, or General Ma¬ 
thew, or Mr. P. PvIoore, or Lord 
Ossulston, or Sir S. Romilly, or 
the Lords Russell, or Mr. Sharp, 
or Mr. W. Smith, or the Marquis 
of Tavistock, or other Members 

J Sermon, page 21. 








Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



of the House of Commons, who 
act and vote as they do—doe's he 
call them pretended Reformers; 
or the Earl qf Baenli y, oi Lo d 
Erskine, or Earl Grey, or the 
Earl of Grosvenor, or Lord 
Holland, and other Peers of the 
Lke political persuasions; or 
Mr. Jeremy Benjuam, or Major 

CARTWRIGHT, OF Sir JOHN 
Throckmorton, or Mr. Walter 
Fawkes, or Mr. Godfrey Hig¬ 
gins, or Mr. Peter Walker, or 
Mr. North more, or Mr. Halle tt, 
or Mr. Capel Lofft, or other 
gentlemen of similar principles 
and views—does the Reverend 
Chaplain call them pretended 
Reformists; or, to use his own 
words, are they self-constituted 
Reformists, who use flimsy argu¬ 
ments, ami subtle artifices , and 
make daring assertions —are they 
apparent lovers of justice, and 
pretended haters of peculation ? 
Hoes Mr. Chaplain Bates so de¬ 
signate these ’Gentlemen ; if not, 
who does lie mean ? Why not 
have named them in his Sermon ? 
He will say, perhaps, it does not 
consist with the dignity of the 
pulpit to introduce names in a 
Sermon ; neither does it consist 
with that dignity to introduce 
ptolilics into the pulpit. 

He himself previously admits, 
that “ it may not be proper to 
“ dwell upon those topics on 
“ which men do and will differ,” 
[the sagacious Chaplain is aware 
that they will differ thereon, not¬ 
withstanding his preaching*] 
“ and which they continue to do,” 
lie says, “ provided such diffe- 
“ rence of opinion lead to no 
“ dangers-s consequence ” [of 
Yyk ich “ d gerons consequence,” 
W Lord Mayor’s Chaplain 
would set up men with capacity 


and wits like himself, Lord help 
us ! to judge]. “ It is, neverthe- 
u less,” he continues, “ the duty 
“ of every Minister, whether in 
the establishment or out of it, 

“ to use every lawful persuasive 
“ to deter men from the crimes of 
“ rebellion anarchy,and tumult,' * 
On this traitorous anti-climax of 
crimes—strung together in almost 
as bad order, as murder, and 
looking under • ladies’ bonnets, 
and stealing Guy Fauxes on a 
Pope-day—1 shall merely ob¬ 
serve, that it is a little odd the 
Lord Mayor’s Chaplain should 
preach against rebellion,anarchy, 
and tumult, before the great Law 
and City Office!s; as if my Lord 
Ellenborougii and the Judges 
required to be admonished not 
to turn rebels just four-and- 
twenty hours before they were- 
going to try Dr. W atson ; or as if 
the Common Council required a 
hint about anarchy; or the Lord 
Mayor a caution against en- 
gaging in tumults; as if these 
grave and unsuspecting person¬ 
ages—to use the Reverend Chap¬ 
lain’s w ords—as if “ they might, 
“ through their more icily asso - 
“ dates, he drawn in to commit 
things worthy of death , banish - 
“ ment, confiscation of goods, or 
“imprisonment!” After this 
plain dealing with the Judges 
and the Citizens, and the inti¬ 
mation, that “ it is not proper 
“ to dwell on these subjects,” 
the remaining half of the Reve¬ 
rend Chaplain’s Sermon is occu¬ 
pied by such “ dwellings ;” and 
he acquaints his hearers, that 
distress of various kinds has 
been very generally felt, but 
it has been know n to arise not 
from men, or from any fortuitous 
* Sennsn, page JO. 







July 26* 1817. [U 


“ causes, but from circumstances 
u beyond the controul of human 
“ agents/’* Now till Mr.Chaplain 
Bates informs me how he knew 
that these distresses did not arise 
from men, i shall believe that they 
did; and 1 will tell him from what 
■sort ot men—from men like him¬ 
self; what are called good kind 
of men; your smooth easy goers, 
whose feet are shod with velvet, 
and who walk softly through the 
w orld, as they look right and left, 
to see to hat is worth enjoying-, 
and within reach. Mr. Chaplain 
Kates has a mighty dislike to 
people who object to this thing 
not being right, and the other 
thing not being right, and calls 
them discontented men ; and so I 
call them too, and say they are 
discontented; and if the things 
they complain of as not being- 
right are wrong , I say further, 
that they have a right to he dis¬ 
contented. Now as Mr. Cha lain 
Bates has taken to preach against 
the discontented, 1 have a right 
to ask him, why lie does not 
preach against certain of the 
contented, who cause the discon¬ 
tent? He dare not tell me that a 
great portion of the discontent 
has not arisen from men, our own 
countrymen. When the rascals 
of the world, by their cunning 
and power, usurp over the un¬ 
wary and the honest, does Mr. 
Chaplain Bates preach against 
their injustice; or does he confine 
his severities to the poor, dis¬ 
tressed, goaded victims, who in 
their afflictions cry out, and there 
is none to help ; and who in des¬ 
peration turn round upon their 
oppressors '( I affirm, and I dare 
Mr. Bates to deny it, that the 
weak and the feeble, and the 


innocent, and the humble* have 
few friends amongst the great 
and wealthy; and that injury 
is heaped upon them by whole¬ 
sale, without redress. It is a 
stale trick, to impute to un¬ 
searchable Providence, crimes of 
our own generation. It has he- 
come a pious fraud, on behalf of 
the great, to father their impiety 
to the little upon Heaven. I 
will ever expose these shocking 
attempts at general delusion, 
when 1 perceive them,from w hat¬ 
ever quarter they proceed; and 
I shall now refer to Mr. Cole¬ 
ridge, whom 1 mention without 
apprehension of Mr. Bates ob¬ 
jecting to him as an authority, 
and whose name I introduce here 
with feelings of great respect for 
the homage which his pen has 
honestly paid to the best feelings 
of our nature, on behalf of tiie 
many who are despised and re¬ 
jected by the few. Mr. Cole¬ 
ridge affords me excellent illus¬ 
tration by a simple narrative, 
introduced by a philosophical 
observation, which i retain, be¬ 
cause it connects with my latter 
remarks:— 

“ Human life,” says Mr. Cole¬ 
ridge, “ is but the malle¬ 
able metal, out of which the 
thievish picklock, the slave’s 
collar, and the assassin’s sti¬ 
letto are formed, as well as the 
clearing axe, the feeding plough¬ 
share, the defensive sword, and 
the mechanic tool. But the sub¬ 
ject is a painful one: and for¬ 
tunately the labours of others, 
with the communications of me¬ 
dical men concerning the state 
of the manufacturing poor, have 
rendered it unnecessary. I will 
relate a speech made to me near 
Fort Augustus, as I was travel- 


* Sermoiq page 33. 






I 


15] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[10 


ling on foot through the High¬ 
lands of Scotland. The speaker 
was an elderly and respectable 
widow, who expressed herself 
with that simple eloquence, 
which strong feeling seldom 
fails to call forth in humble life, 
but especially in women. She 
spoke English, as indeed most 
Highlanders do who speak it at 

O ^ 1 

all, with a propriety of phrase 
and a discrimination of tone and 
emphasis that more than com¬ 
pensated for the scantiness of 
her vocabulary. After an affect¬ 
ing account of her own wrongs 
and ejectment (which, however, 
she said, bore with comparative 
lightness on her, who had had 
saved up for her a wherewithal 
to live, and was blessed with a 
son well to do in the world), she 
made a movement with her hand 
a circle, directing my eye 


in 


meanwhile to various objects as 
marking its outline: and then 
observed with a deep sigh, and 
a suppressed and slow voice, 
which she suddenly raised and 
quickened after the first drop or 
cadence—Within this space— 
how short a time back! there 
lived a hundred and seventy- 
three persons: and now there is 
only a shepherd, and an under 


ling or two. Yes, sir! One 


hundred and seventy-three Chris¬ 
tian souls, man, woman, boy, girl, 
and babe; and in almost every 
home an old man by the fire-side, 
who would tell you of the 
troubles, before our roads were 
made; and many a brave youth 
among them who loved the birth¬ 
place of his forefathers, yet 
would swing about his broad¬ 
sword, and want but a word to 
march oil to the battles over sea; 
aye, sir, and many a good lass, 


who had a respect for herself! 
Well r but they are gone, and 
with them the bristled bear,* 
and the pink haver,f and the 
potatoe plot that looked as gay 
as any flower-garden with its 
blossoms! I sometimes fancy 
that the very birds are gone, all 
but the crows and the gleads ! 
Well, and what then? Instead 
of us all, there is one shepherd 
man , and it may be a pair of 
small lads—and a many many 
sheep \ And do you think, sir! 
that God allows of such pro¬ 


ceedings ? 

“Some davs before this con¬ 


versation,” says Mr. Coleridge* 
“ and while J was on the shores, 
of the Loch Kathern, I heard a 
sad counterpart to the widow’s 
tale, and told with a far fiercer 
indignation, of a ‘ Laird who 
had raised a company from the 
country round about, for the love 
that was borne to his name, and 
who gained high preferment in 
consequence: and that it was 
but a small part of those that he 
took away whom he brought 
back again. And what were the 
thanks which the folks had both 
for those that came back with 
him, some blind, and more in 
danger of blindness; and for 
those that had perished in the 
hospitals, and for those that fell 
in battle, fighting before or be- 
side him ? Why, that their fa¬ 
thers were all turned out of their 
farms before the year was over, 
and sent to wander like so many 
gipsies, unless they would con¬ 
sent to shed their gray hairs, at 
ten-pence a day, over the new 
canals. Had there been a price 
set upon his head, and his ene- 

* A s] . i’ies of barley. 

/ + A species of oais. 



17] JulV26, 1817. [18 


mies had been coming' upon him, 
he needed but have whistled, 
and a hundred brave lads would 
have made a wall of flame round 
about him with the flash of their 

broad-swords ! Now if the- 

should come among us, as (it is 
said) they will, let him whistle 
to his sheep, and see if tltey will 
fight for him !’ The frequency 
with which 1 heard, during my 
solitary walk from the end of 
Loch Lomond to Inverness, confi¬ 
dent expectations of the kind ex¬ 
pressed in his concluding words — 
nay,far too often, eager hopes min¬ 
gled with vindictive resolves— 
I spoke of, with complaint and 
regret, to an elderly man, whom 
by his dress and way of speak¬ 
ing, 1 took to be a schoolmaster. 
Long shall I recollect his reply: 
‘ O, sir, it kills a wans love for 
his country ,—the hardships of 
life coming by change and with 
injustice!’ ” 

What will Mr. Chaplain Bates 
say to facts like these, which 
speak for themselves?—Why he 
will say that Mr. Com kidge had 
better not have said any thing 
about them. That’s the way in 
which the oily-tongued gentle¬ 
men get over facts. But then 
they are facts; and if Mr. Chap¬ 
lain Bates will not see them, 
thousands will. They are real 
events ; occurrences too credibly 
vouched to be denied;—and 
mark—mark it well—they who 
suffer, do not arraign Providence; 
the)) know it is not Providence, 
but the injustice of man to man 
that murders their happiness; 
and Mr. Chaplain Bates knows 
so too, and so do all, who, like 
him, whine and preach about 
such being “ circumstances be¬ 
yond the controul of human 


agents.” As to the sacred pro¬ 
fession, as it is called—the priest¬ 
hood—the established clergy—I 
will maintain, whatever worthy 
and excellent men may be 
amongst them, that not a noble 
scoundrel ever lived, but he 
could get a Chaplain; and there¬ 
fore the “ sacred character” is of 
itself no preservative against 
worldly impurity and subservi¬ 
ency to mammon. The very 
wolf in the fable might have had 
a Chaplain, from— 

“ The things that mount the rostrum with 
a skip. 

And then skip down again; pronounce a 
text ; 

Cry—hem, and reading what they never 
w rote 

Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work. 
And with a well-bred whisper close the 
scene! ”* 

This fable of the wolf and the 
lamb is much in point as to 
present affairs. They both went 
to drink at a brook; the wolf 
standing on high ground, and 
the Iamb lower down the current. 
The wolf intending to pick a 
quarrel, said to the lamb, “ What 
do vou mean by mudding the 
water so that I cannot drink. 
The lamb mildly answered, lie 
could not conceive how that was 
possible; for the water ran from 
the wolf to him, and not from him 
to the wolf. “Rascal,” cries the 
wolf, “ I don’t care for that; you 
used bad language about me 
half a year ago.” u Sir,” says 
the poor Iamb, u I was not born 
then.” The wolf drawing nearer, 
fell info a passion—“Sirrah,” says 
he, “ if it was not you, it was 
your father; and that’s all one.” 
So he seized on the innocent 
helpless lamb, tore it to pieces, 
* Cowper’s Task, B. 2. 





R>] Hone’s Reform 

and made a meal of it. Old 
Crgxall lias an excellent moral 
upon this fable, which is most 
applicable now:— 

“ Wherever,” says Croxall, 
“ ill people are in power , inno¬ 
cence and integrity are sure to 
be persecuted ; the more vicious 
the community is, the better 
countenance they have for their 
own villanous measures: to prac¬ 
tise honesty in had times, is being 
liable to suspicion enough ; but 
if any one should dare to pre¬ 
scribe it; it is ten to one but he 
would be impeached of hiyh 
crimes and misdemeanors ; for to 
stand up for justice in a degene¬ 
rate, corrupt state, is tacitly to 
upbraid the Government, and sel¬ 
dom fails of pulling down venge¬ 
ance upon the head of him 
that offers to stir in its defence. 
W here cruelty and malice are in 
combination with power, nothing 
is so easy as for them to find a 
pretence to tyrannize over inno¬ 
cence, and exercise all manner of 
injustice.” 

Mr. Bates will find no diffi¬ 
culty in applying this moral; but 
then it. mightily disjoints a fine 
theory he has of things having 
“ been studiously formed for our 
“ benefit, and nothing but wilful 
“ contumacy and opposition can 
“ cause them to have a contrary 
“ tendency.”* This is the arou- 
ment of the whole race of tyrants 
and despots since the beginning 
of the world. Every divine-right 
man broaches the same opinion. 
AH the legitimate Prime Minis¬ 
ters, from Ham an, who was 
hanged on a gallows fifty cubits 
high, to my Lord Castleri agh, 
who is not hanged, say so too. 

But then ice understand what it 

( 

* Sermon, page 23. 


jsts’ Register. [20 

means. We, and our fathers be¬ 
fore us, have been so often 
wheedled and fleeced, and coaxed 
and fleeced again, that now, when 
we see the shearers with the 
( ords, we know they are come to 
tic our limbs, and throw us down, 
and snip off what little wool has 
grown since last shearing time. 
This part of the Reverend" Gen¬ 
tleman’s Sermon reminds me of 
a silly cook-wench—“Curse them 
“ lobsters,” says she, “ I cannot 
“ think what makes ’em squeal 
“ so—its of no use ; they mo ugh t 
“ as well be quiet whilst they 
“boils; and Pm sure there*s a 
“ good a fire under ’em. Do’ee 
“ Molly blow the bellows a bit.” 
And then how the Chaplain treats 
our present situation. We “ have 
“ long’ sat with delight,” says he, 
“ under the grateful shadow of a 

o 

“ free Constitution.” The shadow 
of the Constitution! The Shadow, 
did he say ? Yes—the SHADOW! 
And because we have the shadow 
of the Constitution, we have 
been delighted, have we, Mr. 
Chaplain? What, better satisfied 
with the shadow than the sub¬ 
stance —than with the Constitu¬ 
tion itself? 1 will not play on a 
slip of his Reverence’s pen ; I 
have no doubt he is as well con¬ 
tented with the shadow as the 
reality. It makes no difference 
to him— he has a feast of fat 
things before him— he will never 
become a “ self-constituted Re¬ 
former ”— he therefore will never 
be in a condition to require the 
protection of the Constitution 
itself, against those who have 
undermined and destroyed, and 
rendered it a shadow. 

There is a certain portion of 
this Sermon in which I am per¬ 
sonally interested. Mr, Bates 




~U July 20,1817. [22 


thought proper that the Cathe¬ 
dral of St. Paul, when lie preach¬ 
ed there, should not only be de¬ 
voted o a political attack agai st 
Reformists in general, but that it 
should resound with his denun¬ 
ciations against me. lie seized 
the opportunity, which preach¬ 
ing before the Corporation, the 
Jud ges, and the Serjeants at Law, 
gave him, to bring'Ate to their 
recollection in a way wholly dis¬ 
grace lul to him as a clergyman 
and a gentleman. Mr. Bates 
knew—for every body in England 
who saw a newspaper, and every 
clergymen in London, whether he 
read a newspaper or not, knew— 
that 1 had been charged by the 
Attorney-General,in the Court of 
King’s Bench, on three ex-officio 
Informations which he had filed 
against me, for political Parodies 
on the Litany, the Athanasian 
Creed, and the Catechism. There 
was a fourth political Parody, for 
which no information was filed— 
the Parody on tile Te Deum. 
Mr. Ba tes took advantage of 
having* the very Judges for 
his hearers, before whom I had 
refused to plead to the three 
informations, and before one of 
whom I must have been tried ; 
and of the presence of the Ser¬ 
jeants at Law (the Attorney-Ge¬ 
neral , Sir Samuel Shepherd, my 
prosecutor, being a Serjeant), to 
remind them of this fourth Pa¬ 
rody, for which 1 had not been 
prosecuted. It was not sufficient 
for him that at the very moment 
he was preaching 1 was a pri¬ 
soner in the King’s Bench prison, 
under three prosecutions, when 
even allusion to my case would 
have been indelicate, especially 
considering* who were his au¬ 
ditors; but he distinctly called 


attention to the Te Deum, which 
he said had “ lost nothing by fre- 
“ quent repetition, much less by 
“ any recent abominable attempts 
“ to lessen its influence by bins* 
u phewovs pared y.” This was 
not.the passing* observation of an 
extempore preacher, but read 
from a written Sermon, composed 
with labour, and with a view to 
effect. However, the Attorney- 
General thought proper not to 
take the hint; and Mr. Bates has 
the mortification of knowing, that 
though what lie said about the 
prosecuted Parodies and the Te 
Deum occupy nearly one twelfth 
of his Sermon, the Te Deum re¬ 
mained unprosecuted. I have 
heard of the bitter spirit of a 
persecuting* priest—1 have now 
experienced it; and Mr. Chaplain 
Bates’s persecution being every 
way calculated to do me more 
injury than that of any other per¬ 
son, 1 do not feel myself bound 
to especial tenderness in noticing 
him. Mr. Chaplain Bates at¬ 
tacked me in St. Paul’s Cathe¬ 
dral, where, had 1 been present, 
1 did not dare defend myself—* 
like a coward : Mr. Chaplain 
Bates did it before my Judges 
and my Prosecutor, whilst 1 was 
in confinement on three of his 
prosecutions—like an assassin: 
Mr. Chaplain Bates called the 
Political Parody on the Te Deum, 
an attempt to lessen the influence 
of the original *—I charge him 
with falsehood. Mr. Chaplain 
Bates has neither been cloistered 
all his life, nor confined to the 
cure of souls in a remote parish r 
he has seen the world—is a man 
of the world—and know s more, I 
believe, of the good things of 
this world than of the next. He 
* Sermon, p, 23. 





I 


23] Hone’s Reformists 5 Register. [24 


is consequently no novice; and, 
therefore, when he afterwards 
affirms that “ an attack was indi- 
“ redly made against the Consti- 
(i tution, by aiming to bring into 
“ contempt the services of that 
“ Church which is in union with 
“ it,” 1 ag-ain charge him with 
asserting a falsehood. There was 
no aim to bring into contempt the 
services of the Church. The Pa¬ 
rodies were squibs—mere politi¬ 
cal squibs—nothing but political 
squibs—as every man without 
bigotry, whether Churchman or 
Dissenter, who reads them, will 
immediately perceive. 

But why did Mr. Chaplain 
Bates shut his eyes to the loyal 
Parody of the Te Deum , which 
for invective beats my Parody 
hollow? That all high-flying 
Churchmen like Mr. Chaplain 
Bates might have a specimen of 
a legitimate Parody by the wits 
of their own school—by the 
Church and King Parody makers 

1 published the loyal Parody on 
the Te Deum , verbatim; * that is, 
the English Parody: for tit is 
Church and King Parody is in six 
different languages; that is to 
say, in the English, Latin, Ger¬ 
man, Italian, French, and Spanish 
languages: and as the Church 
and King Parody itself is most 
loyal and most curious, so the 
Title and Dedication are equally 
loyal and curious. 1 did not 
print it before, but I will voir, 
from the printed copy before 
me:— 

* Vol. I. No. 7- p- 218. 


(Copy) 



AND PATRIOTIC EFFUSIONS, 

AS SUNG IN 

RUSSIA, PRUSSIA, GERMANY, 
FRANCE, ITALY, & SPAIN, 

IN HONOUR OF THE 

Brilliant and Glorious \ ictories of 
the Russians, 

OVER 

SSuonaparte 

and HIS ARMIES. 


PEDICATED 
TO THE 

JWarcjms of ffiEIcUtugtcm, 

Commander in Chief of the British 
Forces in the Peninsula 5 

TO THE 

Commander in Chief of the Russian 
Armies, 

FIELD MARSHAL 

PRINCE KUTUSOFF SMOLENSK© j 

AND TO THE 

PRINCE PL A TOFF, 
Commander of the Cavalry of the 
Don Cossacks. 

This Church and King Parody 
of the Te Deum, in six languages, 
loyally dedicated to the Duke of 
Wellington, Prince Kutusoif, 
and the Hetman Platoff, was 
sung, be it remembered, in all 
the states, whose Sovereigns, in 
conjunction with our Prince 
Regent, form the Holy Al¬ 
liance. Now, why Mr. Chaplain 
Bates did not point out the 
Church and King Parody, as fi 
for prosecution, is pretty clear; 
and it is as clear to me, that 
when Mr. Chaplain Bates reads 
this, instead of giving due expla¬ 
nation thereon, he will twist and 
writhe, and bite his nails, anti 






[3G 



July 26, 1817. 


wish me at that place which it 
would shock the ears of a polite 
congregation to name. 

1 know nothing more of Mr. 
Chaplain Bates at present, than 
as the preacher of the Trinity 
Sunday Sermon. I have not done 
with the Sermon, and I want to 
learn something about the man ; 
I shall therefore he thankful for 
prompt information respecting 
Mr. Chaplain Bates —but scandal 
I will have nothing 1 to do with. 
In the mean time, 1 shall put on 
inv hat, and go into quarters 
where he is likely to he known ; 
or even take the stage, if need be. 
1 am a pretty sifting inquirer, 
when I set about an inquiry in 
earnest. 1 am not to be put off 
with, “ I can’t tell,” here; or be 
frightened by, “ I won’t tell,” 
there: but I go right on, in all 
directions. Truth being my ob¬ 
ject on such occasions, 1 will look 
for it in quarters that it is to be 
obtained from, and I will have it. 
That is, I will go any distance, 
and call on any person, ami put 
up with any rebuffs, to get at a 
fact . If two grains of wheat in a 
bushel of chaff he w orth the find¬ 
ing, I will find them. So that I shall 
be able in my next, I hope, to 
render a pretty good account of 
the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain, as 
well as his Sermon. 1 suppose 
he now and then reads Sermons, 
as well as preaches them. 1 give 
him the opportunity of looking 
at one, which he ought to have 
read long before—-it is a “ Ser¬ 
mon to Asses." \\ ishing him, 
therefore, patience , moderation , 
and a good understanding for 
half an hour , I for the present 
leave him. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

2 MJuhj, 1817 . 


A SERMON TO ASSES. 

[Ihave recommended this to Mr. Chaplain 
Bates —it will edify his admirers as well 
as his Reverence. Its author is the late 
Rm. James Murray, of Newcastle. Ha 
wrote the articles on 'Tithes, and Tithe- 
loving; Priests, in Vvl. l.pp. 501 and 511. 

Mr. Murray published — 

1. Sermons to Asses, l2nio, 1768. 

2. Sermons to Doctors in Divinity, being 

the second volume of Sermons to 

Asses, l2mo. 1771. 

3. Lectures to Lords Spiritual, or an ad¬ 

vice to the Bishops, 12ino. 1774. 

They are now very scarce, and form an. 
excellent manual of civil and religious 
liberty. The following is the conclusion 
of Mr. Murray's third Sermon to Asse.s] 

In matters of religious con¬ 
cern, it is necessary to have man¬ 
kind well persuaded of the rights 
and importance of the clergy, 
and the divinity of the canons 
and creeds of churches, before 
they will submit to be used like 
asses. The jure divino of epis¬ 
copacy and presbytery are pieces 
of trapping that the prophets of 
tiie church prepare for those 
asses they intend to ride upon. 
If once they can persuade man¬ 
kind that the clergy have power 
to make laws to bind the con¬ 
sciences of the whole commu¬ 
nity, they may turn them as they 
please. 

If it would not give offence to 
some who have more zeal than 
understanding', I should compare 
the articles of the church of Eng¬ 
land, and the confession of faith 
of the church of Scotland, to the 
trapping of Balaam’s ass; for it 
is by means of these that the 
clergy ride upon the backs of 
the people. The excommunica¬ 
tions of those churches 1 would 
compare to the prophet’s staff, 
with which he belaboured his 
ass; for it is evident when com¬ 
mon Christians start aside, and 







27] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [ 2 $ 


begin to tliink for themselves, 
and are not tractable enough to 
serve their devout masters, that 
they curse them for heretics and 
schismatics. And though these 
common believers should be 
never so well convinced in their 
own mind of the truth of their 
own opinion, or conscience, like 
the angel in the case before us, 
should stand in their way, it is 
no matter of consequence to the 
prophets that rule them—they 
must suffer for their import i- 

t 

Renee,and be belaboured for their 
disobedience. The people in ge¬ 
neral that thus submit to reli¬ 
gious slavery, resemble the pro¬ 
phet’s ass ; for though they com¬ 
plain of hard usage, they still 
acknowledge their masters, and 
say, Are not we your asses? 

There are several sorts of hu¬ 
man asses that resemble the pro¬ 
phet’s beast. There are some 
that start now and then, and re¬ 
prove the madness of the pro¬ 
phets, but yet continue under 
subjection, and are good beasts 
of burden, notwithstanding. Of 
this sort are those who are always 
crying out against the defections 
of churches and church cover- 
uors, but ore subject at the same 
time to all those impositions that 
are laid upon them;—these are 
bray ing, noisy, but yet tame assess 
they mean no harm, notwith¬ 
standing all the noise they make. 
They only start because they are 
a little frightened by some scare¬ 
crow that happens to be in their 
way. If their ghostly riders lift 
their rod, and but labour them a 
little sharply, they will be ready 
to make apologies for their con¬ 
duct, arid return to their duty. 

If conscience, the messenger 
of G od within them, at any time 
startle them, as the angol did 


Balaam’s ass, yet a degree of 
sound discipline, ' which may 
either affect their reputation or 
worldly interest, will make them 
return to their old tract, and say, 
Are not we thine asses? The 
articles of the church, and the 
Athanasian creed, are like the 
two laps of Balaam’s sa ddle. 
which are well girded upon some 
members of the church, by the 
force of canons and the power of 
deprivation. Such as shall be so 
giddy as to refuse to take on 
their trapping peaceably, shall 
be made sensible of their folly, 
by being deprived of their livings, 
and loaded with church censures. 

it is by means of such trapping 
as this now mentioned that the 
authority of the clergy is sup¬ 
ported; for they could not ride 
without their saddle. Were once 
the people to receive nothing 
as their creed but the scrip¬ 
tures, the clergy would soon 
have no more authority than 
what their good services and good 
conversation procured them. 
They would then be obliged to 
be helpers of the joy of Chris¬ 
tians, but should no longer be 
Lords of their faith. Good men will 
always respect their teachers, as 
long as they are examples of 
goodness, and condescend to men 
of low degree : but such as un¬ 
derstand the New Testament will 
reject all dominion over their 
consciences, but the lordship of 
Jesus Christ: they will laugh at 
clerical jurisdiction, and reject 
all religious dictators. When 
men have not the exercise of 
private judgment allowed them 
as their natural privilege, but 
are marked down for kereiics for 
every deviation from the national 
creed, they are much in the same 
situation with the prophet’s ass. 






29] * Jult 26, 1817. 

No Christians hare any reason 
to quarrel with the religion of 
any country where toleration 
is allowed; but they have yet 
reason to complain, when the to¬ 
leration is restricted, and men’s 
opinions are attended with loss 
to themselves, when they are 
both good members of society, 
and good subjects of civil go¬ 
vernment. Any Christian may 
charitably enough say that ail 
political religions serve no other 
purpose but to get honour and 
money from the state, and in 
return to denounce its curses 
against the supposed enemies of 
their mutual dignity. An en¬ 
slaved people serve the same 
purpose to the clergy in this 
ease, that Balaam’s ass did 
to him;—carry them to seek 
riches and honour: for it is 
always through means of the 
populace that ambitious men 
raise themselves to high stations* 
and advance themselves to wealth 


[30 


and riches. Where the govern¬ 


ment of churches and states is 
arbitrary, the enslaved people are 
obliged to serve the interests of 
both, with their labour and sub¬ 
stance! the populace are made 
use of as asses, to carry them 
whithersoever they please to 
direct them. It often happens 
that they complain of ill usage 
which they receive from their 
superiors, but as long as they 
have not a just sense of their own 
liberties, they proceed no far¬ 
ther than some fruitless com¬ 
plaints ; and then conclude, Are 
not we thine asses, upon which 
thou hast ridden ever since we 
were thine? 

When mankind are once in¬ 
structed in their natural rights 
and privileges, they will not 
only complain, but struggle' to 


get clear of oppression. Wise 
men know what it is to obey just 
laws,hut will never tamely sub¬ 
mit to slavery and bondage. It 
is a base degeneracy to rest satis¬ 
fied with what is contrary to na¬ 
ture, and nothing' is more con¬ 
trary to the nature of rational 
creatures, than to want liberty; 
to submit to arbitrary govern¬ 
ment, without resistance, argues 
the want of sense of the rights 
of human nature. Men may 
yield when they are conquered, 
but they cannot reasonably ac¬ 
knowledge power to be just, 
where there is no moral institu¬ 
tion. When government is not 
established upon moral prin¬ 
ciples, but managed by the arbi¬ 
trary power of one, or a few, at 
the expense of the liberty of the 
rest of a community, their ac¬ 
knowledgment of that power is 
an obedience like that of the 
prophet’s ass. The first slavery 
that men are generally brought 
under, is that of the mind ; for 
while the mrnd acts freely, and is 
kept clear of the chains of igno¬ 
rance and prejudice, it will be 
very difficult to enslave them. 
It requires the aid of false 
teachers to seduce mankind, be¬ 
fore a state can deprive them of 
their civil privileges. It seems- 
to be a fact, though I have not 
seen it often taken notice of, that 
the blending of civil and reli¬ 
gious offices, or sacred and se¬ 
cular things, has been an intro¬ 
duction to slavery in all nations 
where arbitrary government has. 
been introduced. Where they 
have been kept distinct, there 
freedom has more universally 
prevailed. It may seem a para¬ 
dox, but it may be demonstrated, 
that if there were no alliance be¬ 
tween church and state, there 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



would be more civil and reli¬ 
gious liberty than otherwise. 
VVl leu church officers are ad¬ 
vanced to civil preferments, or 
civil magistrates allowed to dis¬ 
charge religious offices in the 
church, they will be ready to 
make each of these offices sub¬ 
servient to the ends of secular 
interest, by having a double 
temptation laid in their way. 
The minister will be ready to 
assume the prerogative o-f the 
magistrate, and the magistrate to 
enforce the dignity of the minis¬ 
ter, by exerting his authority in 
favour of the sacred function ; 
and so in a double respect be- 
become lords over the people. 
For this reason men will not dare 
even to express the truth they 
are convinced of, should it seem 
to differ from the authorized reli¬ 
gion, because of a double danger 
they are exposed to ; of being 
either heartily .cursed by the 
priesthood, or severely punished 
by the magistracy. The mind 
being thus cramped in her opera¬ 
tions, turns at last servile in her 
affections; the consequence is 
ignorance and bondage. 

This alliance also makes the 
teachers indolent, in the dis¬ 
charge of the most material 
part of their duty, which is 
to instruct men in the princi¬ 
ples of knowledge, and to endea¬ 
vour to free their minds from the 
power of ignorance. This they 
cannot do without first teaching 
them the rights of private judg¬ 
ment, and the liber ty they have 
in judging for themselves in all 
things which respect the con¬ 
science. But when their advar- 
tage docs not arise from their 
instructing mankind, but in 


keeping them ignorant of their 
true interest, they will seldom be 
disposed to teach them what, 
would soon let them into the se¬ 
crets of their policy. 

It will never appear to the 
supporters of the alliance be¬ 
tween church and state to be ad¬ 
vantageous to their scheme, to 
instruct men in the rights of 
private judgment, and Christian 
liberty. Did men once under¬ 
stand their own liberties, the 
clergy would have no asses to 
ride upon, to carry them to 
riches and preferment. Mere 
men once well instructed in their 
natural privileges, the alliance 
would soon come to nothing: 
for if mankind considered them¬ 
selves as all equally concerned 
with what pertained to their con¬ 
sciences, and that they must 
answer for themselves at the day 
of judgment, they would never 
give consent to an alliance, where 
the right of individuals to judge 
for themselves in matters of the 
last consequence is entirely 
taken away. When they submit 
to such religious slavery wil¬ 
fully, they are not one degree 
better than Balaam’s ass, who, 
although she complained, yet 
spoke with great submission 
to her master, Am not I thine 
ass , upon which thou hast ridden 
ever since I ivas thine ? 


Vol. I. of the Reformist’s Re¬ 
gister, from February 1 , to July 19 , 
being complete, with a Title Page, 
Table of Contents, Preface, and 
Index, may now be had. Price Five 
Shillings, in extra boards. 

The next Register will he entitled, 

CHURCH AND STATE. 


Loudon : Printed by and fur WILLIAM HONE, 67, Ou) Bailey, three doors from 
Ltnnvrr. Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed. 
—Price Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, ur 51. I Os. per Thousand. 









Pi *ice Two-Pence. 


hone’s reformists’ register, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 2.] Saturday, August 2, 1817. [Vol. II 


Tllfl 


SHADOW 

OF 1 S1E 

CONST ITUTIO N. 


The Shadow not over all alike; for in¬ 
stance, Mr. Chap 1 ain BAILS, and 
“ he that died on Friday"—Expense 
of a POOR WOMAN'S Living, per 
iVeek — Dreadful Distress — Men 
Dying in the Street for want of Food 
—A Sailor eating Dog’s-meat— A 
Man found Dead in the Fields—Two 
others dropped down Dead—•Another 
committed Suicide:—One who famished 
gradually—Another in a Hay-cart — 
A remarkable Instance'of Starvation 
“ by the Visitation of God ’—An 
aged Woman’s Attempt to destroy 
herself for Want—A Mother s Des¬ 
pair —Suicide by the Father of a 
Family of nine Cliidren -Preserving 
Human Life, and preserving Game- 
Case of MATTHEW L1THGGE, 
a Manchester Petitioner, now under 
Prosecution —Ministerial Insignifi¬ 
cance.- 

Mr. GEMAITRE’S Petition, and in¬ 
teresting Narrative. 


Maidstone, Kent, 

July-29, 1817. 

In my last Reyister I stated 
that I should put on my hat 
and‘go into quarters where the 
Lord” Mayor’s Chaplain, Mr. 
Bates, would be likely to be 
known ; or even take the stage, 


if occasion required. This I have 
done. Understanding the Reve¬ 
rend Gentleman to be Vicar of 
West Mailing , in Kent, about 28 
miles from London, I set out in 
the stage for that place on Satur¬ 
day, where I remained that night, 
and on the following day pro¬ 
ceeded to this town, which is 
about six miles farther; where I 
now commence the present sheet. 
Before l relate any tiling respect¬ 
ing Mr. Chaplain Bates,’’ it will 
he as well to conclude my re¬ 
marks on his Political Sermon 
against us Reformists. 

o,. 

T lie shadow of the Constitution 
which Mr. Cha plain Bates praised 
so much, and which he called a 
4 yratefuV shadow , be treats with 
great solemnity. He says,—. 
“ though the poor have not fully 
“ understood the nature and 
“principles of this shadow , 
“ they have shared its blessings, 
“ enjoyed its advantages, ami 
“ have, been protected by its 
“ equitable arrdnyements in as 
“ ample a degree as any of their 
“ more wealthy superiors I 
deny this—! say .it is not true. 
Mr. Chaplain Bates, enjoying 
tlie distinction of body Chaplain 
to the Lord Mayor, basking in 
the sunshine of Royal favour 
as Chaplain to the Duke of 
Kent, honoured by the at¬ 
tendance of the Lord Mayor and 
the Duke of Sussex at Malfhir/ 
Church, to hear him preach, and 


Printed by and for W.Hone, 67j Old Barley, London. 
























35] Hone’s Reformists' Register. [30 


holding two livings in pleasant 
places—it is possible that Mr. 
Chaplain Bates may have so 
much of the shadow himself, that 
he really does not know who are 
destitute of a like ample degree 
of it. It also is possible Mr. 
Chaplain Bates may not read 
the newspapers; and seeing no¬ 
thing at the Mansion-House but 
civic hospitality and my Lord 
Mayor's table—enjoying the ho¬ 
nour of preaching before Alder¬ 
men and Judges—reposing in the 
groves at Mailing , or beside its 
still waters—the Reverend Gen¬ 
tleman may be ignorant of the 
wretchedness and misery of 
thousands, from whom the pro¬ 
tecting*, “ shadow hath returned 
backward ten degrees/' and who 
are either dying or have died 
destitute of all protection. It is 
but Friday that an inquest was 
held on an unhappy person 
named Fisher, who was found 
dead, after living in a state of 
great wretchedness. He was a 
well-informed man, and never 
asked for assistance. The land¬ 
lady with whom he lived gave 
him the leavings of her tea every 
morning. He was wasted to a 
skeleton. “ It is evident," says 
the Coroner, “ this man died by 
“ the visitation of God." “ I am 
“ satisfied," says a Juryman, “ that 
“ he died for want of the neces- 
“ saries of life." Perhaps this 
poor creature was one of Mr. 
Bates’s hearers at St. Paul’s. 
How long had he “ sat with de¬ 
light " under the protection of 
the shadow ? Does Air. Chaplain 
Bates forget cases of heart¬ 
breaking misery, too many, and 
too recent, and too well authen¬ 
ticated, to be doubted for a mo¬ 
ment f 


The shifts to which many have 
been reduced to provide for 
keeping body and soul together 
are most humiliating and distress- 
ing. The following account ot 
the mode and expense of living 
of a worthy and industrious wo¬ 
man who had seen better days, 
was communicated to me a few 
months ago, by a respectable and 
benevolent gentleman, who took 
down the particulars it contains 
from her own lips. Let the Rev. 
Mr. Bates, and those who roll in 
the chariots of luxury, who treat 
as factious and rebellious the 
murmurs and complaints of the 
poor, reduced to the necessity of 
racking their ingenuity, to linger 
on in a miserable state of exist¬ 
ence ; those who after voting* 
aw r ay the money of the poor, im¬ 
pose taxes on almost every arti¬ 
cle of life; and w ho treat as 
traitors those who pray for Re¬ 
form, read with attention this as¬ 
tonishing detail:— 

Expense mid System of Living per 
Week. 

s. d. 

Coffee—\\ oz. at lid per oz. .0 2^ 

Sugar—\ lb. at 7cl. per lb. . . .0 1| 

Bread, —Half a quartern loaf, 
either of the stale bread left 
on hand at the baker’s, or 
cheap bread—-average Is. 2ct. 

per quartern.. 0 7 

Cheese —Rind left at the taverns, 
or the parings at the cheese¬ 
mongers .0 2 

Meat—' The broken victuals of 
the taverns, in plates of 6d. 
each—3 plates in a fortnight, 
divided with another woman .. 0 4~ 

Potatoes, or other vegetables. .0 2 

Beer— Half a pint on Sundays 
only —water, or the moisture 
of the vegetables, serving on 
other days for beverage.... 0 1J 

Carried over.. I 8j 







August % 1817 . 


Brought forward ... 1 

Coals— Half a peck.0 

Small Coal —Half a peck .... 0 
Shavings or Chips, to kindle the 
small coal, begged from car¬ 
penters' shops .0 

Candles .0 

Soap — 1 oz. at lOd. per lb.. t . 0 
Rent of a garret (thought cheap) 
pa* week.* ; .1 


8 f 

4 


0 

2 

OJ 


CJ 


Salt, mustard, pepper, milk, &c. never 
or seldom taken; and nothing 
mentioned here for clothes, shoes, 
&c. 

** Ah ! little think the gay licentious prOud, 

Whom pleasure, power, and affluence sur¬ 
round j 

They, who their thoughtless hours in giddy 
mirth. 

And wanton, often cruel, riot Waste ; 

How many pine in want* and dungeohs’ 
glooms, 

Shut from the common air, and common 
use 

Of their own 


limbs ; how many drink the 


cup 


Of baleful grief* or eat the bitter bread 
Of misery: sore pierc’d by wintry winds. 
How many shrink into the sordid hut 
Of cheerless poverty.” 

A very few weeks ag-o a friend 
i’ushed into my parlour* throw¬ 
ing* himself into a chair, and co¬ 
vering* his face with his hands, in 
great distress. 1 instantly in¬ 
quired the occasion of his emo¬ 
tion. “ Oh!” said he, “ I cannot 
“ bear to witness the extreme dis- 
“ tress any longer. ' Almost 
« every body I knew in humble 
“ life is in the workhouse, or 
(< dying for want; and this mo- 
* merit 1 met with a circumstance 
“ which has quite overthrown 
“ me. I came down Harp-alley, 
“ and a man with a box in 
his hand met me, and asked 
me how I did—I did not 
know him. lie seemed sui¬ 


te 


a 


a 


(( 


(( 


a 


a 




« 


[38 

prised, and told me his name. 
1 scarcely recollected him, he 
was so altered. I asked him if 
“ he had been ill;—lie told me 
“ he had been out of employment 
“ several months, and had parted 
' with every thing lie had in the 
world* to keep his family, who 
were starving, except that box, 
“ which he had made years 
“ ago* and was trying to sell 
“ amongst the old brokers* for 
“ any thing he could get, as his 
“ wife and children had nothing 
“ to eat till he got home* This 
“ man was one of my father’s best 
“ and most careful workmen* I 
“ found all he related to be true. 
“ The recollection of what he 
“ was, and what he is, breaks my 
“ heart.” A day or two after 
this* a professional gentleman, 
with high university honours, 
told me he had come from a 
friend's, on the steps of whose 
door a poor man had fallen down. 
He was asked what was the 
matter with him; he said he was 
too weak to walk, for want of 
food ; and before the servants 
could give him refreshment* he 
died. Just before this, I was in¬ 
formed a mau had been found 
dying near the Temple ; and hav¬ 
ing died, was taken to the bone- 
house. I went and saw the body. 
He was a decent man, about 
sixty* I felt his breast, it was 
scarcely covered with skin, the 
bones appeared starting through. 
He was a miserable object, and 1 
have no doubt starved to death. 
A Coroner’s Inquest sat on the 
body, and some of the jury were 
of the same opinion ; but the Co¬ 
roner managed to get for a ver¬ 
dict, that the man died by the 
visitation of God. On turning 
over a very imperfect file of 











Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



newspapers of this year, I find 
many striking- relations, from 
which I desire to present a few 
to the recollection of the Re¬ 
verend Gentleman, and those 
who like him talk of the indi¬ 


gent 


being “ protected in as 


“ ample a degree as any of their 
“ more wealthy superiors.” I 
hope the following- will be pe¬ 
rused with care:— 

An instance of ravenous hunger 
in London will be long re¬ 
membered. Of the crowds of 
famishing* objects in the streets 
and highways,speaking piteously 
to the passengers’ e\ r e, three or 
four poor seamen were collected 
under one of the alcoves of West¬ 
minster Bridge. One man beg- 
ged; the others were lying upon 
the benches. A lady gave him 
a penny; the poor creature in¬ 
stantly ran to a barrow with 
DOG’S MEAT, which had just 
passed by, bought a piece , and 
s^r allowed it in a minute . A naval 
lieutenant, who saw this—one 
who had himself felt some hard¬ 
ships, and seen some trying- 
scenes—was actually overcome 
by the sight, and could not pre¬ 
vent the tears from running down 
his cheeks. He gave the man a 
&s. piece. A sort of distracted 
adoration of his benefactor en¬ 
sued. He went directly to the 
other seamen, said a few words, 
and was going off with them. 
His benefactor asked him where? 
—He said he was going to a 
cook’s shop, with his fellows: all 
he knew of them was, that they 
had been without food as long 

as be had.-Soon after this, a 

young man dropped down, appa¬ 
rently in a dying state, in Biack- 
horse-aliey, Fleet-street. He was 
earned to the workhouse, and 


medical assistance procured ; 
when it appeared that his com¬ 
plaint was starvation , and bread 
proved to be the necessary me¬ 
dicine.-A Coroner’s inquest 

was held upon the body of Joely 
Moore, of Lisson-grove, New- 
road. Jemima Moore, daughter 
of the deceased, 12 years of age, 
said, that at night her father 
complained of being sick. Soon 
after he w ent out, and staying an 
unreasonable time, they went in 
search of him, but could not find 
him until about six o’clock in the 
morning, when they found him 
in a hole full of mud • herjjtfher 
had not earned ten shillings for 
the last ten months , and on the 
day previous to his going- out at 
night, they only had s- me bread 
and gruel the whole of the day, 
and her father bong in a very 
weak state of health, she sup¬ 
posed he fell in the hole by acci¬ 
dent: they were allowed 3s. a 
week from the parish, but paid 
2s. Rd. of it for rent: they w ere 
in great distress, and the little 
work her mother could do char¬ 
ing’, w as the whole means of the 
family existing; her father was 
in work about twelve months 
ago, but he was obliged to leave 
it, in consequence of a sore leg: 
they had not a bed to sleep on: 
his death was caused by weakness , 

fw leant of nourishment. - 

Charles Fowler, another poor 
creature, a tailor, had been’ out 
of work most part of the winter ; 
since last Christmas his parish 
allowed him three shillings per 
week, wliich was the sole support 
of his wife and two children. 
His wife was brought to bed of a 
third child, and the parish in¬ 
creased his pension on that ac¬ 
count to 7s. which ho went to 




August 2, 18] 7. 



receive, but was so weak from 
previous want , that a woman w ho 
attended his wife in her lying-in, 
went out of humanity with him 
to tlie workhouse, and having- 
received the money, they were 
returning home^when lie dropped 
down in Gravel-lane, and expired 

on the spot!- James Lamb, 

a poor old stone-mason, dropped 
down dead. It appeared in evi¬ 
dence be lore the Coroner’s in¬ 
quest, that two of his sons had 
formerly contributed to his sup¬ 
port; but they having been out 
of employment for 23'weeks, the 
income of the whole family did 
not exceed 3s. (id. per week, and 
their father perished.-A w a¬ 

terman, rowing Ids boat between 
Westminster-bridge and Hunger- 
ford stairs, perceived something 
floating, which proved to he the 
body of Robert Blacketer, a 
journeyman tailor, a native of 
Sunderland. It appeared that 
he had no friends in town, and 
got but a few days’ work lately. 
The last time he was seen alive 
was on Friday se’nnight, at his 
house of call. The Coroner and 
Jury were of opinion lie com¬ 
mitted suicide {/.rough ward. - 

Ah i nquest on A n thon y Homon ds, 
another unhappy object,disclosed 
the following circumstances. lie 
also was a tailor out of work, and 
had lodged at Mr. Daviess, in 
Short’s-gardens. There were 
four beds in the room he slept 
in, and he was assisted by his 
fellow-lodgers, also poor men. 
lie was in great distress for want 
of employment. On the day ol 
his death, Charles Mark, one of 
his fellow-lodgers,gave him some 
dinner. At night the poor crea¬ 
ture drank half a pint of small 
beer, and w ent to bed. In the 


morning-lie was dead and cold. 
He disturbed none of his fellow- 
lodgers: he had famished gra¬ 
dually /, and he died in silence.— 

--Opposite to the Talbot Inn, in 

the Borough, another hapless 
man Avas found in a hay-cart, 
quite dead. lie had been seen 
begging, in great distress, was 
nearly destitute of clothes, and 
appeared to be in a famished 

state .- r i he case of one 

miserable being was attended by 
very remarkable incidents, both 
before his decease and after¬ 
wards. He was found alive by a 
watchman of the parish of St. 
Anne, Soho, who, according to 
parish policy, took him into the 
adjoining parish of St. Giles in 
the Fields, and there left him to 
die. About two o'clock in the 
morning, he was found by an in¬ 
habitant of that parish, lying at 
his door, who supposing him in 
liquor, called ‘ Watch.’ Daniel 
f logan, watchman of High-street, 
Bloomsbury, deposed before the 
Coroner, that on answering to 
the call, he asked the deceased 
where he came from; he an- 
sAvcred, in a very faint manner, 
that he was a waterman. Hogan 
then said, 1 asked him Avhy he 
did not get home; he said that he 
had not drank any liquor that 
day, nor earned a penny for se¬ 
veral months, for he could not 
get work to do. 1 called Sulli¬ 
van, my partner, to assist me in 
taking him to the watch-house ; 
we lifted him on his feet, he ap¬ 
peared very ill, and so w eak that 
he coidd not stand; I and my 
partner were taking him to the 
watch-house, and Ave met a Mr. 
Cloney, a housekeeper of St. 
Giles’s; he asked us where we 
were going to take the deceased: 

I o o * 







43] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [44 


I said to the watch-house or work- 
house ; he said we were fools to 
burden the parish with him, and 
told us to put the deceased upon 
his back, and he would rid the 
parish of him, by putting him in 
the parish of St. Pancras ; I and 
my partner put him on Mr. Clo- 
ney’s back, and he carried him to 
Butcher’s Court, corner of Tot¬ 
tenham Court Road, that being 
in St. Pancras parish; he laid 
him down and left him there. 
My partner came to me some 
time afterwards, and told me that 
lie thought the deceased was in 
great distress, which induced me 
to go to him. 1 found that he 
was worse than he was when 1 
before saw him ; I spoke to him, 
but he was unable to answer me; 
my partner put him on my back 
to carry him to St. Giles’s watch- 
house ; he died on the way, and 
I took him to the workhouse; he 
was not cold when he got there. 
Daniel Sullivan, the other watch¬ 
man, gave similar evidence, add¬ 
ing 6 ‘ before he was removed, a 
man offered him soup, but he 
could not eat it, he was so ill, 
I am of opinion, for the want of 
food. He said that he had not 
earned a penny for six months, 
and that he wanted to go to 
Birk’s, in George Street, where 
lie lodged. I inquired at Birk’s 
house to-day, and by the descrip¬ 
tion they knew him, but not by 
name ; he had lodged there some 
weeks, and was in very great dis¬ 
tress. 5 ’ The Jury then took a view 
of the body,and found si ight marks 
upon his head and chest, which 
they were of opinion he must 
have received by a fall. The 
body was quite emaciated, a mere 
heap of hones; he had every ap¬ 
pearance o f-dying for want /— 


One of the Jury observed, — “ I 
think he died for want.” —* 
Another Jurym an said, — “ If we 
bring in a verdict that he died 
for want of food, it will be a 
stigma upon the parish.”—Mr. 
Stirling, the Coroner, remark¬ 
ed,—“ It will certainly be a slur 
upon the parish, and there is no 
evidence that he was starved to 
death : he had food offered him, 
and could not eat it; besides, such 
a report would he disayr cable ! ” 
—Accordingly,the Foreman then 
gave a verdict—died by the visi¬ 
tation of God !!!-At a Cor 

loner’s inquest on Sarah Mat¬ 
thews, it appeared, that at bedr 
time she lighted a tire in her 
room, and laid down on straw 
before it, to keep herself warm. 
In the morning, she was found 
on the straw, which was partly 
burned, in a state nearly insen¬ 
sible; and her body being 
dreadfully injured from the fire, 
she was tah,en to the hospital, 
where she died. She was a very 
good hard-working woman, but 
had been so distressed lately , that 
she had, parted with every thing she 
possessedeven the bed which she 

lay upon.-— -Another helpless 

female, being between sixty and 
seventy years old, attempted to 
drown herself, by precipitating 
herself under one of the bridges 
of the Fleet River, at Battle 
Bridge. A young girl saw the 
act, and her screams brought as¬ 
sistance. The poor creature was 
with difficulty rescued from 
death, and it appeared, on in¬ 
quiry, that poverty rendered the 
few remaining years of this aged 
woman’s life intolerable to her. 

-Suicide was attempted in 

Hyde Park, by a hapless mother, 
who was observed walking with 





45] 

an infant in her arms, close to 
the Serpentine River, by two 
labourers. They saw her kiss 
the child and lay it on the grass 
several times; the last time she 
appeared in great agony, and 
when she had put the child on 
the grass, she ushed into the 
water. One of the men jumped 
alter her. She struggled to get 
from him, but he held her fast, 
and was in danger of being* him¬ 
self drowned, when the other 
labourer leaped in, and got her 
out. She said that her name 
was Catherine Dennett, that 
she had resolved to put an end 
to her existence, and assigned as 
the cause, that she had not had 
any food for more than two days , 
and had scarcely any clothes to 
her bach , as she had been under 
the necessity of pledging them to 
obtain food ,--At Hammer¬ 

smith, R, Mintor, a market gar¬ 
dener, the father of a distressed 
family of nine children, unable to 
bear accumulated misery , destroy¬ 
ed himself On the inquest, his 
afflicted widow stated, that on the 
morning of his death she got up 
about seven o’clock :—her hus¬ 
band had risen two hours before 
her. She went towards the sta¬ 
ble door, and found him hanging 
by a cord from the beam of the 
stable; she ran into the house for 
a knife, and cut him down ; she 
had not power to untie the cord 
from his neck. One of her 
daughters came up and screamed 
very loud. A gentleman who 
was passingcame and untied the 
cord, and went immediately for 
medical assistance. The sur¬ 
geons used means to recover him 
ineffectually. Distress had driven 
him to the commission of the act. 
He had been doing very respect- 


[46 

ably till within this last twelve 
months. He had nine children 
dependant upon him. lie had 
not been able to pay his rent, and 
had been afraid every day of 
being put in prison. For the 
last week the family had lived 
upon charity. On further in¬ 
quiry it appeared that the un¬ 
happy parent had gone into the 
grounds of a neighbouring gar¬ 
dener, and was in the act of 
taking some vegetables to keep 
his children from starviny, when 
the gardener caught him in the 
lact. lie ran home, and from the 
fear of being* exposed., together 
with the miserable situation of 
his family, put himself to death . 

I am too wearied to continue 
the sad catalogue of victims, to 
whom the shadoic of the Consti¬ 
tution afforded much less pro¬ 
tection than to those who con¬ 
sider the preservation of their 
fellow-creatures of less concern 
than the preservation of game. 

I find in the Courier newspaper, 

I have just looked at, an adver¬ 
tisement, which seems to set the 
feeling of these persons in a pretty 
clear light. 

(Copy) 

A CAUTION to Lords of Manors, 
not to grant leases of their manors , or 
to entangle themselves with promises 
of deputations, &c., because as soon 
as they have the monopoly of game, 
it will be a very small manor that 
does not produce them from two hun¬ 
dred to five hundred pounds per ann.; 
moreover, when their manors are 
fully stocked, they may purchase the 
farms within their manors for a trifle. 

N. B. An Act should be obtained to 
make the destruction of ants, and eggs 
of pheasants and partridges , or killing 
hares and rabbits with young, FELONY , 
without benefit of clergy. 

From this it is to be concluded 


August 2,1817. 







47] Hone’s'Reformists’ Register, [4# 


tliat human life is nothing', com¬ 
pared with the reaving- of young 
partridges, who feed on ants; or 
compared with the existence of 
the said ants , that partridges may 
eat them. Will Mr. Chaplain 
Bates, after reading- the last 12 
columns, condescend to publish 
an estimate of the delight which 
the persons mentioned in the said 
12 columns have received from 
the delightful shadow he talked 
about ? His publication may he 
improved by a short discourse on 
the value of ants and the lives of 
human beings, and on the com¬ 
parative value of the lives of the 
different classes of human beings, 
who sit under the said shadow . 

Seeing what we have seen, and 
what Mr. Chaplain Bates might 
have seen throughout the land, 
and of which he must have heard 
in rich, the Reverend Gentleman 
says," “ if our freedom be within 
“ narrower bounds than formerly, 
“ ?/’our privileges be diminished, 
“ or our comforts hi some measure 
“ invaded, every one must, or 
“ ought to know, that it is the 
“ disaffected and refractory whom 
“ we have to thank for the sus- 
“ pension of our dear-bought 
“rights;” and so i think, but 
differ with Mr. Chaplain Bates, 
as to the persons who are dis¬ 
affected and refractory. I charge 
disaffection and refractoriness 
upon those who have over-taxed, 
over-worked, and starved the 
People into discontent. They 
are the disaffected and refractory, 
who, from disaffection to our 
liberties, and from refractoriness 
to our remonstrances, heap insult 
upon injustice, and cali for admi¬ 
ration of their cruelty. Here is a 
letter addressed to the People , 


representing the treatment en¬ 
dured by our countrymen from 
such men as I have described :— 

Manchester, July 21 st, 1817. 

Sir, 

Supposing that, a fair statement 
of the proceedings instituted 
against the persons taken into 
Custody at the Blanket Meeting, 
which took place at Manchester, 
on the 10th of March, would 
throw additional light upon the 
conduct of the present Adminis¬ 
tration, 1 submit to your perusal 
the following statement of facts, 
to which we are ready to give 
our affidavits, at any time when 
called upon. 

The meeting- was in St. Peter’s 
field, Manchester, where we met 
to arrange the business of peace¬ 
ably proceeding to lay our pe¬ 
titions before HisR.H.the Prince 
Regent. While all teas peace 
and order, ire were suddenly sur¬ 
rounded by a body of military 
and police officers, our pockets 
searched, our bundles taken from 
us; and George Grimshaw had 
upwards of £5. taken from him, 

which has never vet been re- 

%/ 

turned^ 

Now, Mr. Editor, I have always 
understood that the Riot Act 
should be read, before the mili¬ 
tary can be legally brought 
against a meeting; but 1 solemnly 
declare 1 never beard it read on 
the present occasion. Probably 
the Magistrates, knowing who 
the really riotous persons were, 
might have read the riot act to 
the military and special con¬ 
stables, but I never heard it read 
to the meeting. 

From this place we were taken 
to the New Bailey, and confined 
in what they call the Lock-up, foy 







4.9] v August 

nine days and nights. We were 
pat from 27 to,30 in a room, so 
small, that we could not all lie 
down at one time ; during which 
time we never had our clothes 
off', and nothing to lie upon but 
the hare flags ; we petitioned for 
Straw, but nere refused . 

Our close confinement in these 
dirty filthy places caused many 
of us to begin to he very un¬ 
healthy. One man, of the name 
of Sn awcross, almost lost the 
use of his legs ; he was upwards 
of 60 years of age. Another was 
Seized with a disorder in his 
head. In fact, symptoms of sick¬ 
ness appeared general. We re¬ 
quested the doctor to attend us, 
who ordered us out into the open 
yard, where we were compelled 
to remain for 6 or 8 hours at a 
time. This treatment had almost 
as prejudicial an effect as our 
confinement, and most of us 
jcaught violent colds, so that even 
our loathsome cells became a de¬ 
sirable asylum. Our breakfasts 
were a little oatmeal and water, 
(alias gruel), very often sour, 
with a little bread made of un¬ 
sound flour. Our dinners were 
an ounce and a half of cheese of 
bad quality, and 4 ounces of bad 
bread. For supper the same ns 
breakfast. 

At the expiration of nine days, 
five of us (all but nine had been 
previously liberated) were re¬ 
moved to Lancaster, without half 
an hour's previous notice, and 
chained to an imputed murderer . 
In this state we were delivered 
to Mr. Higgins, the jailor, who 
told us he should take our chains 
off then, but he should have none 
of our seditious, or political 
preaching there; if he had, he 
should put them on again. We 


2, 1817. [flo 

now paid Is. to Mr. Higgins, jun. 
for a copy of our commitment. 
We w ere here charged with se¬ 
dition and conspiracy, though 
we never in our lives had seen 
one another before. 

As our names appeared in the 
calendar, and being frequently 
told that a true bill had been 
found against us, we expected to 
be tried at the County Assizes, 
but in this we were disappointed. 
We were now told that the Judge 
had left an order for the deten¬ 
tion of our bodies till bailed out. 
Our friends not immediately bail¬ 
ing us out, we were informed by 
Mr. lire gins, that he did not 
know whether we should he 
tried at the King’s Bench, or by 
a special commission. Being ig¬ 
norant what steps to pursue, we 
wrote a memorandum to Sir 
Francis Burdett, and another 
to Lord Sidmouth, to which we 
never received any answer. 

During the sessions at Man- 
Chester, Mr. Higgins being at 
that place, the Rev. Mr. Row lev 
ordered us into the chapeL and 
after having satisfied himself as 
to what religion we professed, 
he told us that we were not going 
the way to he liberated, but that 
we ought to plead guilty, and 
make a full confession of the oaPhs 
of secrecy that we had taken. 
We replied that we knew nothing 
about any oaths, and that w 7 e had 
nothing to confess. lie said Mr. 
Hu jgins had the care of our 
bodies, but he thought proper to 
look after our souls; and said he 
wished us to make a jull confess 
sion , and acknowledge our guilt , 
and then we should be released . 
He said, probably you do not 
know that Cobbett, that sedi¬ 
tious writer, is run oft' to America, 




51] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [52 


and taken Burdett in for a large 
sum of money; that Cochrane 
and Burdett, and the heads of 
them, had led us into it, and had 
now left us; that Hunt had 
turned King’s evidence, and no 
doubt would hang a great many; 
and it teas owing to these men 
that ire could not perceive that 
we had. a set of wise Ministers , 
and that our distress was occa¬ 
sioned by a transition from war 
to peace, together with a bad 
harvest; and he was very sorry 
we stood so much in our own 
light, as not to see that the Mi¬ 
nisters were our friends , and that 
if we would acknowledge our 
guilt, ice should, he released. 
After this we received two letters 
from Oswald Milne, solicitor, 
Manchester, in which we were 
requested to plead guilty. One 
particularly to myself (Matthew 
Lithgoe), requested that 1 would 
plead guilty, and I should then 
be sent home to my wife and fa¬ 
mily. However, we all pleaded 
t zot guilty, before this newly- 
elected tribunal; Mr. Higgins, 
who read the letters, now told ns 
i we were very foolish,for we might 
he liberated if we would 
guilty. 

About this time, Mr. Higgins, 
jun. told us, that if we did not 
put in plea, judgment would 
go by default in the Court of 
King’s Bench. Now, Mr. Editor, 
to do this was impossible; we 
had no funds out of w hich to pay 
an attorney. The jailor detained 
our bodies, and Mr. Naden, of 
Manchester, had taken our little 
property. Yet we were to he pu¬ 
nished for not doing what the 
authors of our punishment pre¬ 
vented us from doing. 

The next communication we 



received, was to inform us we 
were only kept till bail was 
given; and myself and Williams 
were then bailed out, with the 
understanding that we were to 
be surrendered at Lancaster, 
Bail was also given for Peter 
Lever, and George Grimsiiaw ; 
and 9s. paid as bail fees; but 
they now refuse to liberate them, 

Since my release, my bail lias 
received letters from Mr. Solicitor 
Milne, stating, that if I did not 
put in plea in the Court of King's 
Bench, their goods and chattels 
would be distrained upon, 1 have 
this day been at Mr. Milne’s 
office, and one of my bail along 
with me. Mr. Milne read a letter 
to us, which lie said dime from 
the Secretary of State's office , 
1 am here charged with a misde¬ 
meanor, and was again requested 
to plead guilty, and told if I so 
pleaded, myself and hail would 
he released from our recogni¬ 
zances, and that if I took care of 
myself, and kept from those sedi¬ 
tions meetings, I might never be 
called upon ; but if I was, it 
would only be to receive judg¬ 
ment. On my final refusal to 
plead guilty, he told me I was a 
damned fool, and stood in my own 
light, and that / might as well he 
clear as not. 

Now, Mr. Editor, I should wish 
to know what a man in my situa¬ 
tion must do ; I am without mo¬ 
ney, and to aggravate my distress, 
am unable to work, from the ef¬ 
fects of a rheumatic complaint 
which I caught in prison. I have 
offered to surrender myself, but 
they refuse to receive me; and I 
suppose I must be punished for 
not doing what it is impossible for 
me to do. In the hope that you 
will notice my case, as well as 




*33] August 

the ease of those still in prison, 
and that you, or some of your 
correspondents, will advise us in 
your valuable pamphlet what to 
do, 

I remain, Sir, yours, &c. 
Matthew Lithgoe. 

\ 

If Matthew Lithgoe’s state¬ 
ments be correct, they deserve 
Mr. Chaplain B ates’s most serious 
consideration. I have, in former 
Registers , stated how the Man¬ 
chester men were arrested at 
their meeting for petitioning, and 
have given a correct copy of 
their Petition; but Matthew 
Litiigoe’s letter brings incidents 
together which Mr. Chaplain 
Bates may think had better be 
kept private ; — the Reverend 
Gentleman and myself differ too 
much in our sentiments generally, 
to agree upon this point; and 1 
have given, and shall give them, 
all the publicity possible. Mat¬ 
thew Lithcoe having met others 
in a field, to arrange the busi¬ 
ness of peaceably proceeding to 
lay their Petitions before the 
Regent, the following* circum¬ 
stances are related to have hap¬ 
pened 

1. They were surrounded by the 
military, and arrested. 

2. From 27 to 30 were put in the 
Loch-up, a room so small they 
could not all lie down at one 
time. 

3. They were refused straw to lie 
upon. 

4. They lay upon the hare stones. 

5. Upon complaint to the doctor, 
they were ordered into the 
open yard, and there compelled 
to remain for six or eight hours 
at a time. 

6 . Having been so confined for 


20, 1 SIT. [51 

nine days and nights , Matthew 
Lithgoe, and four others, were 
chained to a man charged with 
murder, and sent to JLaacaster 
gaol. 

7. A fter having been thus treated, 
they were told Ministers were 
their friends, and were recom¬ 
mended to throw themselves 

on their mercy -to plead 

guilty. 

8. Matthew Lithgoe was told, 
by letter from the Secretary of 
State’s office, that if he would 
plead guilty, and went to no 
more meetings, he might never 
be called upon to receive judg¬ 
ment. 

9. Matthew Lithgoe refused to 
plead guilty, and was called a 
damned fool by the lawyer. 

10. Matthew Lithgoe is in¬ 
formed, if he does not plead in 
the Court of King’s Bench, 
that his bail will be distrained 
upon. 

11. Matthew Lithgoe, without 
money, unable to work, from 
rheumatism caught in prison, 
and therefore without the 
means of pleading*, offered to 
surrender himself to prison 
again, rather then plead guilty , 
and his prosecutors refused to 
accept him. 

flow much of the shadow of 
the Constitution has Matthew 
Lithgoe? It would take Mr. 
Chaplain Bates some time to 
convince Matthew Lithgoe that 
he has had the shadow 44 in as 
44 ample a degree as his more 
44 wealthy superiors.” The Reve¬ 
rend Gentleman is bound, by vir¬ 
tue of his assertions, to give advice 
to Matthew Lithgoe, who is 
called on to plead, has not money 
to employ a lawyer, and says, “ 1 





55] 

“ suppose I must be punished for 
st not doing' what it is impossible 
“ for me to do.” Mr. Chaplain 
Bates has a pretty good share of 
the shadow ; enough, I think, to 
spare a little of it to Matthew 
Lithgoe, who asks advice and 
direction. I really do not know 
liow to advise Lithgoe myself; 
I know not with what he is 
charged, or how charged ; and, 
being no law yer, cannot give him 
a lawyer’s advice ; but were 1 
hi his situation, called on to plead 
in the Court of King’s Bench, 1 
should immediately write to Mr. 
Litchfield, the Solicitor to the 
Treasury, in Lincoln’s Inn ; and 
to Sir Samuel Shepherd, the 
Attorney-General, also in Lin¬ 
coln’s Inn. From one of these 
gentlemen he would certainly re¬ 
ceive an answer of some kind, and, 
as certainly, one to the point. The 
real persuasion on my ow n mind 
is, that a representation of facts 
to them w ould put the matter at 
rest for ever. 

Ministers have received so 
many defeats, every new victory 
is such a body-blow, the People 
are so tranquil in their triumphs, 
and the Country manifests its 
contempt for all that is going- 
forward so heartily, that Ministers 
may as well order their coliins 
as order prosecutions. Neither 
Mister Reynolds, the informer, 
on a Grand Jury; nor Mister Cas¬ 
tle, the other informer, dressed 
up in his Bow-street clothes for 
a witness; nor Mister Oliver, 
the informer and spy, with Mr. 
Morality Keck to give him a 
character, have been able to get 
them a conviction in London :— 
and then in the country! why, 
were they hung up for scare¬ 
crows, the very birds would perch 


[56 

upon them, so little is there fear¬ 
ful about them. 

WILLIAM IIONE. 


Church and State will keep a lit¬ 
tle longer. 

o 

In my next Number I shall notice 
the Raving Distracted Paroles oi the 
Borough of MAIDSTONE. 


MIL LEMA1TRE. 


[The fallowing' Petition and Narrative of 
this Gentleman, from the Journals of the 
House of Commons, should be read by 
every Man in the Country.] 


“ A Petition of Paul Thomas 
Lem ait re, of t lie City of Lon¬ 
don, w as presented and read; 
setting forth, that at a distance 
of *200 miles from the metropolis, 
the Petitioner lately heard reports 
of the proposition having been 
made by Ids Majesty's Ministers 
to Parliament for the Suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus Act; the 
Petitioner thought it an impe¬ 
rious duty he owed himself, iiis 
family, and his country, to submit 
to the House the following nor - 
rative, in order that the amount 
of confidence to be placed in the 
hands of the great officers of 
state should he duly appreciated 
by tiie House. The Petitioner 
accordingly hastened to town, 
but he arrived a few hours too 
late; the discussion of the mea¬ 
sure of the Suspension Bill was 
already near its close, and shortly 
after the Petitioner reached the 
lobby of the House, w r as passed. 
The general reports that have 
reached the ears of the Peti- 
titiouer, that it is now proposed 


IIcne’s Reformists’ Register. 











57] August 

to obtain their as«ent to a similar 
■Bill, ex torn! in"* 1 lie suspension 
for a farther period of time, de¬ 
termines the Petitioner to entreat 
the earnest attention of the House 
to this his Petition, containing 1 a 
detail of facts he will not attempt 
to characterize, and a recital of 
particulars in which several of 
bis Majesty’s present advisers 
have acted a distinguished part. 

NARRATIVE. 

“ That on the 27th of Septem¬ 
ber, 17.94, the Petitioner being- 
then only eighteen years of aye, 
was arrested on a char ye of trea¬ 
sonable practices, and having un¬ 
dergone various examinations lie- 
fore the Privy Council, was fully 
committed on a charge, of high 
treason; that the Petitioner, hav¬ 
ing endured all the honors of 
solitary confinement for thin' y-two 
weeks in tire Cold-Bath-Fields 
prison, not to mention the cruel 
oppressions of its keeper, during 
which period he had frequently 
demanded, in applications to the 
Privy Council, to bo brought to a 
public trial, his father was in¬ 
formed by Mr. Justice Ford, then 
private secretary, to the Duke of 
Portland, Secretary of State, 
that upon giving two sureties of 
fifty pounds each, he should he 
liberated; and these terms the 
Petitioner was constrained to 
accept. 

*« That after a short interval 
the Petitioner received a letter 
from Mr. Secretary Dun das, re¬ 
quiring his attendance at the 
Treasury Chambers; the .Peti¬ 
tioner attended at the time ap¬ 
pointed, and sent in his card to 
lfie Privy Council, then sitting; 
and having* waited from the 
morning until it was late in the 


% 1817. [56 

day without having received any 
communication,the Petitioner ex¬ 
pressed to several his impatience, 
and was at length informed the 
Privy Council had broken up, 
and the Members long since had 
left tiie office; the Petitioner in 
course retired. 

“ That shortly after this pro¬ 
ceeding, the Petitioner Avas in¬ 
formed, at J l o’clock at night, 
his name had been included with 
others in a bill of indictment for 
hiyli treason . The Petitioner im¬ 
mediately retained counsel to sur- 
render him. At the opening of 
the Court the next morning, the 
Judge inquired of the Petitioner 
as to his identity; and the 
Petitioner answered, that al¬ 
though his description as he un¬ 
derstood had not been faithfully 
given in the indictment, he the 
Petitioner had been lately in¬ 
volved in a similar accusation, 
and that as he desired nothing 
so much as a public opportunity 
for the justification oi his cha¬ 
racter, he now most anxiously 
presented himself; the Petitioner, 
as lie anticipated, was committed 
to tho gaol of Newgate. 

“ That after an imprisonment 
of some weeks, the Petitioner 
was conducted to the bar of the 
Old Bailey, and was there placed 
beside three individuals, one of 
whom (his bookseller) he had 
never had a moment’s conversa¬ 
tion with, except upon matters of 
business; a second, with whom a 
private word had never passed ; 
and a third, who to his know¬ 
ledge he had never in the course 
of ins life either seen or heard 
of, previously at least to his ap¬ 
prehension : the Petitioner being 
called upon to plead to the in¬ 
dictment then read to him, waved 




5P] Hone's Reformists’ ReglsiTr. 


the informality of erroneous de¬ 
scription, and pleaded not. guilty. 
After the anxiety, labour, and 
expense of preparing' a defence, 
and after suffering an imprison¬ 
ment of sixteen weeks, the Peti¬ 
tioner was again put to the bar, 
where Mr. Attorney-General, now 
Lord ChancellorELDON, informed 
the Court he had no evidence to 
produce * and the Petitioner was 
acquitted . 

“ That the Petitioner was again 
arrested, in 1798, and was again 
committed to the gaol of Newgate 
on a charge of high treason* 

“ That after upwards of one 
gears close and solitary confine¬ 
ment, the communication of the 
physician’s report by the gaoler, 
Mr. Kirby, to the Privy Council, 
that the debilitated state of the 
Petitioner’s health was likely to 
prove fatal, procured, as the Pe¬ 
titioner believes, a proposition 
made him by the said gaoler, 
Mr. Kirby, that the Petitioner 
might obtain his liberation upon 
the condition that he would give 
security to leave the country 
during the war. The Petitioner 
gave for answer, that in what¬ 
ever danger his health might be 
involved, he would agree to no 
terms short of the full and public 
justification of his character, too 
long' suspended in doubt, and 
yet dearer to him than the life he 
now hazarded. The Petitioner 
was shortly after removed to 

Reading gaol. 

© © • 

“ The Petitioner begs leave to 
inform the House, that during 
these several and long periods oj 
confinement, the Habeas Corpus 
Act Suspension Bill had been 
several times renewed, and the 
Petitioner having learned that a 
proposition w T as now again made 


for its renewal for another consi¬ 
derable period of time, forwarded* 
through the kind interference of 
Mr. Charles Grey, a Petition to 
die House of Commons, alleging 
that the Petitioner * with a full 
consciousness of entire innocence* 
had suffered two years of uninter - 
mining solitary and, dose confine¬ 
ment, besides the heavy suffering 
of former imprisonments, and the 
ruinous expenses of an unneces¬ 
sary defence, praying the House 
that they would call the Peti¬ 
tioner to their bar, and institute 
such inquiry as should shield 
him from continued incarcera¬ 
tion ; but this Petition he was 
informed, through a communica¬ 
tion he had the honour to receive 
from Mr* Grey, was rejected. 

“ That the Petitioner having 
been at length confined upon this 
occasion about three years , was 
called upon by a King’s Mes-» 
senger and other officers, and 
conveyed back to London, to be 
enlarged upon his own recogni¬ 
zance ; that having been taken 
before Mr. Justice Ford, this 
gentleman congratulated the Pe¬ 
titioner upon tlie instructions he 
had received to offer liberation 
from such long imprisonment 
upon terms amounting to little 
more than form, namely, personal 
recognizance for one thousand 
pounds ; the Petitioner, how ever, 
refused to accede to these terms* 
alleging that the length and se¬ 
verity of the imprisonment made 
it more imperiously necessary 
that he and the public should 
become at last acquainted with 
the grounds upon which he had 
been oppressed by such accumu¬ 
lated suffering; that he under¬ 
stood the Habeas Corpus Sus¬ 
pension Bill was about to expire* 




wtj August % 1817* [02 


and that the Minister advising-its 
suspension had tendered and had 
had his resignation accepted by 
his Majesty ; that therefore the 
Petitioner considered that the 
reign of the laws being about to 
be resumed in full efficiency, it 
became him, in defence of his 
character, so many years unjustly 
subjected to suspicion, to suffer 
rather again for a short season, 
and be thereby enabled to chal¬ 
lenge and meet the machinations 
of those who had heaped upon 
his head such accumulated suffer¬ 
ing. Mr. Justice Ford expostu¬ 
lated, but the Petitioner felt it no 
less a public than a private duty 
to maintain firmly his opinion, 
and was committed to the Parlia¬ 
ment Street Hotel, in charge of 
the Messenger: hence the Peti¬ 
tioner addressed a Memorial to 
his Grace the late Duke of Port¬ 
land, demanding an uncondi¬ 
tional liberation or a public trial; 
but the answer to this applica¬ 
tion was in the shape of a new 
warrant of commitment for high 
treason to Tothill-Fields Bride¬ 
well, in which prison the Peti¬ 
tioner was compelled to pay two 
guineas and a half per week for 
lodging and board, or associate 
with the felons. At the next en¬ 
suing' Term the Petitioner ap¬ 
plied to the Court of King’s Bench 
for an Habeas , which Lord Ken¬ 
yon having- desired time to con¬ 
sider of, the next day refused , as 
he expressed himseif in answer 
to the expostulations of the Peti¬ 
tioner’s solicitor, upon his re¬ 
sponsibility . After a short in¬ 
terval, a proposition was made in 
Parliament again to renew the 
Suspension of the Habeas Cor¬ 
pus Act; the Petitioner verily be¬ 
lieving the dread which the Mi¬ 
nisters entertained of the expo¬ 


sure of their Measures—an ex¬ 
posure which the examination of 
his case would necessarily in¬ 
volve, was mainly instrumental 
in inducing' this measure, re¬ 
peated his Petitions, renewed the 
detail of his sufferings, and in- 
treated that no measure should 
be adopted which might have for 
effect to perpetuate them; but 
the Suspension Bill mas once more 
passed, and received the Royal 
Assent. Mr. Justice Ford, on 
the following morning, called at 
the prison, and renewing* the 
proposal of the former terms of 
enlargement, the Petitioner, un¬ 
able to sustain singly a conflict 
with power so disproportionate, 
and the prospect of a defence of 
character at the probable sacri¬ 
fice of interminable imprison¬ 
ment, agreed at length to give 
his own recognizance for future 
appearance if called upon. Res¬ 
toration to society, with at best 
an equivocal character, with the 
deepest sacrifice of property and 
of health, and w ith a more fright¬ 
ful and fatal wound in the loss of 
a dear parent, who having in the 
first stag’e of persecution been in¬ 
formed by the officers that they 
had seized upon the Petitioner 
the damning evidence of guilt, 
had taken to her bed, and rose 
no more! These considerations 
weighed down the mind of the 
Petitioner with the most bitter 
agony, and in order to obtain the 
means of a public investigation 
of such extraordinary transac¬ 
tions, he determined, upon ma¬ 
ture consideration, to bring ac¬ 
tions against his Majesty’s Minis¬ 
ters and- the Chief Justice of the 
Court of King’s Bench: the 
Petitioner gave his solicitor in¬ 
structions accordingly; but to 
his utter mortification, he found 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [64 

which he has understood himself 


G3] 

Bills immediately introduced into 
bath Houses of Parliament, for 
the indemnity of all the parlies 
concerned . The Petitioner lost 
not a moment in petitioning 
against these measures; but his 
exertions were fruitless, his Pe¬ 
titions unavailing. 

“ The Petitionerhas been many 
years endeavouring to recover 
his station in society; and to re¬ 
sist the too fatal consequences 
attending such treatment, he had 
repeatedly petitioned to have the 
charges against him, if any had 
really existed, investigated at the 
bar of the House, and for some 
remuneration for the greater part 
of seven year- of sufferings and 
expenses of the most afflicting 
nature ; lie had adopted whatever 
of other expedients at any time 
presented which might lead to 
an examination of his case, and 
the justification of his conduct 
and character; but having made 
every endeavour, and urged his 
claims in vain, he has for some 
time sought to bring his mind 
into a state of resignation, and 
with a knowledge that, as far as 
regarded the Petitioner, the old 
pretences for the Suspension of 
the Act of Habeas Corpus were 
utterly and in every respect 
groundless, the Petitioner em¬ 
braces this opportunity most so¬ 
lemnly to declare before his coun¬ 
try, personified by the House, 
and with an equal solemnity as 
if he stood in flic presence of 
Almighty Cod, that never in word 
nor in deed, neither in whisper , 
insinuation , nor in fact, had, he 
ever received lawwledge or inti¬ 
mation, nor teas he ever party to 
any of the alleged treasons of 


to stand charged, and on account 
of which he has suff ered so griev¬ 
ously, nor of any other treasons or 
conspiracies whatever . 

“ That after the sad experience 
of the past, the Petitioner trem¬ 
bles for the future ; and believing 
himself as much or as little de¬ 
serving of censure and surveil¬ 
lance at this period as at any 
former period of his life, and 
that in consequence of the re¬ 
newal of the Suspension Bill now 
proposed, may be a renewal of 
suffering however unmerited, the 
Petitioner anxiously implores the 
House that they will allow him 
to verify these allegations at their 
bar, if they be doubted ; that the 
House w ill refuse their assent to 
the proposed Suspension Bill, 
which will, if passed into a law, 
again have for effect to put the 
Petitioner and the whole People 
of England out of the protection 
of those revered laws securing 
their personal freedom, which 
may involve the family of the 
Petitioner in utter ruin, and again 
subject the character for inte¬ 
grity and love of country he has 
been endeavouring to re-estab¬ 
lish, to a repetition of the bitter, 
cruel, and destructive calumny 
too nearly alike consequent upon 
such suspicion and actual guilt.” 
June* 3,1817. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

J. t>. \V. 1 am obliged to for his True 
Copy. He \yill further oblige me if he cun 
favour me with the original. 

M— v is too pretty. 

Can an Old Sea Officer send me the 

Pubiicai ions ? 

My Greenfield Street Correspondent 
should have Counsel's Opinion—mine is 
not wort It a straw in his ease. 


Loudon : Printed by and lip 1 WILLIAM HONE, (i7, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Lei m ate Him.; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed. 
— Price-Two-Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. 10$. per Thousand. 








Pi •ice Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

‘ T „ ~ .1 — . . - .. .— - -- ~T - — ■■ - ■■ — » - ■■ 

No. 3.] Saturday, August 9, 1817. [Vol. II* 


TRIUMPHS 


OF THE PEOPLE . 


MACKINLEY'S Acquittal in Scot- 
land—Acquittals of the York and 

Huddersfield Men, &;c. - IVho 

pays for it all—Supposed Visit of 
the REGENT to a Corrupt Corpo¬ 
ration; to Ilchestcr, and its 100 Fa- 
miles in the Boroughmongers Work- 
house; to Gatton, where ONE Elec¬ 
tor sends TWO Members to Parlia¬ 
ment, namely, himself and his Son, 
and a supposed Dialogue between 
him and the Regent 3 to the Raving 
Distracted Purples at Maidstone — 
Notice of a Clean Sample of the 
MAIDSTONE PURPLES. 

II. ON PETITIONING -— Conse¬ 
quences of the PITT System—Hard 
Labour without Reflection, and Op¬ 
pression without Redress— III. Mr. 
IIAZLETT'S Character of CO- 
R10 LAN US—A Contrast between 
Power and Weakness, and Riches and 
Poverty—IV. PEACE no Blessing, 
whilst Taxation keeps us Miserable. 


The trial of Andrew Mac- 
kinley, in Scotland, on the 18th 
instant, has ended; and is another 
and most signal defeat of Minis¬ 
terial machination. He was 
charged before the High Court 
of Justiciary, in Edinburgh, with 
administering unlawful oaths. 


The first witness against the 
Prisoner was John Campbell. 
Being asked, Have yen received 
any reward, or promise of a re¬ 
ward, for being a witness % Camp¬ 
bell answered “/ have, my Lord.” 
The Court was astonished. The 
question was again put, ami 
Campbell gave the like answer. 
The Lord Justice Clerk cautioned 
and admonished him as to the 
nature of an oath. Campbell 
said he had a due sense of that 
solemn obligation; he knew 
he must answer to God for what 
he said; and that he might be be¬ 
lieved in Court, he offered to pro¬ 
duce witnesses to the truth of his 
testimony. He was then examined 
by the Court, and deposed that 
he was apprehended, with the Pri¬ 
soner, on the 22d of February 
last, without cause or warrant; 
and on the Thursday or Wednes¬ 
day following, examined before 
the Sheriff Depute of Lanark¬ 
shire, and asked if he knew what 
he was brought before him for? 
He told the Sheriff he did not; 
and the Sheriff insisted that fie 
did, and that it would he wisdom 
in him to make his breast clean . 
The Sheriff left him alone with 
Mr. Salmond (die Procurator 
Fiscal ^,whosaid,“ John, perhaps 
you do not know that 1 know so 
much about this affair; I know 
more about it than you think I 
do ; you do not know that I have 
the oath 3 011 took at Leg g at es, 


Primed by and fur W. Hone, CT, Uld iiailey, London. 



























67] Hone’s Reform 

©n the 1st of January” He then 
showed him a scroll of an oath, 
saying’, “ you see, John, 1 have 
got it.” He then added, “ you 
and other persons,” whom he 
named, “ took that oath at Leg- 
gatt’s, on the 1st of January.” 
Campbell told him that lie had 
not taken that oath. After ill- 
usuage , threats , and stratagems, 
practised upon him by the 
Sheriff of Lanarkshire, to induce 
him to become a witness at seve¬ 
ral examinations, Mr. Salmond 
began railing against the Pri¬ 
soners, ax vi llains wh o h ad heir aged 
the witness ; he said that it was 
only his regard for witness that 
made him wish him to become an 
evidence; and said, “ l assure you 
I have six men who will swear 
you took that oath ; and you are 
as sure to b£ hanged, as you are 
in life.” Campbell replied, that 
it might be possible to get two 
or three persons to perjure them¬ 
selves, but he did not think it 
possible to get six to do so. 
Alter this lie said to witness, 
“ you will ruin yourself if you 
take this way; but if you take 
the other way, you may do your¬ 
self much good.” Mr. Salmond 
said, that the Lord Advocate was 
in Glasgow; and that he would 
come under any obligation he 
(witness) chose, if he would be a 
witness. Mr. Drummond, Ad¬ 
vocate Depute, examined him, 
and stated, that he might go 
to another town, and change his 
name ; that lie had been thinking 
of a plan of writing to Lord 
Su> mouth to get him into the Ex¬ 
cise. Mr. D rummond had been j 
with him several times in the 
Castle, and asked, on one of these 
occasions, what the witness 
wanted to have? when lie re- 


iists’.Register. £68 

rnained silent. Mr. Drummond 
called again a few days after¬ 
wards, when he said, “ Now, 
Campbell, this is the last time; 
you must be determined non.” 
He then asked if he bad written 
to Lord Si dm out m ? and was 
answered no, as witness had re¬ 
jected the offer. He Mas then 
asked if he bad made up his 
mind ? when he answered that he 
had upon conditions, which were 
that he should receive a pass¬ 
port to go to the Continent; 
when he was told by Mr. Drum¬ 
mond, that he supposed there was 
nobody could stop him. He 
answered, that being a mechanic, 
he did not believe the lavs of 
tlse country would allow him to 
quit it. Air. T>. replied, with a 
smile—is that all ? There is no 
question but you wall get that, 
and means to carry you there. 
Witness then said, that on these 
conditions he was willing to be- 
come a witness, if his wife was 
included. Mr. Drummond de- 
sirod him to write to her, and to 
mark a one pound note on the 
letter, which he would enclose. 
He desired him to inform his wife 
that he was to be a witness; and 
to tell her to leave Glasgow, and 
to go to witness’s father’s to stay 
for the present. The letter, how ¬ 
ever, was not sent, as the Lord 
, Advocate objected to its being 
sent to the pierson to whose care 
it was directed ; but to direct it 
to Mr. Salmond. Mr. Drum¬ 
mond* however* directed the 
money to be given to his wife, 
at Glasgow. An examination 
afterwards took place in presence 
of the Sheriff, Sheriff Substitute* 
Solicitor General, and Mr. Drum¬ 
mond : the terms formerly agreed 
upon, viz. that he should receive 






69] 

a passport for himself and wife 
to go to Prussia, and means 
afforded to convey them thither, 
were discussed. A pause here 
took place: when Mr. Drum- 
mund said to witness, “ Now, 
Campbell, von know whether 
you can he a witness on these 
- terms or not: do you believe we 
are able to do for you what you 
expect, without its being put down 
on paper ? " Witness answered, 
he knew they were able, if they 
were willing-. Mr. Drummond 
replied, “ Could you rely upon 
Us for that i" Witness answered, 
“ May I P’ Mr. Drummond an¬ 
swered* “ You mag." To which 
witness replied, “ Then I shall 
rely upon you as gentlemen.” 
Shortly after this, witness was 
allowed to write his declaration 
himself* with the exception oi one 
part relating to a Mr; Kerr.— 
Mr. Drummond visited witness 
after this, declaration, when he 
ordered the gaoler to procure 
plenty of books for witness to 
read, which he got to the amount 
of about 100 volumes. Shortly 
after, witness wrote to Mr. Drum- 
mono for some clothes and money. 
Witness received a pair of shoes; 
but with regard to money, he was 
answered, he would get none till 
after the first trial, when lie would 
get money ; this was about three 
weeks ago. He wrote another 
letter to Mr. Drummond, stating 
n part of what had been put down 
in bis declaration, as a gentle de¬ 
mand for money* when lie re¬ 
ceived the same answer. Both 
answers were conveyed to him by 
the gaoler, who told him he had 
them from Mr. Drummond* 

Mr. Jeffray proposed to call 
Sir William Rae, the Sheriff, to 
corroborate Campbell's dcclnra- 


[70 

tion, which was opposed by the 
Lord Advocate. 

The Court spoke at some, 
length upon the competency of 
Campbell, and decided that he 
could not be examined ; and after 
four witnesses, all prisoners in 
the Castle of Edinburgh, were 
called in succession, who all de¬ 
nied that any oath, such as stated 
in the indictment, was adminis¬ 
tered, the Lord Advocate rose, 
and addressed the Court, stating, 
that in consequence of the disap¬ 
pointment he had experienced in 
the turn which the evidence ho 
had adduced had taken , he found 
he Could not receive the verdict 
which his former impressions led 
him to expert ; he therefore 
would not take up the valuable 
time of the Judges and Jury. 

The Jury acquitted the Pri¬ 
soner. 

The termination of this case of 
Mack in ley is a great moral les¬ 
son to Ministers. Maciunley 
had been taken into custody on 
the 22d of February, on a charge 
of treason ; since which time he 
has been kept in close and soli¬ 
tary confinement, and been three 
times indicted by the Lord Ad¬ 
vocate for high treason, without 
being tried; and now being tried,, 
behold the result—that the first. 
witness swears he was tampered 
with by the following persons 
viz; the Sheriff'Depute of Lanark¬ 
shire, Mr. Salmond, Procurator 
/Fiscal, and Mr. Drummond, Ad ¬ 
vocate Depute ; and that in the 
course of this tampering he was 
told, if he diil not give evidence 
against MackiHey* he would be 
hanged; and \I lie did, he would 
be made an Exciseman ! 

The Lord Advocate, who put 
Mr. Macklnley bn his trial] did 


August 9, IS 17. 



711 Honk’s Reformists’ Register. [72 


so, V have iio doubt, most unwil- 
Tmgly. It may be seen in a 
former Registe r * that Mr. Maco- 
Nochie, for that is tire Lord Ad¬ 
vocate’s name, made his first 
speech in the House of Commons 
on the first reading 1 of the first 
Habeas Corpus Suspension Rill, 
in the last sessions—he supported 
it with all his might—he did all 
lie could to get a clause against 
the liberty of the subject in 
Scotland; “ Because,” said Mr. 
Mac oxochiE, “ in 1715, 1 722, and 
“ 1.745, the Law Officers who 
“ then sat in that House, meant 
“ to put the People of Scotland 
“ out of the pale of the law, as 
“ much as the People of Eng- 
“ land.” My observation in the 
Refster on that remark of the 
learned Lord Advocate was,— 
“ When I heard your Lordship’s 
“ support of the Habeas Snspen- 
sion BUb 1 involuntarily ex- 
“ claimed, whilst looking at you 
“ from the gallery of the House, 
fi for this he was ordainedand 
I further inquired, “ was I mis¬ 
taken, my Lord? ” It seems I was 
not mistaken—I was right. Mr. 
Mackinley is tried, and dis¬ 
charged. The noble Lord Advo- 
cate would no doubt prefer hav¬ 
ing him still in close and solitary 
confinement, under the suspen¬ 
sion of the Habeas Corpus Act; 
w hich, by an amendment of the 
Lords, does not in its operation 
extend to Scotland. Putting men 
upon their trial—bringing; them 
before juries of their country, 
does not suit Ministers. When 
they have done so, they have, in 
almost every instance, been de¬ 
feated. Six men, tried fo» Lud* 
<1 it ism. at York, last Friday week, 
were acquitted; and the Kud- 
m Vui. L p. jji. 


dersfield rioters, tried the follow¬ 
ing day, were also acquitted. A 
person who was present at the 
trials says, the Prisoners were 
persons of good character and 
excellent conduct—sober, hard¬ 
working-, honest, dutiful, and 
quiet lads. They were proved 
so upon oath from the witness 
box, by their masters, th.eir neigh¬ 
bours, and their townsmen; by 
those who had known them from 
their infancy, and who were most 
exposed to the consequences of 
their irregularities, had they 
been guilty of any intentional 
w ickedness. The interesting ap¬ 
pearance of the young men who 
were acquitted, their extreme 
youth—two of them being only 
about 19—their demeanour m 
Court, and the almost parental 
fondness of their masters, who 
spoke to their characters in all 
their relations in life, affected 

the bv-standers almost to tears. 

_ 

These misfortunes to the pro¬ 
jects of Ministers come tumbling 
in head-over-heels faster than they 
were formed; and, I dare to sav, 
remind them of the common 
saying, about bringing an old 
house over their heads. Beside 
the affair of Mack in ley and 
the poor Yorksliiremen, there are 
the acquittal of Mr. Wooler, the 
acquittal of Watson, the rasli 
proceedings against Wright, 
and the oppressive proceedings 
against myself—what a clatter ! 
Then there is the discovery of 
the Spies —Squire Reynolds and 
Mister Oliver, and the Wretch 
Castle. These are rare and 
wonderful things, but we have 
the misfortune to pay for them 
all. A man when he gets into n 
certain office, has nothing in the 
world to do but take offence at 





73] August 

whoever he pleases, and order 
prosecutions against him. If the 
Defendant is convicted, he re¬ 
ceives his sentence,and no mercy, 
unless indeed he craves it with 
great humility; and then the abject 
creature is let out of prison a few 
-months before his time, to he pitied! 
by all sturdy hearts who know 
how to feel for their fellow-crea¬ 
tures, and to suffer in their own 
persons for speaking the truth. 
Ail this tlie People pay for; and 
most dearly too. A Minister 
who happens to have an iil tem¬ 
per, and who cannot bear con¬ 
tradiction, is a most expensive 
servant. He orders an informa¬ 
tion to be hied, with as much 
ease as he orders his carriage ; 
and for this plain reason, he does 
not pay if he is beaten. The law- 
bills for the Government prose¬ 
cutions this year alone, and the 
charges attendant on such prose¬ 
cutions, are, I am assured, nearly 
Eighty thousand pounds! This 
sum, judiciously applied, would 
have done w onders in relieving' 
the distresses and calming* the 
discontents of the People. Sup¬ 
pose a Minister had said to the 
Prince Regent, “ Sir, you have now 
“ an opportunity of doisg great 
“ good; make a progress through 
« the kingdom, show yourself to 
“ the people, sift into their com- 
“ plaints, promise to redress their 
¥ grievances; and where you find 
« distress urgent, relieve it upon 
« the spot. Here is a sum of 
“ £80,000. at your disposal; tra- 
“ vel in any w ay most agreeable 
“ to your Royal Highness; see 
“ things with your own eyes, and 
“ w r e will gladly listen to your 
* recommendations.” 

How many narratives of dis¬ 
tress he would hear, how many 


0,1817. [71 

poor creatures save from wretch¬ 
edness and death! He might 
have recorded, that he could hot 
travel five miles without learning 
facts he never knew, though he 
had lived half a century; that 
not a city, not a village, not a 
hamlet, but furnished its tale. 
Here a rich corporation had long 
outlived tiie end of its institution; 
its members were wealthy, and 
ignorant," and overbearing, and 
oppressed their fellow-towns¬ 
men; they levied contributions, 
and created jobs for themselves, 
and fared sumptuously every 
day; and suffered human beings 
to drop down and die in their 
streets for lack of food. There, 
at Ilchester , where all the borough 
w T as pulled down, except sixty 
houses, as related in a former 
Register * in order to limit the 
number of voters, he might have 
seen the electors and their fami¬ 
lies all turned into a large 
workhouse, which the borough- 
monger, Sir William Manners, 
who destroyed their habitations, 
built on purpose to receive them. 
Had his Royal Highness heard 
that the little borough of Gatton, 
about 20 miles from London, was 
worth seeing-, he might have gone 
thither, and had an interview 
with its proprietor, Sir Mask 
Wood, and held the following 

Dialogue . 

Q. You are proprietor of this 
borough, Sir Mark? 

A. I am, may it please your 
Royal Highness. 

Q. How many Members does 
it send to Parliament ? 

A. Ttco, Sir. 

Q. Who are they? 

A. Myself and my son. 

* Vol. I. p. 144. 



75 ] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [70 


Q. You ore much beloved, 
then, in the borough, Sir Mark ? 

A. There are not many tell me* 
. otherwise, your Royal Highness. 

Q. Were there any opposition 
candidates ? 

A. None, Sir. 

Q. What is the qualification 
for an elector ? 

A. Being an inhabitant, pay¬ 
ing scot and lot. 

O. Only six electors , then! 
for 1 see you have only six houses 
in the place? 

A. Only ONE elector, please 
your Royal Highness. 

Q. \i hat, one elector, and re¬ 
turn tico members! how is that ? 
But what becomes of the other 
five householders? 

A. By buying the borough, 
I am the freeholder of the six 
houses; I let five by the week, 
pay the taxes myself, live in the 
other; and thus, being the only 
elector, return myself and my 
son as Members, at the election I 

And then his Royal Highness 
might have visited the borough 
of Maidstone, and heard what I 
licard, and what 1 shall relate at 
length in my next Register, res¬ 
pecting' fjie Purples, as they are 
called—tiie ritving distracted 
Purples. The name scarcely 
requires explanation. In the 
small pox, it denotes disease and 
death. “ The child has a siiock- 
“ ing sort,” says the nurse; “ it 
“ has the Purples, and if* there are 
‘* too many, if will die.” Just so if 
is with these Maidstone Purples. 
'Ihey were too many for (he bo¬ 
rough; but they have lately 
dwindled almost into insignifi¬ 
cance. Were the Prince Regent 
to visit Maidstone, he would see 
boron glim ougerinc, and the conse¬ 
quences of boroughmongering, in 


tHe appearance of the town. The 
Purples themselves all flat and 
dull, and low-hearted—beaten, 
disgraced, and scarcely daring to 
show their heads; such is thesitua- 
tion of the high-flying, tantivy, 
church-rand-king* Purples; the 
Billy Pitt the Tory- Purples! I 
shall have a curious tale respect- 
tig' them in my next. It’s true it is 
warm weather, and that they are 
upon the oo ; hut they have kept 
one week, and they’]! keep 
till the next. 1 w ish the Regent 
could take a look at them incog. 
and see to what a state of humilia¬ 
tion they have brought the town 
and trade of Maidstone. This 
borough is an excellent specimen 
of the borough system ; and, as 
they say amongst the hop-mar¬ 
ch ants, i wifi draw 7 a clean sample 
of it. 1 repeat that I wish the 
Regent could see this place, and 
these men. Sure I am that a 
patriot Prince would feel him¬ 
self disgraced and degraded 
below a hedge beggar, if, know¬ 
ing* the state of the country, he 
for one instant consented to rule 
over its intellect and indepen¬ 
dence, by such hands as those 
of the* miserable faction, who 
at Maidstone call themselves 
Purples. 

There are three Communica¬ 
tions in this sheet. A Friend 
pointed out certain just and noble 
thoughts in Mr. Hazlitt’s cha¬ 
racter of (Jo Riolan us, which will 
he read with admiration in the 
extracts that follow 7 . The paper 
signed Justus, is by the author 
of the excellent poem entitled 
Famishing.* My correspondent 
who signs \V. W. well de¬ 
serves attention. There is no 
lack of labourers in the vine* 
* In Vcl, I. f>. 382. 





4 4 


] 


yard at present; die minds of 
the People are open to receive 
instruction, and it will he their own 


August @, 1817. 


hunt it knowledge do not make 
them wise. 

WILLIAM IIONE. 

07, Okl Bailey, 

August 6, 1817. 


To Mr. William Hone. 

London, Aug. 3, 1S17. 

Dear Sir, 

As you deemed it not inconsistent 
with your plan to insert the extract 
from Coy, per’s Task, which I sent 
you, in your Reformists' Register,* 
you may perhaps consider the follow¬ 
ing. transcript not undeserving a place 
jn the same bold (nqt too bold, I 
hope, for the author’s safely) and pa¬ 
triotic publication. Allow me, before 
J extract the passage, to tender my 
thanks, for your illuminating weekly 
pamphlet. Go on ; but pray beware 
that your honest zeal does not hurry 
your pen beyond the bounds of pru¬ 
dence. If any writers ought to re¬ 
vise and re-revise their printed'senti¬ 
ments, it is those who, like yourself, 
are in these times of political and ar¬ 
bitrary restraint, publicly advocating 
tbe cause of the People at large—the 
many ; and warmly pleading for their 
unalienable rights. Though unknown 
to you personally, I feel a respect for 
your abilities, and the truly coura¬ 
geous stand you have lately made. 
And when I read the account of your 
sudden arrest, and undeserved and 
cruel incarceration, 1 could not re¬ 
strain the indignant spirit 1 felt, but 
let it burst forth in expressions which 
happily were uttered within my own 
wails, and the bosom of my own 

* Vol. 1, p. 73-1. 


[78 

family. What a period have we lived 
to see, when a Briton, pleading for 
the birth-right, privileges of Britons, 
is considered as a pest to society, and 
becomes an object of illegal and ma¬ 
lignant persecution ! But 1 must re¬ 
strain mv pen. Peru)it me once more 
to recommend a patient revision of 
your sentiments, before committing 
them to the press. Your situation 
reminds me of Bun van’s Pilgrim, 
treading with extreme caution over 
the enchanted ground, where gins, and 
traps, and pitfals, were planted 
through the whole of his way. 

A Friend. 


MR. IJAZLITTS CHARACTER 

OF 

CQIU O LAN US. 

“ Shakespe ar has in this play 
shown himself well versed in 
history and state affairs. Corio- 
i.anus is a store-house of political 
common-places. Any one who 
studies it may save himself the 
trouble of reading Burke’s Re¬ 
flections, or Paine’s Rights of 
Man, or the Debates in both 
Houses of Parliament, since the 
French Revolution or our own. 
Hie arguments for and against 
aristocracy and democracy, on 
die privileges of the few and the 
claims of the many, on liberty 
and slavery, on power and the 
abuse of it, on peace and war, are 
here very ably bandied, with the 
spirit of a poet, and the acuteness 
of a philosopher. Shakespear 
himself seems to have a leaning 
to the arbitrary side of the ques¬ 
tion, perhaps from some feeling 
of contempt for his own origin ; 
and to have spared no occasion 











70 ] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [80 


of baiting 1 the rabble. What he 
says of them is very true: what 
he says of their betters is also 
very true, though lie dwells less 
' upon it. The cause of the People 
is indeed but little calculated as 
a subject for poetry : it admits of 
rhetoric, which goes into argu¬ 
ment and explanation; but it 
presents no immediate or distinct 
images to the mind, ‘ no jetting 
frieze, buttress* or coigne of van¬ 
tage,’ for poetry ‘ to make its 
pendant bed and procreate cradle 
in.’ The language of poetry na¬ 
turally falls in with the language 
of power. * ***** * 

* The principle of poetry is 
a very anti-levelling' principle. 
It aims at effect, it exists by con¬ 
trast. It admits of no medium. 
It is every thing by excess. It 
rises above the ordinary standard 
of sufferings and crimes. It pre¬ 
sents a dazzling*appearance. It 
shows its head turretted, crowned, 
and crested. Its front is gilt and 
blood-stained. Before it ‘ it car¬ 
ries noise, and behind it tears.’ 
It fa as its altars and its victims, 
and its sacrifices—human sacri¬ 
fices. Kings, Priests, Nobles, are 
its train-bearers — tyrants and 
slaves its executioners. ‘ Car¬ 
nage is its daughter.’ Poetry is 
right royal. It puts the indivi¬ 
dual for the species, th e one above 
the infinite many , might before 
right. A lion bunting a flock of 
sheep, or a herd of wild asses, is 
a more poetical object than they: 
and we even take part with the 
lordly beast, because our vanity, 
•r some other feeling, makes us 
disposed to place ourselves in the 
situation of the stronger party. 
So we feel some concern for the 
poor citizens of Rome, when they 
meet together to compare their 


wants and grievances, till Co¬ 
rn olanus comes in, and with 
blows and big words drives this 
set of ‘ poor rats, this rascal scum,’ 
to their homes and beggary be¬ 
fore him. 7here is nothing he- 
roical in a multitude of miserable 
rogues not wishing to be starved, 
or complaining 1 that they are like 
to be so: but when a single man 
comes forward to brave their 
cries, and to make them submit 
to the last indignities, from mere 
pride and self-will, our admira¬ 
tion of his prowess is immediately 
converted into contempt for their 
pusillanimity. The insolence of 
power is stronger than the plea 
of necessity. The fame submis¬ 
sion to usurped authority, or even 
the natural resistance to if, has 
nothing to excite or flatter the 
imagination: it is the assump¬ 
tion of a right to insult or op¬ 
press others that carries an im- 
posing' air or superiority with it. 
We would rather he the oppressor 
than the oppressed. The love of 
power in ourselves, and the ad¬ 
miration of it in others, are both 
natural to man; the one makes 
him a tyrant, the other a slave. 
Wrong, dressed out in pride, 
pomp, and circumstance, has more 
attraction than abstract right. 
Coriolanus complains of the 
fickleness of the People; yet the 
instant he cannot gratify his 
pride and obstinacy at their ex¬ 
pense, he turns his arms against 
his country. If his country w as 
not worth defending, why did he 
bui Id his pride on its defence ? 
He is a conqueror and a hero; 
he conquers other countries, and 
makes this a plea for enslaving 
his own; and when he is pre¬ 
vented from doing' so, he leagues 
with his enemies to destroy his 

v 




81] August 

country. He rates the People 
6 as if lie were a god to punish, 
and not a man of their infirmity.’ 
Me scoffs at one of their Tri¬ 
bunes, tor maintaining their rights 
and franchises: ‘Mark you his 
absolute shall! ' not marking* his 
own absolute will to take every 
thing* from them, his impatience 
of the slightest opposition to Ins 
own pretensions being in pro¬ 
portion to their arrogance and 
absurdity. If the great and 
powerful had the beneficence 
and wisdom of gods, then all this 
would have been well: if, with a 
greater knowledge of what is 
good for the People, they hail as 
great a care for their interest as 
they have for themselves; if they 
were seated above the world, 
Sympathising with the welfare, 
but not feeling the passions of 
men; receiving neither good nor 
hurt from them, but bestowing 
their benefits as free gifts on 
them ; they might then rule over 
them like another Providence. 
But this is not the case. Corio- 
LANUsis unwillingtha't the Senate 
should show their ‘ cares ’ for Hie 
People, lest their ‘ cares’ should 
be. construed into ‘ fears,’ to the 
subversion of all due authority. 
******** The 
great have private feelings of 
their own, to which the interests 
of justice and humanity must 
courtesy. Their interests are so 
far from being the same as those 
of the community, that they are 
in direct and necessary opposi¬ 
tion to them; their power is at 
the expense of our Weakness; 
their riches of our poverty ; their 
pride of our degradation ; their 
splendour of okr wretchedness; 
their tyranny of our servitude. 
If they had the superior know- 


9, 1817. [82 

ledge ascribed to them, which 
they have not, it would render 
them only so much the more for¬ 
midable, and from gods would 
convert them into devils. The 
whole dramatic moral of Cor(o- 
lanus is, that those who have 
little shall have less; and that 
those who have much shall take 
all that others have left. The 
People are poor ; therefore they 
ought to he starved. They are 
slaves; therefore they ought to 
be beaten. They work hard; 
therefore they ought to be treated 
like beasts of burden. They are 
ignorant, therefore they ought 
not to be allowed to feel that 
they Want food, or clothing, or 
rest—that they are enslaved, op¬ 
pressed and miserable. This is 
the logic of the imagination and 
the passions; which seek to ag¬ 
grandise what excites admiration, 
and to heap contempt on misery; 
to raise power into tyranny , and 
to male tyranny absolute; to 
thrust down (hat which is low 
still lower, and to make wretches 
desperate: to exalt magistrates 
into kings, kings into gods; to 
degrade subjects to the rank of 
slaves, and slaves to the condi¬ 
tion of brutes. The history of 
mankind is a romance, a masque, 
a tragedy, constructed upon the 
principles o poetical justice; it 
is a noble or a royal hunt, in 
which what is sport to the few is 
death to the many; and in Which 
the spectators halloo and encou¬ 
rage the strong to set upon the 
weak, and cry havoc in the 
chase, though they do not share 
in the spoil. We may depend 
on it, that what men delight to 
read in books, they will, when 
able, put in practice in reality.”— 
pp. fill-—75. • 



S3] 

ON PETITIONING. 

TO THE FRIENDS OF FREEDOM 
AND PHILANTHROPY. 

Fora former Letter, see Vol I. page GC>7- 

Fellow Countrymen , Jhsertors oj 

your Constitutional Rights , 

For you ask for nothing but 
wliat your Constitution expressly 
guarantees to you, and complain 
of nothing but what is decidedly 
hostile to it—Are you not grate¬ 
ful for what your representatives 
have done for you? Do you not 
feel disposed to be extremely 
patient under the restraints they 
have been so reluctantly obliged 
to impose on your liberty, in order 
that you (spendthrifts as you are) 
might not dilapidate it, ere the 
proper time caiue for its enjoy¬ 
ment? A representative, ac¬ 
cording to Dr. Johnson’s old- 
fashioned idea, is “ a substitute in 
power;” and pretty substitutes 
you have got, Gentlemen. Why, 
they have not half the accommo¬ 
dating liberality of the Fool of 
Shakespear, who had no objec¬ 
tion to his comrade’s being called 
a king, provided he might he 
viceroy over him. But the great 
majority of your substitutes 
are not so easily satisfied; 
they have no ambition to reign 
over kings, or even freemen. 
Nothing short of absolute slaves 
'can enjoy the blessings of their 
legislation and governance.— 
Slaves themselves to the will of 
the Minister, they have sworn at 
the shrine of cupidity, eternal 
hatred to every flung that savours 
of freedom, even its very shadow ! 
Beinti at one and the same time 
your servants and your masters, 
your substitutes and your tyrants, 


they are, Gentlemen —yovr repre¬ 
sentatives! and you petition 
them ? You pray that vour sub¬ 
stitutes would be graciously 
pleased not to continue to con- 
travene and abrogate the laws 
of the land, by w hich they are 
deputed to defend and enforce. 
You petition them? Yes, by all 
the weaknesses of humanity, 
you petition! Away with the 
slavish solecism ! That which 
you have a right to possess, you 
have a right to demand; and 
every one who volunteers as an 
advocate for such demand, and 
does not legally enjorce it, boldly, 
and as matter of right} and 
not of favour, is a traitor to the 
cause he affects to espouse. 
Standing as we up, Gentlemen, 
on the rock of reason, truth must 

f 

be our weapon, and justice the 
iEg's of our defence; we must 
prove before God and our coun¬ 
try, that having pledged our¬ 
selves to the achievement of our 
liberties, we cannot recede ; and 
rather than submit to the Cer¬ 
berus of corruption, we will 
perish in {he contest, as may be¬ 
come freemen. In the exercise 
of this privilege of petitioning, 
you have faithfully and simply 
stated the miseries under which 
you groan ; and in adverting to 
the causes, as connected with 
the dreadful effects, you have 
also pointed out the remedy, with 
a degree of accuracy scarcely to 
be expected from men busied in 
ihe toil of unproductive labour, 
or inhumed in the sepulchre of 
never-ceasing care, “ w here hope 
never comes, that comes to all;” 
to bring you to which state has 
been, and still is, one of the great 
objects of the cold calculating 
policy of the present Ministers, 


IIonf/s Reformists’ Register. 







85] August 9, 1817. 

and which they inherit from their 
oracle— Pitt:— he, who to pur¬ 
chase the evanescant gratifica- 
tion of an inordinate ambition, 
which he scarcely obtained, and 
to divide the torrent of amelio¬ 
rated opinion, which he could 
not stem, desperately mortgaged 
the resources, and with them 
the liberties of his country ; and 
therewith blasted the bud of free¬ 
dom in its very spring. This ob¬ 
ject was to stifle inquiry; and 
this they had nearly accomplish¬ 
ed, by taxing the People to such 
a degree, as to absorb the far 
greater part of their laborious 
earnings; thus leaving so scanty 
and insufficient a portion of time 
for absolutely necessary provi¬ 
sion, that the majority had nei¬ 
ther leisure nor means for cul¬ 
tivating their intellect. Always 
labouring, yet always poor, they 
had no solicitude but for their 
daily food; they rose early and 
toiled late, and sung of Britaius’ 
glory, and “ Britons never will 
lie slaves,” unthinking and un- 
thought of, except when an ad¬ 
ditional penny was to be extorted 
from their hard-earned pit¬ 
tance, to keep them within the 
frugal hounds prescribed by Mi¬ 
nisterial rapacity. False and 
hollow was the glory, and fatal 
the labour, that left no opportu¬ 
nity for mental improvement ; 
for no poverty is so effectually 
degrading as that of the mind— 
no tyranny so successful as that 
which dominates in the ab¬ 
sence of talent. Now, when em¬ 
ployment has failed from the ina¬ 
bility to requite it, no longer 
lashed to the car of labour, the 
People open their eyes to the 
villanous deceptions that have 
been practised on them—they 


begin to think ; and feeling at 
last the dreadful ruin to which 
they are fast verging, they look 
to where, in honester times, they 
might have been justified in ex¬ 
pecting- relief-—to the grand 
council of the nation, where the 
concentrated wisdom and patriot¬ 
ism of tiie whole country were 
supposed to sit on the bench of 
legislative justice, to interpose 
the shield of the laws between 
the oppressors and the oppressed, 
and to enact salutary regula¬ 
tions for “ the punishment of 
evil-doers, and the praise of them 
who do well.” But they had 
forgotten, or not till then ob¬ 
served, that this august assembly 
had changed its complexion; 
that from being the organ of the 
People’s voice, it had degene-* 
rated into a tiling indeed! a 
strong hold of intrigue, corrup¬ 
tion, and baseness ; a den of— 
what, Gentlemen ?—of men mis¬ 
called representatives of the 
People ! 

And this brings me again to 
the point whence 1 digressed, 
namely, your petitioning the 
Honourable House; and although 
you condescended to petition, 
yet, as some of your Petitions 
had the air of demands, that was 
made a pretence for getting- rid 
of them altogether; for the Ho¬ 
nourable House must not be in¬ 
sulted by being told the truth, 
which in some cases you know is 
the foulest of libels! There 
was “ the rub ;” you did not speak 
flattery to the Ministers; you 
did not ascribe their crimes to 
any but themselves: nfter detect¬ 
ing them with their hands in the 
pockets of tiie People, you had 
the impudence to charge them 
with being robbers; and having 







Hone s Reformists’ Register. 



fresh in your recollection their 
system of oppression and foul 
misrule, you told these servants of 
the Crown , that their responsi¬ 
bility, of which they were so 
lavish, could give you no indem¬ 
nity for the past, no security for 
the future; you did not put on 
sackcloth and ashes, and come 
reverently before them ; you did 
not worship the sordid image of 
their erecting-, flow could you, 
Gentlemen ? It was too base and 
heterogeneous a mixture of the 
brass, the iron, and the clay, to 
be for a moment the object of 
your adoration, or even regard ; 
and although its superior parts 
were decorated with the silver 
of speciousness, and the gold of 
uncontrouled authority; though 
it displayed its tinselled trap¬ 
ping's to the gaudy sun of 
power, and seemed to promise 
shelter and security to all who 
would accede to its dominion; 
still you could not banish from 
your memory the crimes, the 
miseries, and the blood that ce¬ 
mented the clay on which it 
stood. 

When you asked them for the 
restitution of the laws which they 
had superseded, what w as their an¬ 
swer? Why, that they conceived, 
with all due submission, that you 
were a pack of fools, and knaves, 
and asses, and did not know what 
Was good for yourselves; and 
that consequently it would be a 
waste of their valuable time, even 
to talk to you about it. Surely 
you cannot but be gratejul for 
such treatment—“Out, out upon’t, 

. *tis foul.” 

But this is not all, Gentlemen; 
you are indebted to your Minis¬ 
ters (I beg' pardon),his Majesty’s 
Ministers, for many things, for 


which you are, in duty bound, to 
hold diem in .everlasting remem¬ 
brance. They have fettered your 
right of holding public meet¬ 
ings, and have interdicted private 
ones, or societies (however harm¬ 
less their pursuits), unless you 
choose to hold them under the 
inquisitorial inspection of them¬ 
selves, or their officious myrmi¬ 
dons; they have shut up English¬ 
men in prison, without charging* 
them (on oath) with any offence; 
they have brought others to trial, 
upon the evidence of hired wit¬ 
nesses ; and, not to enumerate a 
tithe of their proceedings con¬ 
trary to the ancient laws, they 
have suspended the Habeas Cor¬ 
pus ! that “ eye and soul ” of all 
the laws, without which the 
rest ore mere non-entities.— 
fo give a sort of colour to 
all this, they have employed 
wretches the most degraded, to 
hunt and sift after disaffection, 
and to lacerate the tortured feel¬ 
ings of hopeless misery—to drive 
despair to its delirium, and watch 
if by chance its ebullitions may be 
construed into a spirit of resist¬ 
ance to authority, to which feel¬ 
ing they have been prompted by 
these demons, “ pleading their 
devilish counsel,” like Satan at 
the ear of Eve. 

And can you rest satisfied w ith 
such men for your governors? 
Will you tamely submit to their 
misrule? No, you will not! You 
will proceed fairly as men, and 
openly as freemen, in every legal 
manner, whether by petitioning 
the Regent, or otherwise, to pro¬ 
cure their dismissal from his 
councils for ever. You will no 
longer suffer those who have 
amassed princely fortunes from 
the plunder of the public,and who 




8hj August 

resort to every species of oppres¬ 
sion to support the failing' system, 
in the min of which they are so in¬ 
extricably involved, to lord it over 
the honester part of the commu¬ 
nity. iOu will not long allow 
the rule of such a man as Lord 
Castlereagh, who has been con¬ 
victed of selling- seats in the 
Honourable House, which, were 
it indeed honourable, would, long 
ere this, have expelled him with 
indignation. 

And does he, or do they, expect 
to obtain immunity from punish¬ 
ment? Oh l let them not—con¬ 
vince them that the patience of a 
nation cannot be outraged with¬ 
out signal retribution. Deter¬ 
mine not to remain slaves, and 
you must, you will be free.— 
Manes of departed Philanthro¬ 
pists, of Sidney, of Russell, of 
Hampden, and the whole army of 
martyred patriots, speed the wish- 
ed-for period ! 

Let us, my fellow-countrymen, 
no longer labour under the curse 
of Issachar ;* let us all put our 
shoulders to the wheel, and in¬ 
justice will fly before the touch 
of truth, and with it the selfish 
times, 

-« When ruffian pride 

Usurps the throne of justice, turns the 
pomp 

Of public power, the majesty of rule. 

The sword, the laurels, and the purple robe, 
To slavish empty pageants, to adorn 
A tyrant’s walk, and glitter in the eyes 
Of such as bow the knee/’-f 

v Justus. 

August 1, 1817. 

P. S. I am fully sensible, and 
proud to acknowledge, that there 
are many very excellent men in 
both Houses of Parliament, in 
their present state; but they will 

* Gen. chap, xlvix. vcr. 14, 15. 

f AfeENJBJOE. 


9, 1817. [7)0. 

be amonff the first to allow tbs 
justness of my observations; and 
for the rest, “ let the stricken 
deer go weep.” On ne taillepoint 
le cray07i de la verite. 


PEACE NO BLESSING. 


To Mr. William Hone. 


Sir, 

Previous to the opening of the 
present session of Parliament, a 
great majority of the nation in¬ 
dulged the hope that more than 
usual attention would be bestowed 
by both branches of the legislature 
to the situation of the country; 
and that it would evince its jus¬ 
tice and wisdom in devising 
means for at least ameliorating 
the distress which preyed like a 
vulture upon the vitals of the 
community. That such expecta¬ 
tions ‘Were entertained, the un¬ 
precedented number of Petitions 
for Reform, and for the removal 
of grievous imposts, &c. are 
ample proofs ; at the same time 
that universal and unexampled 
distress prevailed has been ver¬ 
bally admitted by the Ministers, 
and unequivocally testified by 
the imbecile plans of themselves 
and partizans to afford some re¬ 
lief: of which the speculative 
theories of Mr. Owen, and an 
eleemosynary grant of a million 
or two of Exchequer Bills, fur¬ 
nish examples. Of the labours 
of what is called the Finance 
Committee, who have published 
half a dozen Reports, little need 
be said, or little expected, seeing 
who the Members are that com¬ 
pose the said Committee ; which, 











91 ] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


according* to an account in the 
•Morning Chronicle, are 21 


in 


number; of whom 11 represent 
rotten boroughs, 15 constantly 
vote with Ministers,and 18 voted 
for the continuance of the In¬ 
come Tax* last yean 

The wisdom of Parliament has 
been exemplified in their rejec¬ 
tion of a portion of the Petitions 
presented, and in their mode of 
treating the complaints, and at¬ 
tending to the prayers, of those 
they condescended to receive; 

J 7 

w hile the justice of a British Se¬ 
nate is recorded in the enactment 
of law's suspending the rights of 
Englishmen, and subversive of 
the Constitution. The present 
session is on the eve of closing 
its labours, and posterity will 
read with astonishment and in¬ 
dignation, that after 25 years of 
war and privation, which had re¬ 
duced the country to the brink 
of pauperism, her legislators were 
assembled during six months, 
without duly inquiring into the 
causes of such distress—without 
doing one efficient act towards 
alleviating her sufferings—but 
allowing’ themselves to be ini- 
posed upon by a desperate fac¬ 
tion, which heaps insult and 
chains upon a people, whose 
greatest fault consisted in de- 
manding justice. In such a situ¬ 
ation, it is natural that the People 
of England should endeavour to 

try 

become intimately acquainted 
with the causes of their misery; 
and indeed it is the duty of every 
one to do so. 

In pursuing this subject, we 
should, however, discard the ex¬ 
aggerated, diminished, or dis¬ 
torted speculations which are 
afforded by adopting* any of the 
optic glasses of political rancour, 


and content ourselves with view r - 
irtg* the plain and undisguised 
fact of universal distress with the 
naked eye of good sense and be¬ 
nevolence* In doing this, our 
feelings will be sufficiently 
wounded, by finding that the 
present is a calamity more afflict¬ 
ing than any parallel case of 
distress in the annals of our 
country. It is true that the vi- 
sitatious of misfortune upon our 
forefathers w ere frequent and se¬ 
vere, but then they were transient 
and partial; while the miseries 
which have fallen upon the pre¬ 
sent generation are universal, are 
rapidly augmenting, and are be¬ 
coming* permanent; 

It has been asserted, that w hen 
a nation reaches a certain climax 
of intellectual knowledge, refine¬ 
ment and luxury, with enervating 
influence, v produce a natural de¬ 
cay, beyond the possibility of 
human wisdom to avert or arrest; 
This doctrine of fatality, inde- 
pendent of its absurdity, does not 
apply in any way to the British 
nation; for, except a few, the 
habits of Englishmen are un¬ 
doubtedly far short of the refine- 
merit and luxury known and 
practised in France and Italy; 
while her intellectual knowledge 
is equal, if not superior, to that 
of any other nation in the world ; 
and to which intellectual know* 
ledge inav be ascribed that uSe- 
ful mechanical improvement 
which has eminently exalted her 
agriculture, and enabled lier ma¬ 
nufactures to outrival every other 
nation —:\ superiority which she 
would long continue to maintain, 
were not her energies cramped 
by a rankling poison pervading 
the whole political structure, 
creating a disease, the acuteness 









August 9, 1S17- [94 


of which has been assuaged by 
the balsam of political quackery, 
and the danger of which has 
long been concealed by the 
tinsel drapery of false glory— 
but which nevertheless has been 
steadily and silently going on (o 
the present crisis. The balsam 
which assuaged, and the drapery 
which concealed the disease are 
torn away together; and its ra- 
vnges are exposed in a bloated, 
ulcerous, and emaciated carcase, 
writhing under a frightful accu¬ 
mulation of suffering, which can- 
not be absorbed by the ordinary 
process of the system. 

The existence of some radical 


defect in the policy of our Go¬ 
vernment has been long indi¬ 
cated by the progressive increase 
of the poor rates daring the last 
forty years, which increase has 
been from one million and a half 
to eight millions:—in the pre¬ 
sent year, if we inc'ludo the vo¬ 
luntary contributions, the sum 
raised for the folief of indigence 


impolitic wars,*by pushing the 
energies of the country to an un¬ 
precedented extreme, have de¬ 
stroyed that just proportion, by 
engaging theattention and labour 
of an immense number of hands, 
and thus furnishing a means of 
support whirl* ceased with the 
war. That is to say, soldiers, 
sailors, shipwrights, dock labour¬ 
ers, annoUrers, and artizans em¬ 
ployed in manufactories of war 
materials, the amount of which 
has been calculated at not less 
than 509,009, who existed upon 
the public expenditure, and who 
are now discharged, to seek em¬ 
ployment which they are unable 
to find; because, as has been be¬ 
fore observed, the agriculture, 
manufactures, and commerce of 
the country are almost annihi¬ 
lated.—What is the cause of a 
depressed agriculture? Taxa¬ 
tion.—What is the cause of ruined 
man ufactures ? Taxation.—W T hat 
is the cause of a stagnant com¬ 
merce? Taxation.—But let us 


will probably reach 12 millions. 
Such a prodigious increase dust 
clearly point out some system at 
work, which has had the effect 
of rendering the means of exist¬ 
ence uncertain and capricious, 
by ruining the agriculture and 
Commerce of the country; and 
thus plunging perhaps a fourth 
of its population into pauperism. 

If we look into the situation of 
England previous to. the .Ameri¬ 
can war, we shall find that means 
of emnlovment in agriculture, 
manufactures, and commerce, 
were ample even for a redun¬ 
dant population ; and we find such 
employment diffused throughout 
the kingdom, hearing a just pro¬ 
portion ; but an infatuated Mi¬ 
nistry, engaged in wicked and 


endeavour to prove this. 

If a nation be commercial, and 
not a great maritime power, its 
usual streams of. enterprize and 
profit are blocked up, and its 
population decreases during the 
beihgeranfc ascendancy of hs 
rivals; and therefore its govern¬ 
ment has not the power of raising 
supplies by mortgaging its re¬ 
venue, or by laying on.additional 
taxes to pay the" interest of a 
debt, because it cannot contract 
one. But if a maritime and com¬ 
mercial nation gains superiority 
on the seas, ils contests with other 
states are no hindrance to its 
prosperity during' such contests; 
but, on the contrary,, calls fun a 
an energy of trade and com¬ 
merce, great in proportion as it 





Hone's Reformists 9 Register. 



has the power of rendering’ it ex- 
elusive: and thus the govern¬ 
ment of such a state has the 
power of raising- supplies upon 
an increased revenue, and of im¬ 
posing. taxes in proportion to its 
wants; because its commerce 
being exclusive, its manufactures 
will procure their price, although 
greatly advanced in consequence 
of the imposts of its government. 

The peace which comes to the 
nation where industry has lain 
dormant, and whose government 
has been incapable of raising 
supplies upon a population inca¬ 
pable of additional taxation, sets 
its machine in motion again upon 
the same principles as previous 
to the war, and thus will brine; 
its manufactures into the market 
at their former prices, which is 
sufficient to ensure a sale. Rut 
the peace which comes to a na¬ 
tion that has pushed its energies 
to an extreme—that is, whose 
government has established a 
debt, the interest of which must 
be paid—where the taxes which 
have been laid on to meet this 
demand must be continued— 
such a nation cannot any longer 
have a commerce; because the 
war prices of its manufactures, i 
which must still continue, will j 
be infinitely above the prices of 
the manufactures of other na- ! 
tions; and consequently such a j 
nation will nowhere find a market j 
for its produce. 

Thus we see that the grinding ; 
power of taxation is alone the ! 


cause of all our misery. In order 
to pay the interest upon a debt, 
the greater part of which was 
wantonly accumulated for the 
purpose of crushing the progress 
of freedom, upwards of forty mil¬ 
lions sterling are annually taken 
from the pockets of the People; 
and thus are the prices of food 
and raiment kept to an enormous 
height—thus is the manufacturer 
unable to compete with the ma¬ 
nufacturer of other nations—and 
thus is our commerce destroyed. 
Surely something might have 
been done, ere this, to remedy 
these evils, had a virtuous Parlia¬ 
ment taken the business into 
their own hands. 

There must be by this time 
nearly two hundred millions of 
stock standing in the names of 
the Sinking-Fund Commission¬ 
ers—Why is not the nation bene- 
fitted by this? Why are we to 
continue, during such unparal¬ 
leled sufferings, to pay annually' 
ten millions of taxes to our¬ 
selves?—But it is useless to hope 
for any good from the men who 
are deaf to the sufferings and 
wishes of the People—from men 
whose sole object appears to be 
the acquirement of unlawful 
power, for the purpose of crush¬ 
ing that spirit of inquiry which 
they arc well aware must one 
day hurl them from their mad 
career. 

W. W. 

July S, 1817. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Ludgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed. 
— Price Two-Pence tael), T2s. per Hundred, or 51, 10s. per Thousand. 






Pr ice Two-Pence. 


HONE'S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 4-3 Saturday, August 16, 1817. [You. II 


MR. O’CONNOR’S 

NARRATIVE OF MIS 


PERSECUTIONS, 

WRITTEN 

BY HIMSELF. 


Mr. O'CONNOR'S Seat at ConnorVille, 
near Bantry Bay—Arrival of the 
French—His hospitable Reception of 
the Wexford Militia—Suspected of 
Treason—Comes to England — Re¬ 
turns to Ireland, and gives Security for 
the Peace—Arrested at Bandon — Li¬ 
berated—Arrested again, confined se¬ 
ven Months in a Dungeon, tried for 
High Treason, on suborned Evidence, 
acquitted instantly, and protects the 
Judge from Outrage—Comes to Lon¬ 
don, is arrested again, sent to Dub¬ 
lin, brought back to London the Day 
he arrives, sent again to Dublin, in 
Custody with his Brother, Arthur 
O’Connor, who had been acquitted 

at Maidstone - Refuses Proposals 

from Government—Execution of 
BYRNE—Again rejects Proposals, 
which are accepted by his Brother— 
His Estate plundered by the Military 

—Confined in Scotland— Resides in 
%/ 

Middlesex, on Conditions—-Licensed 
to go to Ireland—Compelled to sell 
Connor Ville—Buys Dangan,of Mar¬ 
quis Wellesley, for «s£40,000~ Causes 

of his Persecution - ARRESTED 

on being charged with Mail Robbery 
by a Wretch under Sentence of 
Death—His ADDRESS thereon. 


MB. O’CONNOR’S ADDRESS. 

From a desire to make the 
People of England acquainted 


with Ireland, of which they 
know worse than nothing, re¬ 
ceiving as they do all their ac- 
counts through the medium of a 
description of persons in the 
constant habit of calumniating 
that People; and from a wish to 
give the People of England the 
means of forming a judgment 
between the Government of Ire¬ 
land (during the residence there 
of Lords Camden and Corn¬ 
wallis) and me ; it cannot, espe¬ 
cially at this moment, be thought 
obtrusive in me to lay before a 
just, but prejudiced public, a 
faithful narrative of those facts 
which took place in my particular 
case, commencing on the 27th of 
December, 1706, and ending on 
the 8th of May, 1808; a space 
of nearly seven years, during 
the whole of which time, a con¬ 
tinued fire of persecution was 
kept up at me. 

Connor Ville, the former 
place of my residence, is situated 
about 14 miles from Bantry Bay, 
where a French fleet made its 
appearance on the 23d of Decem¬ 
ber, 1706. To oppose a landing 
of the troops on board this fleet, 
about 5000 of the Irish Militia 
had advanced, and occupied the 
villages about me. For the man- 
ner in which my tenants, my 
friends, andmvself, treated these 
men, I refer to the panegyrics 
in the Houses of Parliament, in 
England and Ireland, at the time. 
We cheered them in their dis» 


Printed by 4 tui for W. Hum-, 07, Old liailey, London. 




















Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [100 


tress; we administered to their 
wants, of which they had no or¬ 
dinary share. On the 27th of 
December, about 9 o’clock at 
night, such a hideous night as 
my remembrance cannot pa¬ 
rallel, 1 was informed that my 
porters’ lodges were full of sol¬ 
diers, in quest of quarters. I 
went to them. They were in a 
sad plight. 1 found them to be 
two companies of the Wexford 
militia, with seven or eight offi¬ 
cers. Day or night, rough or 
smooth, my countrymen were 
welcome to me.— L had then 
a large house, well stored. 1 
was in the midst of plenty ; full 
of happiness. 1 brought all the 
men to my house. My mind 
has no register of the time they 
remained with me, nor what 1 did 
for them. My tenants were very 
good to those with them. My 
friends (that was, the whole 
country, far and wide) opened 

their doors to this native army— 

%> 

let them want for nothing; and 
even when the terror of invasion 
had subsided, my tenants and 
myself presented the poor fellows 
with the billet-money, to wh ch 
w e were entitled, to buy them 
shoes and stockings. 1 did my 
utmost to make the situation of 
the officers as comfortable as 
possible; and this i will say, 
that 1 received from all more 
thanks than were due, and expe¬ 
rienced their gratitude far ex¬ 
ceeding the obligation. 1 learn¬ 
ed afterwards, that these officers 
(strangers heretofore to me) had 
been directed by some agitators 
to my house, in the expectation 
of my not admitting them, which 
was the opinion also of all tiie 
officers in that army. 1 dare say, 
such of them as live at tin’s day, 
will acknowledge that they re¬ 


ceived a more hearty welcome at 
Connor Ville, than at the house 
of the most “ loyal ” man in Ire¬ 
land ; that is, the man that has 
the’ largest pension, or most lu¬ 
crative sinecure, or post, in the 
kingdom. Whilst this division 
of the army was in their canton¬ 
ments, in my neighbourhood, 
w hen the men lost their muskets, 
bayonets, and ammunition, which 
frequently happened, they came 
to me; 1 had the things restored 
to them. The soldiers became 
attached to me. Long, indeed 
always, before these events, I 
had been an object of great 
jealousy and hatred ; I had ever 
been in the habit of committing 
a crying* sin in Ireland. I had 
borne myself so to all the people, 
that they were greatly attached 
to me. I had appointed arbitra¬ 
tors in every parish, through an 
immense district, who decided 
all controversies; the occupation 
of the petty-fogging lawyer was 
nearly gone; I curbed the vice 
of drunkenness; I prevented 
riots; 1 did all the good I could. 
It will not, therefore, surprize 
any person, in the least conver¬ 
sant with the character or com¬ 
plexion of the ruling factions in 
Ireland, that I was an abomination 
to them; and when to these 
vices, in their eyes, the thanks of 
the poor soldiers were super- 
added, my crimes w ere not to be 
endured, and I became an object 
of suspicion and distrust. 

In this state of things (ihe 
French force having long left the 
coast) a young man, from my 
neighbourhood, had gone in the 
beginning of March to see some 
friends of his at Bantry, where 
he was arrested for administer¬ 
ing* the oath of union. On being 
questioned, he acknowledged 



101 ] August 10 , 1817 . [102 


tliat lie had received it from my 
steward, a lad not more than 18 
years of age, who M as also ar¬ 
rested ; and both were conveyed 
to the prison of Cork, where every 
means w ere used to extort con¬ 
fessions from them, to implicate 
me. They declared, however, 
that I was the last person to w hom 
they would disclose any thing of 
the kind. Their honesty and 
persistence in truth were called 
treason to their country, and at¬ 
tachment to me; and a Council 
was called together, in Dublin, at 
w hich it w as determined, that I 
was very dangerous , and a war¬ 
rant was issued to arrest me on 
suspicion —the act of Habeas Cor¬ 
pus being at the time suspended. 
The secret; however, was not 
well kept. I discovered the plot. 
1 lay dow n in my own house the 
night on which I knew that an 
attempt was to be made to seize 
On me by a large detachment of 
llorse (attended by Lords, Es¬ 
quires, and Generals, and the 
Staff); and before they had inarch¬ 
ed half a mile from their quarters, 
I w r as (at the distance of 12 miles) 
apprized of their having set out. 
They made their search for me, 
and a considerable depot of arms, 
which thev w'ere informed w'ere 

J 

Secreted in the lofts and cellars 
of my house: neither were there, 
and they marched back. The 
next day I wrote to the Judge, 
who was then holding the assizes 
at Cork, saying, that “ if he 
“ Would give me assurance of a 
“ TRTA L then , for any thing that 
u could be alleged me, I would 
“ go to him; otherwise, that I 
“ would not surrender.” As he 
was not authorized to give me 
the assurance I demanded, and 
as I preferred the liberty of the 
common air, and tie use oi my 


own limbs, to unlimited impri¬ 
sonment, I stood out till the 
latter end of April; when finding 
my health somewhat hurt from 
the maimer of my living, parti¬ 
cularly from damp, 1 left 
home, and came to England, on 
the 27tli of April, where I 
remained till the middle of June, 
when I received advice from 
home, that several of my tenants, 
and others of the poor people, to 
the amount of 51, had been flung 
into prison; and that two un¬ 
happy men had been induced to 
swear against them. The same 
packet also contained a procla¬ 
mation that had been issued by 
Lord Camden, on the 17th of 
May before, inviting every per¬ 
son to come in and surrender, 
and give security for the peace, 
on an assurance of being no fur¬ 
ther questioned . Very happy at 
the opportunity this proclama¬ 
tion afforded me, to develope the 
conspiracy against the people in 
prison, and to aid them in their 
defence, 1 returned to Ireland, 
surrendered myself at Mallow, to 
Lord Kins ale and Sir James 
Cotton, on the faith of the 
proclamation; performed the 
terms required of me, which 
was to give bail to be of 
the peace for seven years ; of all 
which I apprized Lord Camden 1 
and his secretary, and Mr. Pel¬ 
ham, now Lord Chichester, the 
18th of June. From Mallow I 
went home, on the 5th of July ; 
and, on the 14th, was arrested by 
Brigadier General Eyre Coote, 
at his camp, whither he had in¬ 
vited me. Before lie detained 
me, lie looked, for greater cer¬ 
tainty, into his orderly book, and 
there found, as lie said, an order, 
dated the 1st of July, to arrest 
m •. On his having done so, he 







Honf/s Reformists’ Register. 


[104 


was at a loss what to do with me, 
and attended me to Bandon, 
where I was to remain till he 
should hear from Dublin. On 
the third day of my stay in Ban¬ 
don, I received a letter horn Mr. 
Pelham, dated in Dublin, the 
same day 1 was arrested at the 
camp, near Bandon, 180 miles 
from town, saying, that Lord 
Camden wished much to see me 
in Dublin; and that, if l would 
comply, I might depend upon 
my person being perfectly safe 
from arrest; and that I should be 
permitted to return home imme¬ 
diately. This letter I communi¬ 
cated to Mr. Coote, who said, 
that as Government did not know 
of my arrest at the time Mr. Pel- 
hom wrote, he could not let me 
go till he received an answer 
from Dublin to his letter, ap¬ 
prizing the Government of my 
being in custody. In a few days 
he received his orders, which 

were to send a military officer to 

•/ _ 

attend me; and Captain Roche 
and I set out for Dublin. The 
Captain bad a sword, and he had 
on bis sash and gorget. There is 
a high hill between Bandou and 
Cork ; we alighted from our car¬ 
riage ; it is a place of rendez¬ 
vous ; sonic 20 or 30 carriers 
w ere assembled here; they had 
not seen me since my return from 
England. Captain Roche first 
saw his danger; his sword could 
not defend him; his sash and gor¬ 
get could not protect him. 1 per¬ 
ceived the workings of his mind; a 
look of kindness from me to him 
would save his life; I superadded 
a word of esteem. Capt. Roche 
was not molested. We arrived 
in Cork that evening, where we 
halted for the night. A mau of 
the city got access to me. Cork 
is the place of my nativity j 1 


have friends there : would that 
every man could say the same 
where he is best known ! I dis¬ 
covered that it was intended to 
offer violence to Captain Roche ; 
1 prevented it. 1 took him in 
safety to Dublin . On our way 
we ca31ed at the camp at Ardfiu- 
nan, where the Wexford Militia 
lay. All the officers requested 
of Captain Roche to tell Lord 
Camden the services I rendered 
them, and the thanks they owed 
me. We arrived in Dublin, aud 
saw Lord Chichester, who libe¬ 
rated me from arrest, and wrote 
to Mr. Cooke that 1 was not to 
be molested again. I returned 
home, and in the beginning of 

n n 

September I went to the assizes 
of Cork, for the purpose of de¬ 
fending my tenants against the 
conspiracy before mentioned. I 
sent them all to their homes, and 
prosecuted the witnesses, who 
were both transportedfor perjury , 
to Botany Bay. 

I now hoped to enjoy with my 
family that peace which inno¬ 
cence has always a right to expect. 
I was cruelly deceived. An un¬ 
signed, unsworn-to paper, was 
sent up to the Grand Jury, on the 
17th day of the assizes, when 
t>vo of the Judges had left the 
county ; and a bill of indictment 
was found against me, for high 
treason. On this paper, I was 
arrested and flung into prison, 
where, in a dungeon nine feet 
square , filthy beyond description, 
L lay rotting for seven months, 
never having felt the influence of 
the sun, nor been breathed on by 
the air, during the whole time ; 
at the end of which, I was con¬ 
veyed from this dungeon to the 
Court, to go through “ a trial,” 
upon charges of every species of 
treason and rebellion . Two wit- 







105] 

nesses were brought up under a 
strong military guard. They 
were sworn. What did they de¬ 
pose ? That they knew nothing 
of me ; that one of these papers 
was written without the know¬ 
ledge of the witnesses; that when 
it w as read to him, he declared it 
to be false, and refused to sw ear 
to it; that he was offered £300. a 
year to swear to it, and threaten¬ 
ed to be instantly shot if he per¬ 
sisted in his refusal, and he did 
persist. The other witness swore, 
that w hat w r as called his informa¬ 
tion, was all written down with¬ 
out consulting him; that when he 
refused to sign it, he w as threat¬ 
ened to be hanged ; and that, at 
length, he w as prevailed on to 
put his name to it, on his receiv¬ 
ing* an assurance that it never 
was to appear, and that it was 
only a matter of form. I was ac¬ 
quitted instantly . All the people, 
all the military, expressed their 
joy; the Judge trembled; he was 
seen stretching out his imploring 
arms from the bench to me, in 
the dock, amongst robbers and 
murderers; he was heard to cry 
to me for mercy to protect him ; 
and 1 did protect him: not a hair 
of his head was touched. On my 
being released, I did not return 
even to my house; I did not even 
take one day’s repose. No ; my 
beloved brother was a prisoner 
at 3Iaidstone; he is one year 
younger than I am; we were 
reared and educated together; 
never one day or night apart for 
eighteen years. The thought of 
him banished every other idea 
from my mind? I set off to him 
that very night, and arrived in Lon¬ 
don in four days, as cjuickly as I 
could travel. I wrote to the 
Duke of Portland for permission 
to b# admitted to my brother; I 


[m 

received his answer at five o’clock 
next morn i n g, by four King's Mes¬ 
sengers, with a io arrant to arrest 
me; and from my bed was t 
taken to the house of Mr. Syl¬ 
vester, and that evening was I 
taken off for Ireland. We landed 
about ten miles from Dublin, at 
night; I saved Mr. Sylvester 
and the Bow Street Constable, 
my companion, from a watery 
grave, and conducted them safe 
to Dublin, where we arrived at 
three o’clock in the morning. I 
now, for the first time since I 
left London, lay down, and had 
not been in my bed more than 
three hours, when Mr, Sylves¬ 
ter awaked me, to tell me that 
another King’s Messenger had 
that moment arrived from the 
Duke of Portland, to take me back 
instantly to London . This was 
about seven o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing; about twelve, Mr. Sylves¬ 
ter informed me, that Mr. Cookb 
desired to see me at the Castle. 
Mark the instability of fortune.— 
Behold O’Connor, brought by a 
constable, to have the liberty of 
being' admitted to the presence 
of Mr. Edward Cooke! I 
did see him; the interview w r as 
not of long duration; the con¬ 
versation was not of many word*; 
but it is important. I asked him 
the meaning of these proceed¬ 
ings ; what post-haste treason I 
had committed in the four days 
that I travelled from Cork to 
London, above 400 miles. Hear 
his answer—“ We do not pretend 
“ to have any charge against you ; 
“ but we know your power, and 
“ suspect your inclination ; bad 
“ my advice been taken, you 
" should not have been brought 
“ to trial in Cork. My opinion 
“ was, that you should have been 
« kept in confinement under the 


August 16, 1S17. 






107] Hone’s Reform 

“ suspension of the Habeas 
“ Corpus Act; and it now appears 
“ I was right.” Web, .that after- 
noon, about two o'clock, ] was 
obliged to set oft’ back again to- 

o C; t 

wards London, where we arrived 
911 the fourth morning, having 
been forced to perform journios 
of nearly 1200 miles, and across 
the Irish Sea three times, in thir¬ 
teen days and nights; during the 
whole of which time, I never was 
permitted to take of my clothes, 
nor to lay down for more than 
seven hours! I was kept in cus¬ 
tody at the house of Mr. Sylves¬ 
ter, till my brother’s acquittal at 
Maidstone, when we were both 
taken to Dublin, where we were 
lodged in the same prison room, 
on the 2d of June, 1798. In 
July, a special commission was 
opened in Dublin, for the trial of 
all those against whom any 
charges had been exhibited; 
amongst whom neither my bro¬ 
ther nor I were. Three had been 
executed. Mr. Byrne, a rela¬ 
tion of the Marchioness of Buck¬ 
ingham, was condemned, and was 
to be executed 011 the 24th of 
•July. On Sunday, the 22<3,some 
negociation was set on loot, in a 
way never yet ascertained? be¬ 
tween the Government and some 
of the state prisoners in Dublin, 
of which it appears that neither 
my brother nor I had any intima¬ 
tion till Tuesday, when Mr. 
Dobbs and the Sheriff of Dublin 
entered our apartment, and show¬ 
ed us a paper, purporting to be 
an acquiescence, 011 the part of 
seventy-three of the prisoners, to 
give information of any arms, 
ammunition, and plans of war¬ 
fare ; and to emigrate, on condi¬ 
tion of a general amnesty ; and 
of pardon for Mr. Byrne, who 
^as to die that day ; and for 


ists’ Register. [108 

Mr. Oliver Bono, who was at 
that moment on his trial, if he 

should Jte condemned. My bro- 

* «/ 

ther and I declined entering into 
any agreement. Mr. Byrne was 
ordered for instant execution, 
which instantly took place; Mr. 
Bond was to die on the Friday. 
We heard no more of the paper 
till Thursday evening, late ; 
when the same Mr. Dobbs, ac¬ 
companied by Mr. Samuel IN el- 
son, one of the prisoners front 
another of the prisons, came to 
that where my brother and I lay. 
All the prisoners were called to¬ 
gether ; Mr. Dobbs produced a 
Setter lie had just received from 
Mr. Cooke, stating, “ that if my 
“ brother and ! would enter 
“ into a treaty with the Govern- 
“ menf, by which we should en- 
“ gage to give every information 
“ in our power of ail matters re- 
“ Jating' to the rebellion, and 
“ particularly our relations with 
u foreign states, there should he 
“ a general amnesty, Mr. Bond 
“ should be pardoned, and we 
“ should be permitted Jo emigrate 
to any country, not at w ar with 
“ England; but that if we per- 
“ sisted in our refusal, military 
“ commissions should be issued 
“ in the north, for the trial of the 
“ prisoners there, the Courts 
“ should proceed in Dublin , and 
“ the yeomanry should remain 
“ on active duty !” We both re- 
fused. We said, if there are any 
charges against vs, proceed upon 
them. Why proceed against 
others? because we will not en¬ 
ter into any negociation? We 
w ent to our own room, whither 
Mr. Dobbs presently came. He 
represented to 11 s the dread¬ 
ful scenes of slaughter and 
devastation that would follow 
close upon our declaration. It 




109] 

appears that my brother was 
iuilueuced by these considera¬ 
tions, and to save an unarmed 
people, he consented to sacrifice 
iiim&elf; but 1 heard these such 
proposals and threats with a very 
different ear. My answer was, 
that I set at defiance all their 
machinations; that I was ready 
to meet any char c/e that could be 
brought against me; but that I 
never would enter into any agree¬ 
ment with the Castle of .Dublin 
during* my life. Nothing now 
was left unattempted to induce 
me by very fair promises, or to 
intimidate me by the most alarm¬ 
ing threats, to sign this agree¬ 
ment. All were unavailing . At 
length Mr. Marsden came, as if 
secretly and as a friend, to let me 
know what, by chance, he had 
heard at the Castle. That it was 
determined to seize my estate , if 
I did not comply.—My answer 
was, that I was prepared against 
every thing; that 1 was absolute 
never to comply. In consequence 
of which, orders were despatched 
to the officer commanding at 
Bandon, to send detachments of 
horse and foot to take possession 
of my house, which they did, to 
the amount of between 2 and -300 
men ; they expelled four of my 
infant children , and my servants; 
the officers broke open my cel¬ 
lars, drank all my wine; they or¬ 
dered the men to kill mv sheep 
and oxen, on which the whole 
party subsisted ; they converted 
my iron gates into shoes for their 
horses ; they made, firing of 
windows, doors* and frames of 
the house and offices ; burned all 
my fanning utensils; destroyed 
my gardens and the wall trees, 
the hot-house, green-house, and 
all the plants; turned all their 
horses out into young plantations, 


[110 

which were all ruined ; stole 
every thing' moveable; and com¬ 
mitted every species of devas¬ 
tation for eight or nine weeks 
that they remained there; for 
which I never received one penny 
as remuneration, from that day 
to tliis. After this visitation, it 
was again demanded of me to 

w 

sign the paper . My answer was 
always the same. Still was l kept 
a prisoner; and when those who 
had entered into the agreement 
were sent to Scotland, 1 was 
forced by Justice Atkinson and 
a company of Buckinghamshire 
Militia, at the very point of the 
bayonet, into a coach, conveyed 
on board a tender, and conducted 
to Fort George, in which military 
garrison 1 was kept for a year and 
ten months , where, by the lenient 
treatment 1 received, 1 lost the 
use of my limbs,and was reduced 
to the very verge of life ; at the 
end of which time 1 was brought 
to London, and let go on the 
24th of January, 1801, upon a 
dreadful recognizance to some 
immense amount, not to return to 
Ireland, and to reside in such 
part of England as the King of 
England should from time to 
time appoint (and Middlesex was 
named) during the then, war . 1 

took a house at Southgate, in 
Middlesex, where 1 resided for 
half a year ; but having no land 
there, 1 looked out for a place 
with land, to occupy my time. 

I found one to suit me at Elsfree. 
As I was a stranger, and as the 
rent amounted to £500. a year, 

1 applied to my old friend and 
companion, Sir Francis Burdett, 
who immediately became my se¬ 
curity. There 1 lived for one 
year, when the treaty of Amiens 
taking place, I was desirous of 
returning to my own country 


August 10, 1817. 







Ill] Hone’s Reform 

and applied to Sir Richard Ford, 
the Magistrate, before whom 1 
acknowledged the recognizance, 
to get it up. In vain . After 
many fruitless efforts, he at 
length informed me, that it was 
determined never to give it up, 
as long' as I retained the power 
of living in the South of Ireland. 

1 judged it better to part with 
Connor Ville than be shut out 
from my country. I got A LI¬ 
CENSE to go to Ireland, and, on 
the 1st of May, 1803,1 let a lease 
for ever of the place of my ear¬ 
liest days . Whereupon, I got up 
my recognizance immediately. 

I purchased, for forty thousand 
pounds, from Lord Wellesley, 
the castle and estate of Dangan, 
within a few miles of Dublin, 
where I have resided with my 
family ever since, coining over 
occasionally to visit Sir Francis 
Burdett, and a few other friends 
in England, where, though I have 
estates , I have never been known, 
directly or indirectly, to interfere 
with any concerns of the country. 
I never attended a public meet¬ 
ing or a public dinner; though 
1 have many friends, I seldom 
associate with any one but Sir 
Francis Burdett and his family. 
My fortune is ample; and neither 
1 nor any one of my family ever 
eat one morsel that was not pro¬ 
duced from our own estates. We 
never received any of the People’s 

«. i 

money in the shape of pensions 
and places, nor was any man's 
meal or comforts ever diminished 
by one of us. Surely, then, 1 
must be a most disloyal traitor ! 
In fine, many, very many, of the 
People of Ireland love me ; 
the Militia was attached to me. 
1 surrendered on the solemn 
faith of a proclamation, which 
faith, towards me, was broken; 


sts’ Register. [112 

I protected Capt. Roche ; I de¬ 
fended the Judge; I saved Mr. 
Sylvester and the Bow Street 
Constable, There is tio kind of 
place that has not been my pri¬ 
son; my own house, camps,guardr 
houses, taverns and hotels,castles, 
wherries, packet-boats, messen¬ 
gers’ houses, court-houses, bride¬ 
wells, state prisons (as they are 
called), tenders, garrisons, pa¬ 
laces ; and, as a prisoner, have I 
been travelled about from my 
own house in the south, to Car- 
rickfergus, in the north of Ire¬ 
land ; from the western extremity 
of Wales, to Maidstone, nearly 
the eastern extremity of England; 
from Dublin to Fort St. George, in 
Scotland, within forty miles of 
John O'Grot’s bouse, to London, 

I u mai 1 -coach es, h a ck n ey-coaches, 
post-carriages, and carts; on foot, 
and on horseback : and all be¬ 
cause (for I know of no other 
cause) that, ten years before the 
French Revolution, I saw the abr 
solute necessity of a Reform in 
the Commons in Ireland , which 
was acknowledged afterwards by 
the factions of England and Ire¬ 
land ; and because I would not 
consent to a legislative Union, 
which I regarded as equally ruin¬ 
ous to both parts of the kingdom, 
On the whole, then, let the 
People of England, now that they 
are in possession of their sober 
senses , decide between my ac¬ 
cusers and me, whether the laws 
were infringed by me, who have 
gone through every ordeal; who 
have always courted investiga¬ 
tion and inquiry; who for years 
NEVER CEASED TO DE¬ 
MAND TRIAL; or by them, 
who sought the protection of a 
BILL OF INDEMNITY, passed 
by an assembly, of which they 
themselves made a part, 




113] August 

This narrative of facts is by Mr. 
O’Connor himself. The last at¬ 
tempt upon his character and life 
I will endeavour to place before 
the reader as plainly as possible, 
beginning’ with the announce¬ 
ment of it in the Cork Advertiser. 

“ Last Tuesday, April 22, Roger 
44 O’Connor, Esq, was appre- 
44 bended at Palace Anne , near 
“ Bandon, and is now in custody 

in Cork, on a charge of having 
“ been an accomplice in the rob- 
44 bery of the Galway mail-coach, 
44 in the year 1812, when it was 
44 attacked atCappagh-hill,county 
“ of Kildare, and robbed of a con- 
“ siderable sum in Bank post-bills, 
“ and a gold repeating watch , the 
♦ 4 property of Mr, Pearce, of 
* 4 Loughrea, It appears that the 
o Magistrates of the head police- 
44 office, Dublin, having received 
f* information of Mr, O’Connor, 
“ and his son, Arthur O’Connor, 
“ having been concerned in the 
“ above robbery, despatched Mr. 
« Robert Gilbert, a peace-officer 
“ in their employment, with 
“ warrants for the apprehension 
« of both these gentlemen ; and 
“ the warrants having been duly 
“ backed by the Mayor of Cork, 
“ Mr. Gilbert proceeded, in the 
“ first instance, to Fort Robert, 
“ in this county, where he arrested 
“ the son, who w r as confined by 
“ severe illness to his bed. Being 

w 

“ authorised by a search-warrant, 
“ he made a search at Fort Robert, 
“ and found a pawnbroker's ticket 
v for a gold repeating watch, which 
f‘ had been pawned in this city by 
“ the son, under a fictitious name ; 
“ which watch is now in Mr. Gil- 
“ bert’s possession. There is yet, 
“ however, no proof of its being 
<* the same as that which was 
“ taken at the robbery of the 
44 Galway mail-coach. 31r. G. then 


16,1817. [114 

44 proceeded to Palace Anne, and 
“ arrested the father. On their 
44 arrival in this city, bail was 
44 tendered to the Mayor, for Mr. 
“ O’Connor’s appearance to an- 
“ swer the charge, but refused, 
44 on the ground of its not being* 
44 legally bailable. A Magistrate 
“ of this county having guaran- 
44 teed the appearance of Mr. Ar- 
44 thur O’Connor, when called 
44 on, and his state of health not 
“ permitting his removal with 
44 safety, he was suffered to re- 
“ main for the present at Fort 
44 Robert, In the warrants for 
44 the arrest of those gentlemen, 
44 Mr. Collis, of this city, whose 
44 activity as a peace-officer is 
44 well known to the Magistrates 
44 of the head office, Dublin, w as 
44 named, in conjuntion with Mr. 
44 Gilbert, as a special bailiff, 
44 and assisted in their execution.” 

This paragraph, coupling* the 
simple fact of Mr. O’Connor's 
arrest with the circumstances of 
finding* the gold watch pawned 
in a fictitious name, and the 
thief-takers’ reporter’s compli¬ 
ment to the thief-takers, show 
the colour that was attempted to 
be given to the affair in its 

(p 

earliest stage. 

Mr. O’Connor being in cus¬ 
tody, immediately published the 

following 

0 

ADDRESS. 

Fellow Citizens, 

Malignity towards me has ar¬ 
rived at the height. 1 am charged 
with assisting in murder and 
robbery, together with one of my 
dear children, at the time a 
schoolboy of 16 years of age, 
after a lapse of nearly five years. 
To attempt to develope this hor¬ 
rible conspiracy against me, is 
not at this moment within rny 






115] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [{16 


power; for the present, I have to 
request of my numerous and 
faithful friends to rest perfectly 
assured that I am actually pos¬ 
sessed of the honour and inte¬ 
grity for which I trust they have 
valued me. Whilst I take the 
liberty of recommending* to those 
who, from motives peculiar to 
themselves and their present in¬ 
terests, are adverse to me, to 
practise what they pretend to 
admire; to withhold their judg¬ 
ment till the facts are before 
them ; and then, if my reputation 
does not pass through this to me 
new ordeal of moral turpitude, 
let my name and memory be 
consigned to that infamy which 
ought and ever must attach to 
crime and baseness. Misfortunes 
have long been familiar to me, 
Since the 4th of February, 1704 
there has been no relaxation of 
persecution against me, in one 
shape or another ; and though to 
the superficial observer it may 
appear that what is called politics 
can have no concern in this con¬ 
spiracy, the more accurate inves¬ 
tigator will clearly discover it to 
have originated from nothing else. 

I defy the whole world, in 
truth, to breathe a taint upon my 
name and character. I have ever 
considered both as my best inhe¬ 
ritance, which I had hoped would, 
and which, w ith the blessing of 
the Omnipotent, will descend un¬ 
spotted to ray children. 

I am, with every sentiment of 
respect, and affection, and esteem, 
Your faithful 

O’Connor. 

Cork , April 23, 1817. 

It was intended to take Mr. 
O'Connor to Dublin by the Cork 
mid-day mail of Saturday, April 
2 G, under a military escort; but 
it happened that Mr. Peace-Officer 


Gilbert found Mr. O’Connor so 
little inclined to attempt an es¬ 
cape, and so willing to accom¬ 
pany him, that Mr. O’Connor 
left Cork with his peace-officer 
the day before. The next day 
(Saturday) the guard of dra¬ 
goons, according to their orders, 
proceed to escort the coach in 
which Mr. O’Connor was not , 
and actually kept the passengers 
close prisoners until within two 
stages of Dublin, when the mis¬ 
take haying been explained, the 
passengers were set at liberty', 
and the military withdrew. On 
Monday, the 28th, Mr. O'Connor 
underwent a private examination 
at the head police-office in Dub- 
Jin, where he had remained in 
custody; and on Tuesday, the 
20,th, the Court of King’s "Bench 
graiited a Habeas Corpus to 
bring Mr. O’Connor into Court, 
with copies of the informations 
on which he was arrested. 

Accordingly, on the 1st of 
May, Mr. O'Connor appeared in 
the Court of King’s Bench, in 
custody of Gilbert and Lynch, 
peace-officers; and in a short 
time afterwards, the Lord Chief 
Justice , and Mr. Justices Day, 
Daly, and Osborne, took their 
seats on the Bench. 

Mr. Rolleston rose in Mr. 
O’Connor’s behalf, to move that 
the return be read. It stated that 
he was apprehended under the 
warrant of Frederic Dar- 
ley, Esq., backed by Edw ard 
Allen, Esq., of Cork; which 
warrant stated that lie had re¬ 
ceived information, on oath, that 
Roger O’Connor and Arthur 
O'Connor were aiding, abetting*, 
and assisting, in robbing the 
Galway mail-coach, at Cappagh- 
bill, in the county of Kildare, on 
the 2d of October, 1812; and 



117 ] August 

that on tiie 26th of April, the said 
Roger O'Connor was brought to 
the head police-office in cus¬ 
tody, where he has since remain- 
ed for examination; and that he 
has been detained there, at his 
pwti request, in preference to 
being* sent to Newgate. 

Mr. M‘Nally.— 1 believe, my 
Lords, unless 1 am under a very 
g*reat mistake, it does not state 
that he is charged with feloni- 

CD 

ously robbing. 

Chief Justice. —It dors not 
state so. We have read the in¬ 
formations carefully, and we do 
not think ourselves warranted in 
admitting* him to bail, 

Mr. O'Connor now rose, and 
addressed the Bench at very 
considerable length. He said, he 
felt himself impressed with the 
idea of the impossibility of bis 
leaving the Court with justice to 
his feelings, without addressing a 
few words to their Lordships: 
there were many in Court, who, 
perhaps, were not aware that the 
charge now brought against bun 
took place nearly five years back, 
and that the robbery was com¬ 
mitted nine miles from his house; 
and he wished it should be known 
how he has since acted. The 
officers of the Post-office, who 
carry on the prosecution, are 
aware that the mail bags were 
found iii his demesne, and that 
he brought them up to his house, 
where they remained from an 
early hour in the morning, until 
late in the evening; that he 
wrote to Mr. Lees, of the Post- 
office, stating the circumstance; 
and that he also gave informa¬ 
tion to the Postmaster, at Sum- 
merhill, for which he received 
Mr. Lees’ thanks. He went 
down to the county Cork on law 
business, on a commission issued 


10, ISI7. [US 

by the Count of Exchequer, 
for the examination of wit¬ 
nesses, where he was arrested on 
this charge :—he most solemnly 
protested his innocence, and de¬ 
clared it was an abominable con¬ 
spiracy against his character, his 
property, and Isis life. lie called 
upon Gilrert, the peace-officer 
who arrested him, and who 
sat next him, to say whether 
he could have kept him a pri¬ 
soner, but for his (Mr. O’Connor’s) 
interference with the country 
people, who collected to the num¬ 
ber of at least one thousand per¬ 
sons, to rescue him, and who 
only dispersed at his entreaties. 
Mr. O’Connor called upon him 
to say whether he and the peace- 
officer from Cork did not proceed 
along the road, the night being 
extremely dark, upwards of two 
miles a-liead of him; and whe¬ 
ther he did not follow them into 
Cork, accompanied by a friend. 
Me was not, he said, in duress, 
while he was in Cork, and might 
have gone wherever he pleased. 
For upwards of twenty years he 
had been the victim of unmerited, 
persecution —he had never flinch¬ 
ed from his enemies, nor would 
he now—lie came determined to 
meet the charge, which he again 
declared was an atrocious con¬ 
spiracy. Since the year 1707, 
he had been persecuted , because he 
refused ail earldom f rom the Earl 
of Chichester ; he appealed 
to their Lordships, and to all who 
heard him, whether it was pro¬ 
bable that a man of his property, 
education, and habits, would as¬ 
sociate with a lawless banditti, 
composed of robbers and mur¬ 
derers—his heart revolted at the 
idea. He had nine children, 
whom he adored; and lie implored 
their Lordships not to lend them- 




1193 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [120 


selves to such an abominable 
conspiracy : he had reason to be¬ 
lieve that the informations were 
given by a man of the name of 
Owens, noiv under sentence of 
death Jor felony . Many false¬ 
hoods and misrepresentations had 
gone abroad, but he with confi¬ 
dence appealed to Mr, Serjeant 
(Counsel for the prosecution), 
then in Court, whether he did 
not refuse to give Owens a cha¬ 
racter, when he had reason to 
suspect his being guilty of atro¬ 
cities. Mr. O’Connor again de¬ 
clared his innocence, and his 
readiness to meet the charge; and 
entreated their hardships to admit 
him to bail, which he was ready 
to give to any amount whatever. 

The Court refusing to admit 
Mr. O’Connor to bail, committed 
him to Newgate ; and he publish¬ 
ed the following 

ADDRESS. 

It is not possible that I could 
silently submit to the gross in¬ 
sult offered to me—-this savage 
assault upon my reputation. Per¬ 
mit me to offer to all who have 
manifested an attachment to me 
thanks, bearino’ some semblance 
to their friendship; to request of 
every description of people to re¬ 
gulate themselves with propriety; 
refraining from the fabrication 
and dissemination of falsehoods, 
awaiting a proper time for form¬ 
ing an accurate judgment. There 
is no one instance in which fame 
has been busy with my character 
in this transaction, that she has 
not already been detected in 
falsehood, to the disgrace of her 
associates—not to their shame ; 
alas! of shame they have no 
idea ! From the day of the rob¬ 
bery in question, I did my utmost 
to discover the perpetrators; 1 


recovered the wreck of my pro¬ 
perty, and acted in the only 
manner in which upon any oc¬ 
casion 1 am capable, as a gentle¬ 
man and an honest man. I went 
to the assizes at Naas, on the first 
investigation of the business; 
whispers Were presently afloat— 
i could not shut my ears, though 
l smiled at the vile reports I 
heard of talcs of infamous 
wretches who dared to make 
use of my name. 1 ordered my 
gates to be closed against them. 
Four years and a half elapse; a 
wretch is detected in a highway- 
robbery—a monster, by his own 
confession stained with guilt 
of the blackest hue. lie is con¬ 
demned to die on the 29th of 
March ; he exhibits symptoms 
of a desire to cling to life—life 
of which he had often deprived 
the peaceful and the indus¬ 
trious, leaving widow's and or¬ 
phans to bewail their heavy loss. 
Thrice he is reprieved, on offer¬ 
ing to make disclosures; much 
of his enormities on the two first 
occasions he discovers; to save 
his life , he gives information 
against O’Connor! A highway¬ 
man by profession, a murderer 
by trade, makes no scruple of 
adding perjury to his crimes!—> 
at length he introduces my name. 
Immediately my house, and my 
son’s house, are surrounded wilh 
troops,and ransacked—then pour 
forth falsehoods of the most 
scandalous description, of arms, 
watches, and bank-bills, taken 
out of the identical mail, being 
found under our roofs. In a 
short time the truth appears, that 
I had neither arms, watches, nor 
bank-bills! Had I any or all of 
them, what then? I should be 
possessed of them, or any other 
property, as I ought to be pos- 





121 j August 1G, 1817. [122 


sessed. Next a report is spread, 
that l fled to avoid being- ar¬ 
rested. What is the fact? My 
eldest son and I left home, on 
Sunday, the 13th of April, fifteen 
days after it had been publicly 
known all over my neighbour¬ 
hood, that the condemned mon¬ 
ster had prolonged his existence 
by making disclosures. We came 
to Dublin, dined, and lay at the 
hotel I have frequented these 
twelve years; my son returned 
home; l walked about the town 
the whole of the day; and, to 
mark even so trifling* an incident. 
1 did, by chance (contrary to my 
usual custom), take my seat in 
the Cork mail, on the evening of 
Monday, the 14th of April, in 
my own naiqe. 

“ There is a Providence doth shape our 
ends, 

Rough hew them how we will.” 

I arrived in Cork on the next 
night, remained there until Fri¬ 
day morning, publicly transact¬ 
ing business, when I rode to my 
brother’s house, 20 miles dis¬ 
tance; and on Tuesday morning, 
having engaged myself to spend 
the day with my relation, Mr. 
Bernard, 1 was arrested at his 
house, by a peace-officer from 
Dublin, on a charge of aiding, 
abetting, and assisting, in rob- 
bing a mail-coach, in October, 
1812. The man asked me if 1 
had a gold repeating watch. I 
replied, I had not then any watch, 
but that I bad given a gold re- 
peater to jny son Arthur last 
May, on his leaving Dangan to 
reside in Munster; upon which 
the police-officer exclaimed, that 
my son had denied having any 
watch. Mr. Bernard, Captain 
White, the police-inan, and I, 
rode back to my brother’s house, 
where my sou lay ill in bed; I 


asked him what had become of 
the watch T had given him ? lie 
replied, “ I pawned it in Cork, 
father, for a few pounds, being in 
want of money.” 

A paper is produced by my 
sou, by which it appeared, that 
he had called himself Brown, 
not wishing to give his own name 
at the pawnbroker’s. One would 
think little explanation was ne¬ 
cessary for a gold watch being in 
the possession of one of my 
family; but it seems things are 
come to that pass. I told Captain 
White liow 1 came by that 
watch, and it was I who gave it 
to my son. I came out to take 
horse (and now for the principal 
feature of this and every other 
conspiracy—this being the first 
against my character,—the tenth 
against my life, within the last 
twenty-four years), the place was 
full of men determined to oppose 
my removal: what was my con¬ 
duct ? I told them the first man 
that stirred made me his enemy 
for life. Does this savour of 
fear?—does this argue conscious¬ 
ness of guilt, or of integrity?— 
Charged with a highway robbery, 
in custody of a single constable, 
/ ride through my own country , 
thronged with a population that 
adored me. This is my crime,— 
this the genuine source of all the 
plots and conspiracies formed 
against my life and character. 

We arrived in Cork at night; 
for the last 12 miles I was ac¬ 
companied by a near and dear 
relation, at whose house we dined 
on the road; he rode with me 
in the rear of Captain White, 
and the peace-officers, who were 
notin sight. Did! evade?—not 
for worlds! In Cork, Captain 
White took me to his hospitable 
house, where 1 remained in bis 





Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



family, my near relations, until 
Friday. What—who was to re¬ 
strain me? My character, my 
honour, mv fearless integrity. 
Let political nonsense distract, 
divide, torment; let the people 
of Cork pursue their notions or 
their interests as they may, and 
affect to hold opinions different 
from their ideas of mine ; yet it 
would he no easy matter to per¬ 
suade any man or woman in 
Cork that 1 could do a dishonour¬ 
able, mean, or unbecoming act. 
On Friday I stepped into the 
mail, and came to Dublin; you 
are acquainted with the subse¬ 
quent transactions, through the 
medium of the public prints. 
That public opinion has stamped 
its mark of reprobation upon this 
foul conspiracy, and that 1 have 
felt the warmth of true friends 
since this shaft has been aimed 
at me, are circumstances most 
consolatory; whilst the attach- 
jnent of an individual, whose re¬ 
tiring modesty has not yet suffered 
me to hold up his name to gene¬ 
ral admiration, has enabled me 
to defeat one branch of disorder, 
by relieving my property from 
restraint, and, under the present 
circumstances, from sale and dis¬ 
persion. That the extensive lone¬ 
some woods of Dangan (seldom 
entered by me) have been the 
scene of much infamy, 1 make 
no doubt—that the lower classes 
in that neighbourhood find the 
reputation, long 1 before I ever 
saw the place, and long since, of 
being of the very worst descrip¬ 
tion of the human race, and that 
such was my invariable opinion 
of them, is a well-known fact— 
and that I am the last man upon 
earth that any of them would 
have their unlawful practices 
known to, is equally a fact, and 


equally well known. But that I 
should have a fellowship—that I 
should taint my pride by coming 
within the foul breath of such 
vermin—if any man could har¬ 
bour such a thought, I must say 
he 1 >as a base heart, and a most 
extraordinary head. 

As I know it will be a satis¬ 
faction to my friends, I take this 
opportunity of informing them, 
that 1 have not been in such good 
health these twenty years, and 
that I have not been treated, iri 
tin’s prison with insult or indig¬ 
nity. 1 conjure them to rest per¬ 
fectly satisfied, that though the 
consequences of this hideous 
conspiracy may prove very pre¬ 
judicial to me anti to my family; 
/ set at defiance all the arts, all 
die machinations of the conspi¬ 
rators— my name is not liable to 
fear , because my life has been free 
from self-reproach. If I may be 
permitted to use the expression, 
I may indeed say with truth, that 
having during my life rendered 
to every one all the kindness 
within my power, and never done 
an act of unkind ness to any one, 
I have suffered persecution under 
which few men w ould not have 
sunk; through all which I have 
been sustained by the most po¬ 
tent of all allies— a (joed con¬ 
science ! Easy of access, 1 have 
never denied my aid or protec¬ 
tion to the unfortunate; but in 
the time we live— 

“ Our virtues are holy traitors to us ! ” 

Wishing charity to my nume¬ 
rous enemies, health and happi¬ 
ness to my more numerous 
friends, I am, 

O'Connor. 

Newgate, May 7, 1817. 

In the same spirit which ani¬ 
mated Mr. O’Connor to acquaint 
the People of England with hi& 





125] 

former suffering’s, lie lias conti¬ 
nued to address the public on 
their continuation. 1 lay his sen¬ 
timents before the reader, that he 
may judge of the man who has 
just been acquitted of the charges 
brought against him by the 
wretch Owens, who, steeped in 
crime, and at the point of execu¬ 
tion, would have sworn informa¬ 
tions against an unborn babe, to 
save his own neck; and who, 
before he could be allowed 
to take an oath, as a witness 
against Mr. O'Connor, received 
a free pardon. 

This persecuted gentleman 
has endured a series of cruel 
oppressions, which seem to 
be endless; and, inasmuch as 
they are unmerited, and origi¬ 
nated in English policy, Eng¬ 
lishmen ought to blush for their 
country. The late Dr. Lau¬ 
rence, the bosom intimate of 
Mr. Burke, who was also his 
executor, the editor of liis works, 
and the confidential friend of 
many of the most leading* cha¬ 
racters in the Pitt administration, 
testified his regret at the treat- 
ment of Mr., O’Connor by the 
creatures of that administration, 
and affirmed of him, that he was 
an excellent and ill-used man, 
the victim of other jnen’s vices 
and errors. I well recollect the 
first time I heard of Mr. O’Con¬ 
nor being in this country. I 
shall never forget it, because it 
was attended by an unasked, 
an unexpected testimony of res¬ 
pect to liis virtues. I was going 
by the stage to St. Albans, and 
the coach stopping at an inn on 
the Barnet road, a youth asked 
the coachman, if he had a parcel 
for Mr. O’Connor. 1 passed 
into the inn, musing on the 


[im 

name; certain saddened feelings 
arose at the recollection of it. 
The young man followed soon 
after, with the parcel. 1 ob¬ 
served to him, as he stood in the 
passage, “ O’Connor is not a com- 
“ inon name in England.” “ No* 
“ sir,” said he; “nor in Ireland— 
“ the gentleman this is for, is not 
“ a little man in his own country J* 
“ Does he live in this neighbour- 
“ hood ?” “ Hard by, sir; 1 came 
“ over to meet the coach, ex- 
“ pecting this parcel; but Mr. 
“ O’Connor is from Ireland—Mr. 
“ Roger O’Connor?” “ Thehro- 
“ ther of Mr. Arthur O’Con- 
“ nor?” “The same, sir.” 
The young* man related that 
Government had lately released 
Mr. Roger O’Connor from Fort 
St. George, in Scotland, and per¬ 
mitted him to reside in the neiglv 
bourhood ; “ but it's only on good 
“ behaviour, sir,” he continued ; 
“ though I think it’s impossible 
“ for Mr. O’Connor to be a bad 
“ man any where. He is a good 
“ man, sir. He is too good a 
“ man to do any tiling bad. I 
“ know nothing about politics, 
“ but I am sure Mr. O’Connor 
“ can do nothing* had. I have 
“ lived with him some time, and 
“ see a good deal of him. He is 
“ a kind man, with a good heart. 
“ I would sooner believe that i 
“ was the most wicked monster 
“ living, than that Mr. O’Connor 
“ could do a bad thing, or ask 
“ any body about him to do 
“ what’s had. 1 think he must 
“ be loved like an angel in Ire- 
“ land, among his own people.” 
—“ I never heard any harm of 
“ Mr. O’Connor.” —•“ I see you 
“ don’t know him, sir; any geu- 
“ tleman might be proud to know 
“ Mr. O’Connor ; but lie lives 


August 1(1, 1817. 




127] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [128 


44 very much by himself; and per- 
44 baps it’s best. He is too good 
“ a man to be too much amongst 
44 the great; and he is a persecu- 
44 ted man, because they who are 
44 worse than he is, suppose he 
44 can never forgive injuries. I 
44 wish you knew him, sir.*’— 
This was told me very calmly by 
the young man; I found he spoke 
from no mercenary considera¬ 
tions, and 1 had said nothing to 
excite him to enthusiasm; I was 
a stranger to him, and the coach 
being ready to start, there ended 
our conversation. But 1 shall 
never forget it. The youth was 
intelligent, and we were both at a 
period of life, when the heart in 
its purity pays homage to virtue. 
I admired him for his spontane¬ 
ous tribute of respect to his mas¬ 
ter; and from that moment enter¬ 
tained kind sentiments for Mr. 
Roger O’Connor, which his sub¬ 
sequent conduct has in no in¬ 
stance falsified. About seven 
years afterwards, I think in the 
year 1808, I saw and spoke to 
Mr. O'Connor for the first time, 
when the interview with his ser¬ 
vant came fresh into my mind. 
I found him a plain map, of plain 
speech, and as people say, as plain 
as a pike-staff. His habits have 
partaken somewhat of solemnity, 
perhaps from bis much endurance 
of wrong; but every one who 
knows him speaks of his mind and 
character with esteem and affec¬ 
tion. And yet this gentleman, too 
distinguished for honour and bra¬ 
very to be forgotten or forgiven, 


was desired to leave his country—- 
was offered his life upon con¬ 
dition of living any w here but in 
his native land. *The very offer 
carried with it a threat, that, if he 
remained, his life would be in 
danger. But a truly courageous 
man does not know what fear is, 
when he is desired to be afraid 
by those who wish him to be 
afraid. Then it is that real cou¬ 
rage rouses itself, and setting 
danger at defiance, prepares for 
the conflict, by drawing the 
sword and throwing away the 
scabbard. He who preserves his 
liberty and life by running away, 
has no clailn to courage. A man 
may save each in fifty ways, but 
neither are w 7 orth having without 
honour and self-esteem, and the 
respect of the few who possess 
both. Thinking in this way, Mr. 
O’Connor rejected the overtures 
made to him with disdain. He 
seemed to have before him the 
solemn injunction of Mr. Horne 
Tooke. 44 Be moderate and firm,” 
said Mr. Tooke ; 44 be moderate 
“ and firm.— If we can do no 
“ better for our country, let our 
“ carcases at least manure the 
44 soil that Jed us. Our ancestors 
44 in the last century, who fled 
44 from slavery, loved liberty well; 
“ but they who staid, and, by 
“ their sufferings and exertions, 
44 vindicated and established it, 
44 loved liberty better , and de- 
44 served better of posterity.” 

WILLIAM HONE. 

G7, Old Bailey , 

August 13, 1817. 



London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailry, three doors from 
LoOGATfo Hill ; where COMMUNICA1 IONS (post paid) should lie addressed. 
— Price Two- Pence each, 1 ‘is. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 







Price Two-Pence. 

', • • ■ " ♦ i >. : . # 

HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

U,» ■ - — ■ ■ ■ ■ - . — — - - - - ■ - — . - r . .. . ■ . ____ _- ... - - ■ 

No. 5.] Saturday, August 23, 18J7. [Vol. II* 


LET US ALONE; 


M R. OWEN! 


ROBERT OWEN, Esq. a Benevolent 
Cotton-Spinner, and a Justice of 
Peace, takes a NEW VIEW OF 
SOCIETY, and imagines Men Cab¬ 
bage-Plants —His Birth, Parentage, 
and Behatiour, until 4G Years of 
Age—He ably states the Evils of 
Society— <r Change Places; and, 
handy-dandy, vihich is the Justice* 
and which is the Tliicf ? ”—An Alter¬ 
native; Starve dr Hang!— Mr . 
OWEN'S bad PLAN—Public Meet¬ 
ing to consider it — Mr. WOOLER'S 
excellent Speech, at length— Mr. 
WAITHMANS Sentiments —One 
Hundred Millions wanting for the 
Plan—The Principle of POPULA¬ 
TION stated -Thousand Acre 

Island —BROTHERS and KANT 
—Mr. OWENS Feet on the Earth, 
’and his Head above the Stars, taking 
r New View of Society—He are 

over-legislated for - LET LS 

A LONE—His Plan of a Commu- 
hity of Goods leads to a frightful 
Equality —to National Pauperism— 
bhd REVOLUTION! 


ROBERT OWEN, Esq., a be¬ 
nevolent cotton-spinner, and one 
<jf His Majesty's Justices of the 


Peace for the county of Lanark* 
having’ seen the world, and af¬ 
terwards cast his eye over his very 
well-regulated manufactory in the 
said county, imagines he has 
taken a New View of Society 
and conceives that ail human be¬ 
ings are so many plants, which 
have been out of the earth for a / 
few thousand years, and require 
to be re-set* He accordingly de¬ 
termines to dibble them in 
sqitares, after a new fashion ; to 
hoe and water them himself; and 
to make due provision for re¬ 
moving' the off-sets . 

The reader shall determine if 
this is not a tolerably fair sketch 
of this gentleman’s Plan , taken 
after his own method, without ce¬ 
remony ; for, of all men ali ve, Mr. 
Owen is a personage of the least 
ceremony. For instance, on Friday, 
the 25th of July last, Mr. Owen 
saw in Newgate, a boy only 1 
years of age, double ironed; 
whereupon Mr. Owen affirmed, 
that if a system of coercion and 
punishment be rational and ne¬ 
cessary, “my Lord Sidmouth; 

“ might rather to have been double 
“ ironed) and in the place of the 
“ boy!* I concur with the Justice 
of the Peace for the county of 
Lanark; and as soon as the 
Noble Secretary can be safely 
and legally double ironed, l 
really see no objection to his 
Lordship’s being accommodated 

* Times, 30th July. 


Printed by and fwr W. Hone, 07, Old Bailey, Loudon. 






















131] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [132 


with the opportunity of leisurely 
admiring the New View of Society 
and the view of the Surry Hills 
at the same time. Mr. Owen will 
have no right to complain on 
the score of courtesy, if I use 
him with as little ceremony as 
he has used the Noble Lord. I 
give Mr. Owen credit for pos¬ 
sessing, and believe him to pos¬ 
sess, mild and amiable dispositi¬ 
ons in as ample degree as he 
says Lord Sidmouti-i does; but 
these are not the only qualities 
requisite in an individual who 
erects himself into a statesman 
and legislator for all mankind. 
A good-natured man is prover¬ 
bially a great many removes 
from a wise man; and a very 
good-natured man is the last 
man whom we ask advice from 
in situations of difficulty. If 
he bustles into our company, 
and thrusts it upon us, whether 
we will or not, he may wonder 
that he is not attended to; and if 
he persists in his attempts, we 
must get rid of him as well as 
we can, and let him wonder on. 

Mr. Owen, the author of the 
•Veto View of Society, gives the 
following account of himself:— 

44 I was born in New town, 
44 Montgomeryshire: left it, and 
44 came to London w hen about 
“ ten years of age; soon after 
44 went to Mr. James M 4 Guffog, 
44 of Stamford, in Lincolnshire, 
44 where I remained upwards of 
44 three years; returned to tow n, 
44 and was a short time w ith 
44 Messrs. Flint and Palmer, 
“ London Bridge. I w ent after- 
44 wards to Manchester, and was 
44 some time with Mr. John Sat- 
44 tersfield, whom I left while 
44 yet a boy, to commence busi- 
44 ness on a limited scale, in 


44 making machinery and spinning 
44 cotton, part of the time in 
44 partnership with Mr. Jones, and 
44 part on my ow n account; after- 
44 wards I undertook to manage 
44 the spinning establishments of 
44 the late Mr. Drinkw ater, of 
44 Manchester, at the latter place, 
4 * and at Norwich, in Cheshire, in 
44 which occupation I remained 
44 three or four years. I then 
44 formed a partnership to carry 
44 on a cotton-spinning business 
44 w ith Messrs. Moulson and 
44 Scarth, of Manchester ; built 
44 the Chorlton Mills, and'com- 
44 menced a new firm, under the 
44 designation of the Chorlton 
44 Twist Company, along with 
44 Messrs. Borradaile and At- 
44 kinson, of London, and Messrs* 
44 II. and J. Barton, and Co. of 
44 Manchester. Some time after- 
44 wards we purchased the mills 
44 and establishments at New La- 
44 nark, w here I have been before 
44 the public for eighteen years 
44 past; and I am now forty-six 
44 years old.” 

In 1813, when, according to my 
calculation, Mr. Owen was forty- 
two years old, he published his 
New View of Society,* dedicated 
to Mr. Wilberforce. In this 
work Mr. Ow en very ably pic¬ 
tures some of the evils of society 
in its present state, and this is the 
most valuable part of his book. 
For instance:—he inquires 

44 How much longer shall we 
continue to allow generation after 
generation to he taught crime from 
their infancy , and , when so taught\ 
hunt them like leasts of the fo - 
rest, until they are entangled 
beyond escape in the toils and nets 
of the law? when , if the circum¬ 
stances from youth of' those poor 

* 8 vo. Cadeli and Davies, and Murray, 




133] August 

unpitied sufferers had been re¬ 
versed with those who are even 
surrounded with the pomp and 
dignity of justice , these latter 
would have been at the bar of the 
culprit , and the former would 
have been in the judgmen t seat. 

“ Had the present Judges of 
these realms, whose conduct 
compels the admiration of sur¬ 
rounding states, been born and 
educated in St. Giles’s, or some 
similar situation, is it not reason¬ 
able to conclude, as they possess 
native energies and abilities, that 
ere this they would have been at 
the head of their then profession ; 
and, in consequence of that su¬ 
periority and proficiency, have 
already suffered imprisonment, 
transportation, or death ? Or can 
we for a moment hesitate to de¬ 
cide, that if some of those men 
whom our laws, dispensed by the 
present Judges, have doomed to 
suffer capital punishments, had 
been born, trained, and sur¬ 
rounded as these Judges were 
born, trained, and surrounded ; 
that some of those so imprisoned\ 
transported , or hanged , would 
have been the identical indivi¬ 
duals who would have passed the 
same awful sentences on our pre¬ 
sent highly esteemed dignitaries 
of the law 

Again, on the deficiency of 
employment, he truly states 
that— 

“ After an extended and 
anxious endeavour to procure 
employment, the applicant often 
returns unsuccessful; he cannot , 
by his most strenuous exertions , 
procure an honest and indepen¬ 
dent existence: therefore, with 
intentions perhaps as good, and 
a mind as capabl.e of great and 
benevolent acticftis as the re- 


23, 1817. [134 

mainder of his fellow men, he 
has no other resources left but to 
starve; apply to his parish for 
relief and thus suffer the greatest 
degradation ; or rely on his own 
native exertions , and, to supply 
himself and family with bread , 
resort to ichat are termed disho¬ 
nest means. 

“ Some minds thus circum¬ 
stanced are so delicately formed, 
that they will not accept the one, 
or adopt the other of the two 
latter modes to sustain life, and 
in consequence, they actually 
starve. These, however, it may 
be supposed, are not very nu¬ 
merous. But the number is un¬ 
doubtedly large of those whose 
health is ruined by bad and in¬ 
sufficient food, clothing, and 
shelter; who contract liimerinfi: 
diseases, and suffer premature 
death, the effect of partial star¬ 
vation. 

“The most ignorant and least 
enterprising of them apply to the 
parish for support; soon lose 
the desire of exertion ; become 
permanently dependant; con¬ 
scious of their degradation in 
society ; and henceforward, w ith 
their offspring, remain a burden 
and grievous evil to the state; 
while those among' this cla*s who 
yet possess strength and energy 
of body and mind, with some un¬ 
destroyed powers of reasoning, 
perceive, in part, the glaring 
errors and injustice of society to¬ 
wards themselves and their fellow 
sufferers. 

“ Can it then create surprize 
that feelings like those described 
should force human nature to 
endeavour to retaliate ? 

“ Multitudes of our fellow men. 
are so goaded by these reflections 
and circumstances, as to be 



Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


135] 

uro-ed, even while incessantly 
and closely pursued by legal 
death, almost without a chance 
of escape, to resist those iaws 
under which they suffer; and 
thus the private depredator on so¬ 
ciety jormea* jostei ed, and 

matured * . 

« Shall we then longer with¬ 
hold national instruction from our 
fellow men, who, it has been 
shown, might easily he trained to 
be industrious, intelligent, vir¬ 
tuous , and valuable members of 
the state 4 ?” 

At the latter end of last month, 
Mr. Owen issued an advertise¬ 
ment of a Public Meeting*, to con¬ 
sider his New View, in the bil¬ 
lowing terms:— 

« A PUBLIC MEETING to be 
held at the City of London 
Tavern, on Thursday, the 1-Hh 
of August; when those interested 
in the subject will consider a 
PLAN to relieve the Country from 
its present distress* to re-moralize 
the Lower Orders, reduce the 
Poor’s-rate, and grad ual Iy abolish 
Pauperism, with al 1 its degrading 
and injurious consequences.” 

On the day of the Meeting, the 
great room of the City oi Lon¬ 
don Tavern was filled; Mr. Row- 
Croft. took the Chair, and Mr. 
Owen proposed, amongst others, 
the following 


[136 


extensive 'and injurious private 
charities. 


RESOLUTIONS. 

t 

li Thai many of the poor and 
working classes, in+Greal Britain 
and Ireland', cannot now procure 
employment to enable them to earn 
a proper subsistence. 

2. That in Great Britain and 
ireland, the poor, the unemployed, 
and the inefficiently employed, are 
note supported at a ruinous ex¬ 
pense to many parishes* and by 


3. That under these circum¬ 
stances, the poor and ; working 
classes generally experience pri¬ 
vations and distress to a greater 
extent , probably, than they have 
suffered at any former period in 
the history of this country. 

4. That this arises.from mxi* 
nual labour being of less value* 
now , compared with the price gf 
provisions, than it has been at any 
former known period. 

5. That it is not probable ma¬ 
nual labour can regain its proper 
and necessary value, wider err- 
cumstances beneficial to the coun¬ 
try, unless other arrangements 
shall be formed by society, pur¬ 
posely devised to give productive 
employment to all who are com¬ 
petent and willing to labour. 

The above were the only reso¬ 
lutions that were discussed in 
the course ot live hours; and 
the names ot the Noblemen aib 
Gentlemen to be invited to forn 
a Committee of General Inves 
tigation were then read; amoiu 
them were—- 

The Archbishops of Englanc 
and Ireland, His Majesty’ 
Ministers, the Judges of tin 
Realm, the Bishops of Engl am 
and Ireland, the Duke ot Rut 
land, the Duke of Wellingtoi 
the Duke of Bedford, the Marqui 
of Lansdown, Earl Grey, Lor 
Holland, Earl Bridgewater, Lor 
Colchester, Lord Donoiighmon 
Lord Egremont, Earl Fitzwillian 
Earl Grosvenor, Earl Spence 
Sir F. Burdett, Mr. W. Smitl 
Mr* VV ilberforce, Mr. Babingtoi 


Mr, Baring, Mr. Butterwort 


Mr. Bonnet, Mr.Croker, Mr. Col 
of Norfolk, Mr* F« Lewis, Sir 1 
Romilly, Mr. Huskisson, the Loi 









137] 

Mayor, Sir Charles Price, Mr. 
Tyftleton, Mr. Walter Scott, Mr. 
Dtigald Stewart, Mr. Robert 
Southey, and others. 

Mr. Rowe r oft next read let¬ 
ters from a number of Gentlemen 
and Magistrates; some of whom, 
from an experience of forty years, 
had declared their conviction 
that the evils of the present 
system were grown too great, 
and that unless some corrective 
were applied, confusion and ruin 
must be the result. One state¬ 
ment from a Magistrate was, that 
in his time, and in his district, the 
poor-rates had increased from 
£450. to £3000.; and that at pre¬ 
sent, out of a population of 1300, 
§00 were paupers. Mr. Row- 
oroft begged politics might not 
be introduced in the discussion. 

Major Torrens opposed the 
plan. 

Mr. Henry Hunt moved as an 
amendment on the first resolu¬ 
tion, as follows:-— 

“ That pauperism is increased 
irt an equal and progressive pro¬ 
portion with the increase of tax¬ 
ation. 

“ That excessive taxation is the 
cause of the present alarming 
and distressing pauperism. 

“ That therefore, to remove or 
lessen taxation, the grand cause 
of the evil, is the only sure and 
effectual means of lessening pau¬ 
perism.” 

Mr.WooLER felt as disposed as 
any gentleman in that meeting 
to keep the objects of discussion 
unmixed by any political feeling; 
but though willing' to avoid any 
thing like political asperity, he 
felt the difficulty of separating 
altogether questions of political 
economy from considerations of 
political practice. It was also 


[138 

impossible, in his apprehension, 
in seeking the remedy for ac¬ 
knowledged public distress, not 
to glance at, though it might not 
be the proper occasion of dis¬ 
cussing the causes of that dis¬ 
tress. it was now at length 
universally acknowledged, that 
the existing system under which 
the country laboured,had reached 
its limit of sufferance. All agreed 
that something must be done— 
that the course hitherto pursued 
was fully tried, and had failed— 
and that some expedient in the 
shape of amelioration must be 
promptly adopted [//ear, hear! j. 
He was ready to acquiesce in the 
opinion that all political expe¬ 
riments were dangerous—but the 
true question under existing 
circumstances was, whether a 
greater danger was not likely to 
result from not meeting by ade¬ 
quate correctives the evils that 
now affected the community, and 
which, unless ameliorated, must 
lead to confusion and ruin? He 
felt the most sincere respect for 
the motives and public spirit of 
Mr. Owen. He thought the coun¬ 
try much indebted to him for 
bringing before it fairly, the true 
view of its actual situation ; but 
he still must contend that the 
plan he proposed as his remedy 
was inadequate in some points, 
and likely to injure rather than 
repair in more material conside¬ 
rations. In the first introduction 
of the poor laws, something like 
the present plan was aimed at, 
and what was then theoretically 
contemplated as a good, had, in 
the result, been productive of 
incalculable evil. It was then 
hoped to guard against the in¬ 
crease of mendicity, by enacting 
that every parish should number. 


August 23, 18! 7. 






139] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [140 


J ts own poor, under the persua¬ 
sion that the officers who super¬ 
intended such concerns, would 
take the due means of protecting' 
arishes from being imposed upon 
y false pretences. Had they 
equally endeavoured to enact 
provisions by which work was to 
he found for those willing to 
labour, far different results would 
have been experienced. Rut, as 
he said before, appalling- as the 
distress of the present times were, 
he could not assent to the remedy 
proposed by Mr. Owen. He 
could not but shudder at the 
supposition of calmly considering 
such establishments, even to the 
number of twenty, as was stated 
in a former part of the discussion, 
where men were to be thus con¬ 
gregated in the capacity of hired 
paupers [hear!]. Did this plan 
contemplate further? Was it 
meant to condemn all who sought 
relief from momentary suffering 
—to fix them, by a species of 
substitution for the feudal sys¬ 
tem, to the soil for ever? Was 
it to be forgotten, that in society 
rightly constituted, the poor man 
had as great a right to his labour 
as the rich to his property; for to 
the poor man his labour was 
property: and therefore that 
system was radically bad, where 
the people, both able and willing 
to work, were, from the want of 
employment, left in a state of 
starvation ? Why th is want of em¬ 
ployment occurred—what were 
the causes of this evil—there 
were too many men not disposed 
to consider. But such disincli¬ 
nation was ruinous; for the cause 
—the true and undeniable cause 
—presented itself as a black 
prominence, to avoid which men 
might shut their eyes indeed, 


but only at the expense of run¬ 
ning their heads against it [hear, 
hear !'].—No remedy, then, could 
be efficien , but that which pos¬ 
sessed the power of controul 
over such causes [//cur, hear!], 
which could prevent their repe¬ 
tition, and was efficacious enough 
to eradicate their influence [ hear , 
hear!]. The present plan was at 
best but an expedient, even if 
unattended with danger, wholly 
inadequate, but which he could 
not but consider as calculated to 
remove evil partially, at the ex¬ 
pense of ultimate ruin. Was it 
possible that men could be blind 
to that ultimate ruin ? These al¬ 
lotted villages were supposed to 
provide for a million of people. 
The consumption of that million 
was then to be withdrawn from 
the profits of society. Was this 
no evil? Was it not undeniable, 
that every man who consumed 
and laboured conferred a benefit 
on society? Yet of that benefit 
this plan, called an amelioration 
of distress, went to deprive the 
country. The society of na¬ 
tions consisted of a great and 
comprehensive chain, the links 
of which were bound and bind¬ 
ing, but whose continued con¬ 
nexion were necessary to pro¬ 
duce the great and general de¬ 
sign. He feared also, that it was 
of the nature of such systems to 
produce general indolence as 
the result. The security of the 
means of subsistence was apt to 
destroy the energies of human 
action; and while on that part 
of the subject, he never would 
subscribe to the picture of the 
demoralization of whatwas called 
the lower classes of society, which 
the address of Mr. Owen pre¬ 
sumed. Granted that crimes. 



141] August 

the effect of want and misery, 
occur. Yet he would call upon 
tnem to compare this supposed 
immorality with the conduct of 
those in the higher, nay in the 
highest rank of the state, and say 
where the greater crime prevail¬ 
ed [heav, hear /J ? The majo¬ 
rity of virtues, at all events, he 
would contend, remained with 
the humbler classes of the peo¬ 
ple* Where distress raged with 
such inveterate violence, weigh¬ 
ed down as they were with an al¬ 
most intolerable pressure, the ad¬ 
miration was, how so many vir¬ 
tues and honest qualities were 
still prevalent amongst them 
[hear, hear /j. Shall we then, 
who by accident are a little in 
worldly acquisition raised above 
them, look with such an eye of 
severity at the results of their 
wretchedness ? Was this the 
return they had a right to ex¬ 
pect? Have we not heard it ad¬ 
mitted that the patience, and loy¬ 
alty, and devotion of the people 
of this country, during the san¬ 
guinary wars of the last twenty- 
five years, was exemplary ? Who 
was it that evinced this patience 
and devotion, who has felt the 
pressure of its results, and are 
now starving under its conse- 
quences —those very lower classes, 
now the object of gratuitous 
reproach [hear, hear, hear /].—It 
was true crimes have been fre¬ 
quently committed—the law was 
found operative for their correc¬ 
tion ; but it was au assumption 
wholly unjust to assert, that the 
body of the people of this coun¬ 
try was demoralized. It was be¬ 
side objectionable to the plan 
that it went to increase the calls 
upon the pecuniary difficulties of 
the nation. *That could not be 


23,1817. [142 

considered a reduction of ex¬ 
pense which was to be effected 
by fresh expenses. It resem¬ 
bled the influence of the Sinking 
Fund in the payment of the Na¬ 
tional Debt, where we borrowed 
at an increased loss with one 
hand to pay with the other.—On 
the whole, the plan appeared 
founded on the overthrow of all 
those proud feelings of self-reli¬ 
ance and estimation, which in a 
sound and healthy state of things 
constitute the support of free 
states. If you would uphold the 
pre-eminent distinctions of your 
country, continue to support that 
character by which they were 
won, and by which alone they 
can be maintained. These ob¬ 
jections, suppose for a moment 
that the plan could be realized, 
but that he believed would not 
be the case, much money was 
wanted—there would be a diffi¬ 
culty in obtaining that; and even 
if obtained, the thing itself would 
be found impracticable. On these 
grounds, Mr. Wooler said he 
should feel it his duty to second 
the Resolutions proposed as an 
amendment. 

Amongst other intelligent 
speakers, Mr. Waithman compre<- 
hended enough of the principle 
of this project, to feel that it 
was radically objectionable, and 
in opposition to the highest inte¬ 
rests of society, as well as to the 
best passions of the human heart. 
He agreed that pauperism had 
most lamentably increased in this 
country, but that pauperism was 
not owing to the want of public 
instruction, but to the want of 
employment. The increase of 
crime, too, was owing to the same 
cause; but what was the cause of 
all this evil? It was evidently 





143] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [144 


impossible to slmt our eyes to the 
conviction that the great augmen¬ 
tation of distress and crime which 
we had at present to deplore was 
mainly owing* to the great in¬ 
crease of taxation \Jiear , hear, 
hear /]. The plan of Mr. Owen 
was, no doubt, the fruit of a be¬ 
nevolent heart, although, in his 
view, of a mistaken mind. The 
obj ect of Mr. Owen was to ame¬ 
liorate the condition and charac¬ 
ter of society. Could, however, 
such a result be looked for from 
the adoption of a plan which pro¬ 
posed to isolate a great body of 
the people—to exclude them 
from all the prizes which were 
held out to society at large to ex¬ 
cite to exertion and industry? 
Could any good consequences 
be expected from a plan, which 
would operate to suppress the 
best motives of human action, 
and tp extinguish the warmest 
feelings of the human heart, by 
shutting up the people in bar¬ 
racks \Jiear, hear, hear /]?—All 
that had been stated of this plan 
was exceptionable in the highest 
degree. We were told that each 
society to be created by it, w as to 
consist of 1200 persons, each of 
whom was to be allowed an acre 
of ground ; that the whole were 
to have but one kitchen, and that 
parents were not to have the care 
of their own children. Thus the 
best dispositions, and the uni¬ 
versal duty of man, were to be 
dispensed with or dissolved; and 
the children of the poor w r ere to 
be provided for from the public 
fund. The poor should always 
be encouraged to assert their 
rights. That encouragement, 
however, could not exist, if the 
people were deprived of their 
manly spirit and love of indepen¬ 


dence, and that was the tendency 
of the plan under consideration. 
Unhappily the system of the poor 
laws had done much mischief in 
this respect already, as he had 
himself witnessed, especially in 
a recent case. But the increase 
of pauperism accounted for this 
degradation of the spirit which 
once distinguished Englishmen. 
We had at present, it w as known, 
no less than two millions out of 
the ten of which our population 
consisted,supported by the pooUs- 
rate. The benevolent author of this 
plan had, he understood, done 
great good in his own district, 
where he had a large manufac¬ 
tory under his personal superin¬ 
tendence ; but such a plan did not 
at all seem calculated for general 
adoption or utility. On the con¬ 
trary, as it proposed to shut up 
men from all the en joyments and 
prospects, he could not help 
thinking it likely to do much 
mischief. But as the professed 
object of this plan was lo provide 
additional employment for men, 
where was the guarantee that 

V. J 

additional customers would be 
found for the additional produce 
of that employment? This was 
an important question, which the 
plan seemed to overlook ; and yet 
it was notorious, that employ¬ 
ment would not be wanted at any 
time, if customers, or a demand 
for the produce of that employ¬ 
ment, could be found. This was 
an indisputable fact, as any poli¬ 
tical economist could prove, as 
indeed was notorious to every 
agriculturist, manufacturer, and 
mechanic in the country. Mr. 
Owen had, he feared, overlooked 
the real cause of the public dis¬ 
tress. The whole was mainly 
attributable to taxation . AU 



145J August 23, 1817. [14l> 


though the country had a florid 
face, it was sick at heart. The 
head was in fact so bloated, as 
to become too large for the body. 
For, although we had at present 
the greatest quantity of wealth 
in the country ever known, we 
had still the greatest decree and 

severity of wretchedness and dis- 

•/ 

tress. Unless our trade revived 
—-unless the state of the poor 
were improved, he was persuaded 
that neither Mr. Owen’s plan, 
nor any other plan, could afford 
any effectual relief. 

Mr. Hunt's amendments were 
negatived by very small ma¬ 
jorities, and the first three reso¬ 
lutions of Mr. Owen agreed to; 
and Mr. Waitiiman submitted 
the following proposition, as an 
amendment to Mr. Owen’s fifth 
resolution, 

“ That those afflicting facts 
call loudly upon the Legislature 
for the reduction of all unneces¬ 
sary public expenditure, and for 
other salutary measures calculated 
to produce the removal of * those 
evils'* 

Upon this amendment a long 
discussion arose. It was put to 
the vote—the room divided upon 
it; and Mr. Rowcroft, the Chair¬ 
man, being partial, g*ave great 
discontent. Mr. Owen put the 
question of adjournment to that 
day week, and the meeting ad¬ 
journed. 

I have not stated all that took 
place at this meeting; but there 
was less discontent expressed 
than might be expected from a 
lat •ge assemblage of persons, the 
majority of whom were dis¬ 
appointed. They knew as much 
of Mr. Owen’s plan when they 
entered the room, as when they 
left it. The speech which he 


himself delivered from a written 
paper, explained nothing—in¬ 
formed the meeting of nothing; 
but that Mr. Owen said he en¬ 
listed his hearers under the ban¬ 
ners of experience . “ I now say 

“ to you,” exclaimed Mr. Owek, 
“ that on this day, which will be 
“ stamped indelibly on the me- 
“ mory of future, time, you shall 
“ be compelled, to join the stand-' 
“ ard of experience; and here- 
“ after you will be unable to 
“ swerve from your allegiance 
“ to it. The rule and sway of 
“ this leader will prove to you so 
“just and equitable, that no op - 
“ pression shall be known; no 
“ cries of hunger and distress 
“ shall be heard in her streets; 

the prisons raised by ignorance 
“ and superstition shall have their 
“ doors a he ays open; and their 
“ instruments of punishment shall 
“ he reserved as her legitimate 
“ trophies of victory . Under the 
“ unerring laws of experience, 
“ you shall make such physical 
“ and intellectual advances, you 
“ shall all be so well trained, 
“ instructed, and employed, use- 
“ fully, pleasantly, and advanta- 
“ geously, for yourselves and 
“ others, that no motive will he 
“ left within you to desert her 
“ righteous cause; nay, each of 
“ you will, ere long, rather suffo.r 
“ any death wnatever, than he 
“ forced for a moment from her 
“ all attractive and ever delighf- 
“ ful service. And by thus act- 
“ ing, the world will speedily be 
“ relieved from the overwhelm- 
“ ing mental slavery in which it 
“ has heretofore been held fast 
“ bound.” I listened with great 
attention to all that Mr. Owen said, 
and could obtain no more practical 
observation of his New Vic i£* than 



147] 

his simple request of a subscrip¬ 
tion of £100,000., to form an estab¬ 
lishment for 1200men, women, and 
children ; which, according to an 
explanation accompanying his 
Plan , is to consist of squares of 
buildings, surrounded by 1000 to 
1500 acres of land. The build¬ 
ings contain a public kitchen , 
i mess-rooms , school, lecture-room 
and place of worship, committee- 
room, library, and a room for 
adults. In vacant spaces within 
the squares are enclosed grounds 
for exercise and recreation, with 
trees planted in them. Three 
sides of each square to be lodging - 
houses , of four rooms in each; 
each room to accommodate a 
man, his wife, and two children. 
The fourth side to be dormitories 
for all the children exceeding two 
in a family, or above three 
years of age. Each lodging - 
room is to accommodate a man, 
his wife, and two children under 
three years of age; and to be 
such as will permit them to have 
much more comforts than the 
dwellings of the poor usually 
afford. 

The children above three years 
of age to attend the school, eat in 
the mess-room, and sleep in the 
dormitories ; “ the parents being of 
course PERMITTED to see and 
converse with them at meals, and 
all other proper times.” The 
women to be employed in keep¬ 
ing their infants and dwell¬ 
ings in the best order. 2dly, In 
cultivating the gardens for the 
supply of the public kitchen. 
3dly, In such branches of manu¬ 
facture as women can well un¬ 
dertake ; but not to be employed 
in them more than four or five 
hours in the day. 4thly, In mak¬ 
ing up clothing for the inmates 


[ 1 4 $ 

of the establishment. 5thly, In 
attending occasionally , and in ro¬ 
tation, in the public kitchen, mess- 
rooms, and dormitories ; and, 
when properly instructed, in su¬ 
perintending some parts of the 
education of the children in the 
schools. The elder children to 
assist in gardening and manu¬ 
facturing*, according* to their 
strength. The men to be em¬ 
ployed, all of them, in agricul¬ 
ture, and also in manufactures, or 
s9me other occupation, for the 
benefit of the establishment ! 

Mr. Owen read a letter signed 
James Johnson, and dated Chel¬ 
sea, suggesting— If Government 
advance, in the first instance, the 
£100,000. and each of one hun¬ 
dred persons consider himself 
as a kind of Trustee to the 
establishment, subject to the pay¬ 
ment of an annual sum of £ 50. to 
Government—this will discharge 
the interest. The Trustees in 
proportion as they can employ 
on the establishment the present 
unemployed poor, which will 
give considerable relief to the 
poor-rates. The Trustees then 
shall have a power to receive a 
reduced rate from the parishes 
accordingly as the unemployed 
poor get off the parish books. 
This will lessen the claim upon 
the private property of the Trus¬ 
tees, upon the interest which they 
have to pay the Government. 

This plan appeared to Mr. 
Owen unexceptionable, and he 
stated, that a gentleman had offer¬ 
ed him 1500 acres of land, worth 
£50,000. on which to form the 
first establishment; and that only 
£50,000more was wanting to com¬ 
mence it. But Mr. Owen did 
not state what I pledge myself to 
prove, that iu order to aceommo- 


Hone's Reformists 1 Register. 



149] 

elate the most necessitous only of 
the present parish paupers, no 
less than one thousand of such 
establishments would be want¬ 
ing’, which together would cost 
one hundred millions of money; 
the interest upon which, if it 
could be borrowed, would be 
five millions of pounds sterling 
per annum! 

In a letter published by Mr. 
Owen this day, he says, “ The 
“ first public meeting to consi- 
“ der a plan of amelioration, and 
“ reformation without revolu- 
“ tion, has passed under circum- 
“ stances peculiarly interesting. 
u I knew the subject would carry 
“ me through , and will continue 
“ to do so, whatever obstacle, tri- 

vial or important, may inter- 
“ vene.” I am very sorry to 
tell Mr. Owen, that if he means 
he has succeeded, he deceives 
himself. He carried four only 
of his resolutions, which merely 
declare the present condition of 
the country, and to which all 
parties assent; they are as fol- 
low:- 

1. That many of the poor and 
working classes in Great Britain 
and Ireland cannot now procure 
employment to enable them to 
earn a proper subsistence. 

2. That in Great Britain and 
Ireland, the poor, the unemploy¬ 
ed, and the inefficiently employed, 
are now supported at a ruifious 
expense to many parishes, and by 
extensive and injurious private 
charities. 

3. That under these circum¬ 
stances, the poor and working- 
classes generally experience pri¬ 
vations and distress to a greater 
extent, probably, than they have 
suffered at any former period in 
the history of this country. The 


[150 

above two resolutions carried 
nearly unanimously. 

4. That this arises from ma¬ 
nual labour being of less value 
now, compared with the price of 
provisions, and the habits of the 
people generally, than it has been 
at any former known period. 

These resolutions truly state 
our condition, but on the fifth 
resolution, namely:— 

5. That it is not probable manual 
labour can regain its proper and 
necessary value, under circum¬ 
stances beneficial to the country, 
unless other arrangements shall 
be formed by society, purposely 
devised to give productive em¬ 
ployment to all who are compe¬ 
tent and willing to labour:— 

Mr. Waithman moved an 
amendment; the resolution was 
not carried, and the Meeting ad¬ 
journed ; and this rejected reso¬ 
lution, it will be observed, is the 
first that referred to Mr. Owen’s 
Plan . 

Mr. Owen says, those who op¬ 
posed his plan, were—1st, Some of 
the younger disciples of the muck 
dreaded notions respecting the 
evils of a too rapid population • 
Mr. Owen can be a little gay upon 
the younger disciples , as he calls 
them; but he meets their objec* 
tions by stating, that “ A know- 
“ ledge of the extent of land in 
“ this empire and the world, ad-» 
“ vantageous for cultivation, but 
“ now waste and useless, with 
“ the known practice of every 
“ farmer in the kingdom, whose 
“ servants raise ten times thefood 
“ they could eat , would suggest 
“ sufficient to enable every think- 
“ ing mind to discover, that no 
“ position can be more fallacious, 
“ than the one which states, that 
w ‘ population has a tendency to 


August 23,1817. 




151] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [152 


w 4 increase geometrically , while 
“ i food can be increased only 
u ‘ arithmetically Now I affirm, 
id direct opposition to Mr. Owen, 
that neither from the quantity of 
tui cultivated land, nor from a 
man raising ten times the food 
he eats, can it be proved that 
population does not increase 
geometrically , while food can be 
increased only arithmetically. A 
certain portion of uncultivated 
land remains in that state, either 
from its being in the hands of 
rich persons, who choose to keep 
it in that state for pleasure, or 
from their having so much land 
that they cannot cultivate the 
whole; and another portion re¬ 
mains uncultivated, from its being 
common land, which can only be 
enclosed and brought into culti¬ 
vation by Act of Parliament; 
therefore, land lying unculti¬ 
vated, does not prove that popula¬ 
tion does not increase geome¬ 
trically. If a farmer’s servant 
can only raise sufficient for ten 
persons, and there are twenty to 
consume it, each of the twenty 
must have only half a belly-full; 
or if ten take the whole to them¬ 
selves, the other ten must starve. 
And this is a very unfortunate ar¬ 
gument for Mr. Owen. Mr. Owen 
says he has ever been a <( plodding, 
“ practical, persevering, matter- 
44 of-fact man;” he will therefore 
Understand me, when I tell him, 
as a plain matter of fact, that po¬ 
pulation does increase geometri¬ 
cally, while food can be increased 
only arithmetically. I state it 
as a positive truth, which I ask 
and defy Mr. Owen to disprove. 
He says some have concluded he 
is either mad, a visionary, or an 
enthusiast; and unless Mr. Owen 
shows that population does not 


increase geometrically, or retracts 
his opinion, I shall conclude so 
too. We are now both in print, 
and I challenge him to the proof. 

I affirm, with Mr. Maltkus, 
that mankind increases as 1,2, 4* 
8,16, 32, and subsistence as 1, 2, 
3, 4, 5,6; that is, that in a fully 
cultivated country, population, if 
unrestricted, would double itself 
at the end of a given number of 
years, and that food could never 
by any means be increased.— 
Suppose an acie of land, duly 
cultivated, be equal to the sup¬ 
port of one person ; and that an 
island containing a thousand 
acres, and called Thousand Acre 
Island\ would subsist a thousand 
persons, and no more. It would 
not here be necessary that 
the whole 1000 persons should 
be employed in cultivating 
Thousand Acre Island; for one 
man, labouring on ten acres, 
would be able to produce suffi¬ 
cient for ten persons; and thus 
the labour of 100 men, on Thou¬ 
sand Acre Island , would produce 
sufficient for its 1000 inhabitants. 
If by births, the 1000 persons be 
increased, there must be more 
food got to till the number of 
new mouths; but an increased 
number of labourers could not 
produce more food ; for though 
100 men could cultivate 1000 
acres, which subsisted 1000 per¬ 
sons ; and, therefore the labour of 
1000 men could cultivate suffi¬ 
cient land to maintain ten thou¬ 
sand persons; yet Thousand 
Acre Island being fully culti¬ 
vated by 100 persons, would not 
yield a single quarter of corn 
more in consequence of 200 per¬ 
sons cultivating it: there would, 
in that case, be an increase of 
labourers; to divide the labour, but 





KjS] August 

not an increase of land; there 
would be a hundred more cultiva¬ 
tors, but they could not produce a 
sack more wheat The I000 t inha- 
bitants of Thousand Acre Island, 
thus beginning to increase, with¬ 
out the power of increasing the 
produce of the island, all be¬ 
yond 1000 in number must quit 
the island, and go and settle else¬ 
where; or if they prefer staying 
in their native land, Thousand 
Acre Island must import corn 
and provisions sufficient for the 
consumption of its surplus popu¬ 
lation. 

According to 44 the lowest 
“ rate of increase, a rate in which 
44 all concurring testimonies 
♦ 4 agree, and which has been 
“ repeatedly ascertained to be 
44 from procreation only, popu- 

44 latiorr, when unchecked, goes 
M on doubling itself every 25 

45 years, or increases in a geo- 

metrical ratio;”* and thus, in 25 

years, the population of Thousand 
Acre Island, would double itself, 
or be 2000; in the second 25 
years, or 50 years, it would 
double again, and be 4000; in the 
third 25 years, it would double 
again, and be KMX); in the fourth 
25 years, it Mould again double, 
and be 10,000, and so on; whilst, 
however, the population of Thou¬ 
sand Acre Island increased, it 
could never, by the utmost art 
and industry, grow more pro¬ 
visions than would suffice 1000 
persons. In short, there would he 
no limit to the continued increase 
of the natives of Thousand Acre 
Island , as long as subsistence 
could be imported into the coun¬ 
try, until the land itself could not 
contain more inhabitants. 1 state 

* Mahiius on Population, oth edition, 
vol. l.|>ag* 8; . 


16, 1817. [154 

this to Mr. Oweh broadly; After 
he has read Mr. Malthus’s work 
on Population, he may be allow¬ 
ed to talk about the principle.—* 
Without having read it, he ought 
not to have ventured upon any 
view of society, new or old. 

Mr. Owen, in his letter, most 
coolly condemns the Reformists , 
who opposed his plan at the 
meeting, and slips in an easy 
little assertion, that their reform 
of any of our great national in¬ 
stitutions, would produce 44 one 
44 general scene of anarchy and 
44 dreadful confusion, of which 
44 the late French Revolution will 
44 give but a faint anticipation/’ 
Now here 1 would pause to de¬ 
nounce this as quackery—mere 
quackery; as an unwarranted ca- 
1 umny upon the objects of men 
who are neither less benevolent 
nor less intelligent than Mr# 
Owen ; and 1 should say some¬ 
thing- further upon the ungra¬ 
cious and unmanly attempt of 
Mr. Owen, to coax the favour of 
the Ministerialists, at the expense 
of the Reformists; but the New 
View Gentleman happens just 
afterwards to say, that lie has 
watched all parties for years; 
very coolly and dispassionately; 
and that even 44 the present 
44 Ministers are thoroughly satis- 
44 fied that the principles on 
44 which, from previously ex- 
44 isting circumstances, they have 
44 been hitherto compelled to act, 
44 are erroneous , and that the sys - 
44 tern they support is jull of error, 
44 and productive of many serious 
44 and grievous evils: that they 
44 heartily and sincerely wish to 
44 remove the latter, if they 
44 knew how; but they do not as 
44 a Ministry possess sufficient 
44 practical knowledge to enable 



1561 Hone’ Reformists* Register. [166 


* them to carry their wishes and 
“ inclinations into execution ! ! ! 
“ They are in search of it,” con¬ 
tinues Mr. Owen, “ and ultimately 
“ they will find it among: indi- 
“ mduals who combine science 
«and practice , and who are 
“ sufficiently intelligent and in- 
“ dependent not to be influ- 
“ enced by any party or in- 
“ terested motives; and thus may 
w the country and its inhabitants 
“ be safely and rapidly im- 
w proved !!!” We are indeed in 
a blessed situation. Here is the 
testimony of Mr. Owen, that Mi¬ 
nisters are convinced their system 
is full of error , productive of se¬ 
rious and grievous evils —that they 
wish, but have not practical know¬ 
ledge enough to remove them— 
that they are looking for it—that 
Mr. Owen is the man for it—that 
he combines science and practice , 
and is sufficiently intelligent and 
independent —all modest as he is 
—to take the country into his own 
hands! As to the Opposition , he 
tells us, if they were “ to be placed 
“ in power to-morrow, they would 

* be found, with the exception of 

* Lord Grenville, and a few 
“ others , to be mere theorists , and 
“ quite inadequate to the task of 
“ removing the distress of the 
u country III ” Of course, they too 
must come for aid and protec¬ 
tion to Mr. Robert Owen, one of 
his Majesty’s Justices of the 
Peace for the county of Lanark— 
the gentleman with the New 
View ! 

“ As to the particular objec- 
“ tions brought forward at the 
“ meeting,” says Mr. Owen, “ by 
“ the several speakers who 
M advocated them, they were so 
“ little to the purpose , so futile , 
“ and contrary to daily experience, 


“ and evinced so much real igno- 
“ ranee of the subject before tnem, 
“ that the Chairman restrained 
“ me, on account of the exhaust- 
“ ed state of the meeting, from 
“ making more than a general 
“ reply ; and to which I the more 
“ readily acceded, inasmuch as 
“ a complete answer to their ob¬ 
jections, and many others, was 
“ contained in the printed papers 
“ distributed at the meeting, and 
“ which I recommend to the 
“ calm and deliberate considera- 
u tion of every individual.” In 
answer to this, I affirm positively 
and solemnly, that there was 
more said to the purpose—more 
solid objection urged—more 
sound practical every-day expe¬ 
rience displayed in opposition to 
Mr. Owen’s plan , than I ever 
before witnessed upon any sub¬ 
ject so little capable of being un¬ 
derstood; and as proof of this, I 
refer the reader to previous co¬ 
lumns of this sheet, for Mr. 
Wooler’s excellent speed), and 
the sentiments of Mr. Waithman. 
If there was real ignorance of the 
subject , it is Mr. Owen’s fault for 
not making the subject better 
understood. The general reply 
which Mr. Owen says he was 
confined to by the Chairman, 
was no reply —it was nothing. 
Still it was as much to the pur¬ 
pose as his opening speech, 
which, except the resolutions, 
abounds with words without 
ideas; and this is the character 
of every thing I heard Mr. Owen 
say at the tavern, and of every 
thing he has written with a view 
to the meeting:—all is vague, 
general, and undefined. What¬ 
ever his plan is, he has not made 
it known; and most of the ob¬ 
jections urged at the meeting, 



157] August 16,181ft [158 

his printed papers are no answer j Every body, I believe, is con- 
to. He has generalized so much, [ vinced of Mr. Owen’s benevo- 
that he has not the faculty of lence, and that he purposes to do 
making himself comprehended, us much good. I ask him to let 
He writes and speaks in a style us alone , lest he do mischief, 
and manner that remind us of As I walked up Threadneedle- 
theravingsof Richard Brothers, street to the meeting, I passed 
about the glories of the third two fish-women refreshing them- 
heaven; and the reveries of Ema- selves. One had her child in 
NUEL Kant, on the Transcen- her arms, “ Bless it’s little heart,” 
dental Philosophy, and the Ca- said she, “ it shall have a drop; 
tegories of Nature. Mr. Owen, “ it’ll do it good at the same 
with liis feet upon the earth, as time pouring the remains of a 
a Justice of Peace for the county glass of spirits down the child’s 
of Lanark, lifts his head above throat. I have no more doubt of 
the stars for a Mew View of this woman meaning to do good 
Society ; and then, forsooth, to her child, than that Mr. Owek 
quarrels with us groundlings, be- means to do good to us. We 
cause, in describing his raptures, thank him for his kindness, but 
his language passeth all under- we have been almost killed by 
standing ! kindness; and we ask him to let 

But Mr, Owen is a man of us alone, I do not say we are 
pity—not to be pitied, but who very well as we are ; but I say to 
pities . It appears by his letter, Mr. Owen, let us alone, I believe 
that he condescended to know no man sees the evils of our con- 
there were parties at the meeting dition clearer than Mr. Owen; 
adverse to his plan. Possessing but there are others who see 
a JovE-like complacency and them as clear: and he is not the 
ease, he says, “ 1 looked upon man to bring us out of the house 
« the scene before me with pre- of bondage; nor is it in the 
« cisely the same feelings that I power of any one man, or of any 
“ should have noticed so many body of men, to do it. We hare 
“ individuals in a. very ill-managed been dandled, and nursed, and 
« lunatic asylum ! " And then, lapped, and regulated, till we are 
in his paternal character, he ricketty. We want our bonds 
stretches out a saving arm to us and restraints gradually loosen- 
maniacs !—we move his pity and ed, and the free use of our limbs 
compassion!—he will make us and bodies, to enable us to go 
happy, in spite of ourselves ! alone. We have been over-1 egis- 
* They must not be left thus,” he lated for. Acts amending and 
says; “ they really merit our sym - altering, declaring and explain- 
« pathy ! and we must at least ing, prohibiting and encouraging, 
“ endeavour to do them service, enacting and repealing, heap our 
« even in opposition to their pre- statute-book with provisions ere- 
« sent prejudices and consequent ating the evils they would re* 
«feelings.” I do not know a medy. Every fresh meddling 
gentleman in England better sa-[increases our helplessness, and 
Ssfied with himself than Mr. Ro- we pray to be let alone, 
bert Owen. 1 But what would Mr. Owen do 


Hone’s Reform 

for us ? Why, for fear he should 
see the spirit of increasing popu¬ 
lation, which he ought to have 
met boldly, he shuts his eyes, 
and takes a New View of Society. 
Aware of the evils of our present 
system, he is determined to have 
a system of his own. He does 
not consider whether a new sys¬ 
tem be necessary; but, without 
enabling himself to see the ob¬ 
stacles to its foundation, besets 
about getting a few materials to 
begin it; and because we do not 
see all the advantages of a plan 
which he says he will show to 
somebody else, he charges us 
with being like so many indivi¬ 
duals in u very ill-managed lu¬ 
natic asylum ! 

I diligently and patiently read 
Sir. Owen’s New View of Society, 
his Address to the Inhabitants of 
Slew Lanark, and his various 
other Addresses; I at different 
times conversed with Air. Owen, 
and sought information from per¬ 
sons connected with him; and, 
lastly, I attended the meeting, 
and watched very narrowly its 
proceedings. I thus obtained all 
the information respecting his 
plan within my reach. It ap¬ 
pears to me fraught with mis¬ 
chief to all classes. Its leading 
principle, ALL THINGS IN 
COMMON; turns the w hole coun¬ 
try into a workhouse. A lim¬ 
munity of Goods sinks the indivi¬ 
dual for ever—it provides for his 
bare necessities, limits his wants, 
subdues his affections, and re¬ 
presses his talents. It awards 
the same distinction to dillness 
and incapacity as to excellence 


ists’ RegisteIu [16*0 

land genius, and reduces man to 
a degrading and frightful equa¬ 
lity, in w hich he rather vegetates 
than lives. If one of Mr. Ow en’s 
communities be commenced upon 
his proposed plan, it will present a 
mere Refuge for the Destitute, 
upon an extensive scale; but 
will shortly enlarge into a grand 
National System of Pauperism ; 
first putting the bulk of the poor 
within the power of the rich— 
next gradually undermining the 
different ranks of society—then 
absorbing personal property— 
and, lastly, drawing within its 
vortex all the lands, and the whole 
population of the kin (plow ! 

Jn a few words, Mr. ROBERT 
OWEN has ventured to implore 
a Public Meeting to lose not a 
moment, in subscribing one hun¬ 
dred thousand pounds sterling, 
for a purpose, which, I am 
persuaded, would immediately 
commence a REVOLUTION! ? 

* WILLIAM HONE, 

G7, Old Bailey , 

11 )th August, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

Some subjects have been deferred, 
in order to notice Mr. Owen’s Plan. 

The last. Number of the Refor¬ 
mists’ Register, being No. 4, of 
Vol. II. consisted of 

MR. ROGER O’CONNOR’S 

NARRATIVE OF HIS 

PERSECUTIONS , 

From the Year 1797, 

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 


Loudon : Printed by ami for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Baii.ky, three doors from 
Lldgaie Hill; where (JOMMUNICATIO'NS (post paid) should he addns&secb 
—-Price Twu-Pence tath, 1-s. jifer Hundred, or 51. 1 Os. per Thousand. 










Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. (>*] Saturday, August 30, 1817- [Vol. II. 


THE PEOPLE, 

• AND 

THE NEW POWER! 


REJECTION of Mr.OWEN'S PLAN 
— Valuable Re)narks by Mr. OWEN 

on the State of Society - IM- 

P BOV ABILITY OF MAN—Man 
as he is—Evils of Government — Un¬ 
just L aws—RELIGION—Un li mi ted 
Religious Freedom — Character , how 
formed—Solecisms of Government — 

Wealth - Injustice cf Society - 

When Truth may be told—Distress 

and Demoralization - Distress of 

Labourers - WORK HO USES— 

SCENES IN NEWGATE—Pre¬ 
ventive Legislation recommended— 

Labour and Mechanism - THE 

NEW POWER; Mechanism in 
Great Britain manufactures more 
than One Hundred Millions of Human 
Beings can !—Consequences of it — 
Machinery again—Shifting of Bur¬ 
dens — Mr. OWEN'S Account of 
New Lanark. 

Mr. HECTOR CAMPBELL'S Cu¬ 
rious Letter to Mr. HONE , accusing 
him of Political Depravity, in Con¬ 
sequence of his Observations on Mr. 
OWEN'S Plan—Some GENTLE 
HINTS to Mr. Hector Campbell. 


Os Thursday last Mr. Owen’s 
Appeal to the Public, on behalf 


of his Plan , was disposed of at 
the City of London Tavern, by a 
crowded ami most respectable 
Meeting' passing' the following* 
Resolutions:— 

“ That while we express our 
gratitude and thanks to J)h\ 
OwEX',for his unremitting and 
benevolent endeavours to promote 
the comfort and happiness of the 
poor , and agree with him as to 
the nature and extent of distress 
and misery that prevails, we are 
nevertheless of opinion, that the 
plan he has proposed for their 
relief is neither practicable nor 
calculated to remove existing 
evils. 

“ That in order to apply an 
adequate remedy to a grievance 
of such magnitude, it is necessary 
to search into the cause and root 
thereof; that it appears to us, 
that the progressive and enormous 
increase of the poor and poof’s - 
rates have kept pace with the pro¬ 
gressive and enormous increase of 
taxation ; and that the commerce 
and agriculture of the country, 
sinking under its pressure, 1ms 
not found employment for the 
labouring classes of the commit" 
nity. 

“ That, without at present in¬ 
quiring how far the existing 
grievance might have been pre¬ 
vented, by a wise, prudent, and 
just administration of affairs, we 
are of opinion, that no effectual 
remedy can be looked for but in 


Printed by and fur W. lion*, 67, Old Hailey, London, 































163] 

the diminution of our national 
burdens ; that it is, therefore, the 
imperious duty of the Govern¬ 
ment, the Legislature, and the 
People, to use every practicable 
and constitutional means io pre¬ 
vent all unnecessary and improvi¬ 
dent expenditure of the public 
money, and to obtain such a sys- 
tern of reformation and retrench¬ 
ment as would tend to restore the 
happiness and the prosperity of 
the nation.” 

In order that the account of 
the proceedings of the former 
Meeting- may be more complete, 
I subjoin the Resolutions which 
were proposed at that Meeting’ by 
Mr. Owen, and not carried, com¬ 
mencing with the sixth: the five 
previous Resol utions will be found 
in the last Register . 

RESOLUTIONS 

(not adopted.) 

6. That it is the highest prac¬ 
tical point in political economy, 
as it most essentially involves the 
well-being and happiness of all 
ranks, to attain the means by 
which the labour of any country 
can be the most advantageously 
employed. 

7. To reduce the poor’s-rate, 
and to gradually abolish pauper¬ 
ism, with all its degrading and 
injurious consequences. 

8. That as a solemn and 
grave judgment ought not to be 
given hastily, on a subject in 
which the vital interests of this 
empire and other countries are 
involved,—the plan now pro¬ 
posed, shall be submitted to the 
scrutiny and investigation of a 
Committee, composed of many of 
the leading, most intelligent,and 
best disposed, from among all 
ranks* who, by their previous ac- 


[164 

quirements, may be competent to 
give a useful opinion upon the 
subject. For something' must be 
done. 

9. That the Committee of Ge¬ 
neral Investigation be composed 
of the following Noblem#n and 
Gentlemen, or such of them as 
may be inclined to perform this 
high and important duty, for 
themselves, their country, and 
for posterity. The Committee to 
have power to add from time to 
time to their number, and to 
he a quorum. 

10. That th is Committee shall 
report the result of their inves¬ 
tigations and labours to a Gene¬ 
ral Meeting to be called for that 
purpose, early in May next year, 
or sooner, if they shall determine. 

11. That the proposer of the 
plan shall give from time to time 
to the Committee, all the infor¬ 
mation in his power, that they 
may ask or require. 

It was not my intention, said 
Mr. Owen, when lie read this 
Resolution, to have proceeded 
further at present; but a most 
benevolent and public-spirited 
gentleman, whose name I am not 
at liberty yet to mention, called 
upon me late last night, and in 
the most liberal manner made me 
an unlimited offer of about 1500 
acres of land, proper in all re¬ 
spects to try one experiment 
upon, and of at least £50,000. in 
in value, which I might use for 
such purpose, at any time after 
October next. I cannot, there¬ 
fore, refrain from proposing 
the following additional Resolm- 
tions:— 

12. That it is now most desir¬ 
able one or more experiments 
should be tried with the least 
possible loss of time. 


Hone’s Reformists* Register. 





165] August 80, 1817. [106 


13. That for this purpose a 
subscription be now opened, 
that whenever £100,000. in mo¬ 
ney or land shall be subscribed, 
one experiment shall be com¬ 
menced forthwith ; and a second 
when £200,000. shall be sub¬ 
scribed; and so on as each fol¬ 
lowing- £100,000. shall be sub¬ 
scribed. 

14. That the following Gen¬ 
tlemen, or such of them as may 
be inclined to act, shall be a 
select acting- Committee, to di¬ 
rect and superintend such experi¬ 
ments, assisted by the proposer 
of the plan. 

15. That the most w arm and 
cordial thanks of this meeting- be 
given to the Gentleman who has 
so nobly stept forward to offer 
his land to the country, for the 
use of an experiment at the mo¬ 
ment it was wanted. 

It w as stated in the last Regis¬ 
ter, that the most valuable part 
of Mr. Ow en’s New View of So¬ 
ciety, is that which pictures some 
of the evils of society in its 
present state; and this is also the 
most valuable part of Mr. Owen’s 
printed papers. There is so much 
correct observation in them, that 
if even his Plan be at rest, some 
of his remarks should be en¬ 
graven on our recollections, and 
preserved for ever. It has ap¬ 
peared to me essentially neces¬ 
sary to record a few in this sheet, 
because there will be frequent 
occasion to refer to them. In 
the mean time, I hope w hat Mr. 
Ow r EN remarks on the effects ol 
MACHINERY, will be carefully 
and diligently weighed. They 
must never be forgotten—they 
never can be forgotten-—“Some¬ 
thing must be done,” he says, and 
he says truly; but what lie pro¬ 


poses to be done, I think ought 
not to he done, inasmuch as his 
Plan would infallibly break up 
the present state of society, and 
establish another, whose foun¬ 
dations appear to me deep-rooted 
in a slavery, from which we conld 
scarcely hope to escape, but by 
frequent and-bloody struggles. 

If at this moment we suffer 
more than we have done at for¬ 
mer periods, we have also glances 
of hope brighter than ever. Mr. 
Owen, by bringing forward his 
Plan, imperfect and impracticable, 
and all-mischievous, as I am per¬ 
suaded it is, lias rendered us 
great service, lie has called 
oeneral attention to the state of 
society; and by bis communicar* 
tions and addresses, he has 
awakened benevolent and tole¬ 
rant feelings, which, if duly che¬ 
rished, will ripen into very civ 
larged views of the nature and 
end of man. Dissenting wholly 
from Mr. Owen’s Plan, 1 most 
cheerfully and anxiously testify 
my unfeigned respect and es¬ 
teem for his intentions, and re¬ 
quest the reader’s diligent pe¬ 
rusal of the following 

R E M A R K S, 

BY MR. OWEN. 

Jmprovability of Man. 

While the notions which hare 
influenced the conduct of mankind 
up to the present period, shall 
prevail and be acted upon, 
society cannot substantially and 
permanently improve. Those 
notions confine the attention to 
effects, and from want of useful 
inquiry, lead to the conclusion, 
that the causes from which they 
really proceed, however in j uric us, 
caunot be altered or controlled 



107 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [108 


by man. Under such notions, 
tne world is now governed. 
Facts, however, prove, that the 
reverse of these notions is true: 
let men therefore attend to facts, 
and to facts only , and it will be 
obvious, that they can, with ease, 
remove the real causes which 
create bad habits, errors, and 
crimes; and, without difficulty, 
replace them w ith other causes, 
the certain effects of w hich would 
be to establish generally throug h¬ 
out society, good habits, correct 
sentiments, and a kind, charita¬ 
ble, and virtuous conduct, free 
from tl># prejudices that would 
create unkind feelings, and thence 
render them unjust to those who 
bad been taught to differ from 
them in opinion. 

Man—as he is. 

All the past and present in¬ 
stitutions of the world are a proof 
of the ever-changing insanity 
wsth which the human mind has 
been enveloped. 

Man is born in ignorance, and 
from liis birth he is surrounded 
with the errorsoi some sect, some 
class, frequently of some party, 
and always of some country. 

lie is consequently rendered 
ignorant of himself, of his fellow- 
creatures, and of nature. 

The seeds of disunion and se¬ 
paration are deeply and exten¬ 
sively sown during infancy and 
childhood. 

ii e is individualized, and made, 
openly or covertly, to oppose 
every other human being. 

His natural w ishes are to press 
onward towards happiness, but 
he is strongly and successfully 
opposed by the multitudes 
around him, and by the igno¬ 


rantly devised institutions of 
%• 

society. 

As he advances to youth and 
manhood, the soil into which the 
seeds of disunion and separation 
have been put, is cultivated with 
the greatest care, and every Con¬ 
ceivable means are adopted to 
cherish the plants, ensure their 
growth, and secure a plentiful 
crop. 

Such care and culture cannot 
fail of success; opposition to his 
natural feelings, and to all his 
exertions to attain happiness, 
brings forth in due time an abun¬ 
dant harvest of discontent, dis¬ 
likes, displeasure, envy, hatred, 
revenge, and of all the evil pas¬ 
sions; and at length lie becomes 
intimately involved in all the irra¬ 
tionality which must inevitably 
arise from such a mode of train¬ 
ing and culture! 

He is compelled to be insincere: 
and this circumstance alone will 
destroy human happmess ! Were 
any individual to speak the truth 
within either of these deranging 
atmospheres of the human in¬ 
tellect, he w ould be at once term¬ 
ed a fool and a madman! 

His linest feelings, his highest 
intellectual powers, and his best 
energies, must lie waste, or be so 
misdirected as to produce evil 
continually. 

Such is a just .and accurate 
outline of man as he has been 
made—as he is made—under all 
the past and present systems. 

Evils of Government. 

The interest of those who govern 
has ever appeared to he, and 
under the present systems ever 
will appear to be, opposed to the 
interest of those whom they go¬ 
vern. Law and taxation , as these 








16.9] ' August 

are now necessarily administered , 
are evils of the greatest magni¬ 
tude. 

Unjust Laws . 

The facts which by the in¬ 
vention of printing' have gradu¬ 
ally accumulated in the world, 
now show the errors of the sys¬ 
tems of our forefathers in colours 
so distinct, that they must be¬ 
come evident to all classes of the 
community, and render it abso¬ 
lutely necessary that new legis¬ 
lative measures should be imme¬ 
diately adopted, to prevent the 
confusion which must arise from 
even the most ignorant being 
almost competent to detect the 
absurdity and glaring’ injustice 
of many of those laws by which 
they are now governed. 

Such are those laws which 
enact punishments for a very 
great variety of actions desig¬ 
nated as crimes; while those 
from whom such actions proceed 
are regularly trained to acquire 
no other knowledge than what 
compels them to conclude, that 
those actions are the best they 
could perform. 

Religion. 

Hitherto you have been pre¬ 
vented from even knowing what 
happiness really is, solely in con¬ 
sequence of the errors, gross 
errors, that have been combined 
with the fundamental notions of 
every religion that has hitherto 
been taught to men. And, in 
consequence, they have made 
man the most inconsistent, and 
the most miserable b^ing in ex¬ 
istence. i3y the errors of these 
"systems, he has been a weak 
imbecile animal, or a furious 
bigot and fanatic. 


30, 1817. , [170 

In all the religions which 
have been hitherto forced on the 
minds of men, deep, dangerous, 
and lamentable principles of 
disunion, division, and separation, 
have been fast entwined with all 
their fundamental notions; and 
the certain consequences have 
been, all the dire effects which re¬ 
ligious animosities have, through 
all the past periods of the world 
inflicted with such unrelenting, 
stern severity, or mad and furious 
zeal! 

Unlimited Religious Freedom. 

Unless the world is now pre¬ 
pared to dismiss all its erroneous 
religious notions, and to feel the 
justice and necessity of publicly 
acknowledging the most unlimit¬ 
ed religious freedom, it will be 
futile to erect villages of union 
and mutual co-operation ; for it 
will be vain to look on this earth 
for inhabitants to occupy them, 
who can understand how to li¥e 
in the bond of peace and unity ; 
or who can love their neighbour 
as themselves, whether he be 
Jew or Gentile, Mahometan or 
Pagan, Infidel or Christian; any 
religion that creates one particle 
of feeling short of this, is false, 
and must prove a curse to the 
w hole human race! 

Ch a racier—how formed . 

Human character is always 
formed for, and not by, the indi¬ 
vidual. 

In every known region of the 
earth, up to the present hour, 
man has been compelled, front 
infancy, to receive the peculiar 
notions of some sect, some class, 
some party, and of some country. 
In consequence, each individual 
has been surrounded by four 

■ s * 


/ 



1?]] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [t72 


dense atmospheres of error and 
prejudice, and through which he 
must look at every object around 
him. These mental atmospheres 
vary materially in different coun¬ 
tries; but in all they are so 
dense, that (as every object must 
be observed through them) each 
object becomes distorted, or in¬ 
distinct; none of them, in any 
country, or by a single indivi¬ 
dual, can yet be seen in their just 
proportions; and, in consequence, 
nature has hitherto been hidden 
from man. 

Throughout all past ages, a 
limited number of individuals, on 
various spots of the earth, have 
been surrounded with atmos- 

I dieres, the shades of which have 
men more or less differently 
combined ; and each of these 
combinations has presented to 
the individual, within its influ¬ 
ence, a particular distortion of all 
the objects of nature peculiar to 
itself. When individuals, thus 
differently surrounded, happen to 
meet and converse together, they 
soon discover that they do not 
gee objects alike; and wholly un¬ 
conscious of the real cause of 
difference between them, an op¬ 
position of feeling, as well as of 
eeeing, is created; extending 
from a slight degree of dislike, 
to anger, hatred, revenge, death, 
and destruction in every form and 
shape. Hence, from differences 
of opinion on notions of sect, 
arise the evils and miseries of 
human life, which, more than all 


the other atmospheres, of class, 
party, and of country, has in 
every age separated man from 
man, and made him a degraded 
and wretched being. 

The several atmospheres of 
class have also created various 


feelings of strong separation 
among men, and have essentially 
tended to increase their irration-? 
ality and their misery. 

The atmospheres of parly and 
of country have been equally in¬ 
jurious: they have, even until 
now, compelled man to remain a 
stranger to his fellows. 

Solecisms of Government . 

Facts prove that the public 
voice should declare to the fol¬ 
lowing effect:— 

1. That a country can neve* 
be beneficially wealthy, while it 
supports a large portion of its 
working' classes in idle poverty, 
or in useless occupation. 

2. That partial information 
and poverty, without any train¬ 
ing, but the worst that can be 
imagined, must demoralize the 
inhabitants of any country. 

3. That such population, when 
surrounded by gin-shops, low 
pot-houses, and every temptation 
to public gambling, must neces¬ 
sarily become either imbecile and 
useless, or vicious, criminal, and 
dangerous. 

4. That strong coercion, and 
severe, cruel, and unjust punish¬ 
ment, must necessarily follow. 

5. That discontent, disaffec¬ 
tion, and every kind of opposi¬ 
tion to the governing* powers, 
must consequently ensue. 

6. That white these incentives 
to every thing vile, criminal, and 
wicked, shall be permitted and 
encouraged by the Government,' 
it is downright mockery of com¬ 
mon sense to talk about religion, 
and of improving the condition 
and morals of the poor and work¬ 
ing classes. 

7. That to talk and act thus, 
is a weak and silly attempt to 



173] August 

deceive the public—the public 
is not now deceived by it—and 
hereafter such inconsistent and 
unmeaning 1 jargon will not de¬ 
ceive any one. 

8. That, to expect any na¬ 
tional improvement, while these 
and similar circumstances arc 
permitted to remain, exhibits as 
much wisdom and foreknow¬ 
ledge, as to wait for the drying 
of the ocean, while all the rivers 
of the earth are continually pour¬ 
ing their streams into its waters. 

Wealth . 

Happiness cannot be attained, 
enjoyed, and secured, unless all 
men possess health, real know¬ 
ledge, and wealth. 

Hitherto health and real know- 
led ge have been neglected for 
the attainment of wealth, and 
other exclusive individual ob¬ 
jects ; but which, when acquired, 
even in the greatest profusion, 
have been,and ever will be, found 
to destroy happiness. 

The world is now saturated 
with wealth—with inexhaustible 
means of still increasing it—and 
yet misery abounds! Such at 
this moment is the actual state of 
human society. No arrangement 
proceeding from a defined in¬ 
tention to attain an object of de¬ 
sire, could be worse devised than 
that which is now in practice, 
throughout all the nations of the 
earth. Immense, invaluable 
energies, competent with ease to 
procure every thing beneficial 
to humanity, lie waste, or are so 
misdirected as to defeat the object 
of all their Avislies. 

Injustice of Society. 

Important as are considerations 
of revenue, they must appear se- 


30 , 1817 . [174 

condary when put in competition 
with the lives, liberty, and com¬ 
fort of our fellow-subjects, which 
are now hourly sacrificed for 
want of an effective legislative 
measure to prevent crime. And 
is an act of such vital import¬ 
ance to the well-being of all to 
be longer delayed? Shall yet 
another year pass in which crime 
shall he forced on the in fant, who , 
in ten , twenty, or thirty years 
hence, shall suffer death for 
being taught that crime? Surely 
it is impossible. Should it be so 
delayed, the individuals of the 
present Parliament, the legisla¬ 
tors of this day,* ought, in strict 
and impartial justice, to be amen¬ 
able to the laws, for not adopting 
the means in their power to pre¬ 
vent the crime; rather than the 
poor, untrained, and unprotected 
culprit, whose previous years, if 
be had language to describe 
them, would exhibit a life of un¬ 
ceasing 1 wretchedness, and that 
arising solely from the errors of 
society. 

When Truth may he tolcl. 

When right principles are act¬ 
ed upon, it is, and ever will be, 
unnecessary to deceive the pub¬ 
lic: the truth may be told for or 
against any national impressions, 
with advantage to every just 
cause. 

'Distress and Demoralization . 

The empire of Great Britain 
and Ireland is now in greater 
misery, distress, and wreiched- 

* Particular})' the Administration ; and 
Members for the commercial and manu¬ 
facturing districts in which crime abounds, 
such as Middlesex, Yorkshire, Lancashire*, 
Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby¬ 
shire, &c. j and London, Xnverpool, Q&$- 
gow, &c. &Q. 



175] Hone’s Reformists' Register. [17b 


ness, tlian, in reality, it has been 
known to be for centuries past. 

Whatever specious appear¬ 
ance of improvement may at 
this moment exist, the real dis¬ 
tress and demoralization of the 
country is going on, and will ra¬ 
pidly proceed, until the causes 
which create botli shall be re¬ 
moved, and until they shall be 
replaced by other causes of a 
quite opposite nature. 

Distress of Labourers. 

In times of very limited de¬ 
mand for labour, it is truly la¬ 
mentable to witness the distress 
which arises among the indus¬ 
trious for want of regular em¬ 
ployment, and their customary 
wages. In these periods innu¬ 
merable applications are made to 
the superintendants of extensive 
manual operations, to obtain any 
kind of employment by which a 
subsistence may be procured. 
And such applications are often 
made by persons who , in search of 
work, have travelled from one ex¬ 
tremity of the island, to the oilier ! 

During these attempts to he 
useful and honest, in the common 
acceptation of the terms, the 
families of such wandering indi¬ 
viduals accompany them, or re¬ 
main at home; in either case, 
they generally experience suffer¬ 
ings and privations which the 
gay and splendid will hesitate to 
believe it possible that human 
nature could endure. 

% • » 
Workhouses. 

Workhouses and houses of in¬ 
dustry have originated with those 
who had but a limited know¬ 
ledge of human nature, and who 
were also unacquainted with the 


(rue principles of political eco¬ 
nomy. u: , , ., {j‘>" ; 

In the management of work- 
houses, &c. there is no unity of 
action ; each part is so placed as 
to feel an interest at variance 
with the others; they are,in fact, 
a compound of the same errors 
that pervade common society, 
where all are so circumstanced, 
as to counteract eacii other’s in¬ 
tentions, and thus render even 
extraordinary energies and ta¬ 
lents of no avail, which, under 
another combination, w ould pro¬ 
duce the most extensive and be¬ 
neficial effects* 

Scenes in Newgate—Preventive 
Legislation recommended. 

Mr. Ow en witnessed the highly 
beneficial effects produced by 
Mrs. Fry, of St. Mildred’s-court, 
Poultry, among the female pri¬ 
soners in Newgate. The only 
regret he heard expressed, Mr. 
Ow en -says, w^as by those w ho 
were unemployed, “ that they 
hud ?w work. " All w ho had 
something to do were far more 
cheerful than I had previously 
supposed human beings could be 
in the situation, with the accom¬ 
modation and under the circum¬ 
stances here described. We 
next, proceeded to the female 
school; and, on entering, every 
eye was fixed on their benefac¬ 
tress. i he little girls, children 
of the prisoners and convicts, 
looked on her as human creatures 
might be imagined to look upon 
beings of a superior, intelligent, 
and beneficent nature. They 
were all clean and neat; and 
some of their countenances very 
interesting. The school was in 
excellent order, and appeared to 
be under good management. I 




177] August 

could not avoid contrasting- the 
present with the former situation 
of all these poor unfortunates.— 
What a change must they have 
' experienced ! from filth, bad ha¬ 
bits, vice, crime—from the depth 
of degradation and wretchedness 
—to cleanliness, good habits, 
and comparative comfort and 
cheerfulness ! Had not experi¬ 
ence long made known to me the 
simplicity and certain effects of 
the principles which had here 
been carried into practice, I 
might have been led to inquire, 
hat profound statesman had 
been here? H hat large sums had 
been expended ? How many years 
oi active and steady perseverance 
had been necessary to accomplish 
this extraordinary improvement, 
which has foiled even the British 
Government and Legislature to 
effect, during the centuries they 
have existed? And w hat would 
have been my astonishment at 
the simple narrative which was 
told me ? that this change, from 
the depth of misery to the state 
described, w r as effected by Mrs. 
Fry, and a few benevolent indi¬ 
viduals of the Society of Friends. 
in three months , w ithout any in¬ 
creased expense, and with feel¬ 
ings of high gratification to her¬ 
self! VVe left the female side of 
the prison, and passed on to the 
rooms, courts, &c. occupied by 
the males. We went first to the 
boys’ court, and found the school, 
which Avas formed at Mrs. Fry’s 
request, had been just dismissed. 
The person acting* as master, ask¬ 
ed if he should muster the hoys ; 
to which she consented, and it 
w r as instantly done. What a me¬ 
lancholy sight did they offer! 
A collection of hoys and youths, 
with scarcely the appearance of 


30, 1817. [178 

human beings in their counte¬ 
nances ; the most evident sign that 
the government to which they be¬ 
long, had not performed any part 
of its duty towards them . For 
instance; there w^as one boy, 
only 16 years of age, double 
ironed! Here a great crime has 
been committed, and a severe 
punishment is inflicted, which, 
under a system of proper train¬ 
ing and prevention, would not 
have taken place. 

My Lord Sidmouth will forgive 
me, for he knows I intend no 
personal offence. His disposi¬ 
tions nre known to be mild and 
amiable; but the Chief Civil Ma¬ 
gistrate of the country, in such 
case, is far more guiltv than the 
boy; and, in strict justice, if a 
system of coercion and pun ishment 
he rational and necessary , He 
ought rather to have been double 
ironed, and in the place of the 
hoy. The Secretary of State for 
the Home Department has- Iona 
had the power , and aught to have 
used it, to give that and every 
other hoy in the empire better 
habits, and to place them under 
circumstances that would train 
them to become, moral . Every 
thing on this side of tiie prison 
was most revolting to common 
sense and human feelings; but it 
serves to exhibit the contrast 
between the practice that results, 
and ever will result, from acting 
upon rational and irrational 
principles. I wish the Members 
of Government would now inves¬ 
tigate these extraordinary facts. 
If they were to inspect them, with 
this benevolent female, I am sure 
they would learn the principles 
which have guided her practice, 
and adopt them in all their future 
measures. They would then 







170] Hose's Reformists’ Register. [180 


enjoy only die big best satis¬ 
faction. 

It was admitted by the attend¬ 
ants of the prison, that, a few 
months ago, the women were 
more depraved than the men 
are now; they were both 
pronounced to be irreclaimable; 
but the state of the females has 
been entirely changed, and that 
in the short space of three months! 
JVbticithstandiny this fact , the 
men are still pronounced to he 
irreclatmahIc ! B1 ame, howe ver, 
is by no means to be attached to 
any of the attendants of the 
prison, who appear inclined to 
do their duty, as far as they have 
received instructions. 

Let Ministers attend here, and 
they will discover that the most 
powerful instruments of Govern¬ 
ment have hitherto been dormant 
in their hands, and in those of 
their predecessors. If they will 
study die subject as it deserves 
to be studied, and afterwards 
make a proper use of their power, 
in legislating on the principle of 
prevention , wader the influence 
of a persevering well-directed 
kindness, the distress of the 
country will be found to vanish 
—the ignorance, poverty, and 
misery of the lower classes to 
disappear, as though it were 
by a miracle: and they would 
then look in vain for disaffection, 
discontent, or opposition to any 
of their measures. The present 
period is of all others the best 
adapted to introduce the change, 
and every circumstance now im¬ 
periously calls for its commence¬ 
ment. 

I would here rivet the atten¬ 
tion of the world! It has been 
said that there are numerous 
difliculties in training cliildrea tp 


good habits and right conduct, 
even previous to their having 
received any contrary bias; but 
here is a proof that the most 
deep-rooted and long-continued 
habits of depravity may be 
easily and speedily overcome by 
a system of kindness, which, w hen 
properly directed and persevered 
in, no human beings have ever 
yet been found long inclined to 
resist. 

This principle, when it shall 
be well understood and rightly 
acted upon, will effect more for 
the substantial happiness of man¬ 
kind, than all the moral and re¬ 
ligious systems that have ever 
yet, at any period, or in any 
country, been forced upon the 
human mind. 

Labour and Mechanism. 

Much of our natural pow er con¬ 
sisting of the physical and intel¬ 
lectual faculties of human beings, 
is now not only altogether un¬ 
productive, Gut a heavy burden 
to the country; under a system, 
too, which is rapidly demora¬ 
lizing it; while a very large part 
of our artificial or mechanical 
agency is employed to produce 
that w hich is of little real value 
to society; and w hich, in its act 
of production, entails innumera¬ 
ble evils of the most afflicting 
kind, at the present time, upon 
the producers, as well as upon a 
very large part of society; and 
through them, to the whole of 
our population. 

THE NEW POWER—Mediae 
nism in Great Britain manu¬ 
factures more than One Hundred 
Millions of Human Beinys 
can !—Consequences of it. 

The immediate cause of the 





181] August 30, 1817. [182 


present distress is the deprecia¬ 
tion of human labour ; and which 
has been occasioned by the ge¬ 
neral introduction of mechanism 
into the manufactures of Europe 
and America; but principally 
into those of Britain, where the 
change was greatly accelerated 
by the inventions of Arkwright 
and Watt. 

The introduction of mechanism 
into the manufacture of objects of 
desire in society reduced their 
price ; the reduction of price in¬ 
creased the demand for them, 
and generally to so great an ex¬ 
tent, as to occasion more human 
labour to be employed after the 
introduction of machinery than 
had been employed before. 

The first effects ,of these new 
mechanical combinations were to 
increase individual wealth, and 
to give a new stimulus to further 
inventions. 

Thus one mechanical improve¬ 
ment gave rise to another in 
rapid succession; and in a few 
years they were not only gene¬ 
rally introduced into the manu¬ 
factures of these kingdoms, but 
were eagerly adopted by other 
nations of Europe, and by Ame¬ 
rica. 

Individual wealth soon ad¬ 
vanced to national prosperity, as 
that term is generally under¬ 
stood; and the country, during 
a war of 25 years, demanding ex¬ 
ertion and an amount of expen¬ 
diture unknown at any former 
period, attained to a height of 
political power which confounded 
its foes and astonished its friends: 
both were alike unable to assign 
the real cause. So steadily, yet 
rapidly, did our country advance 
to this envied state, that there 
appeared to be no limit to its ac¬ 


quirement of riches, and the kind 
of power which wealth creates. 
The war itself, when it had ex¬ 
tended its ravages over Europe, 
(o Asia and to America, seemed 
but a new stimulus to draw forth 
our exhaust I ess resources ; and 
in its effects the war did so ope¬ 
rate. The destruction of human 
life in its prime, which it caused 
throughout the world, and the 
waste of all the materials neces¬ 
sary for war on so large a scale 
—perhaps unparalleled in an¬ 
cient or modern times—created 
a demand for various produc- 

M 

tions, which the overstrained in¬ 
dustry of British manufactures, 
aided by all the mechanism they 
could invent and bring into ac¬ 
tion, was hardly competent to 
supply- 

But peace at length followed, 
and found Great Britain in pos¬ 
session of a new power in con¬ 
stant action, which, it may be 
safely stated, exceeded the labour 
of one hundred millions of the 
most indust you s human beings, in 
the full strength of manhood. 

Tims our country possessed, 
at the conclusion of the war, a 
productive power, which ope¬ 
rated to the same effect as if her 
population had been actually in¬ 
creased fifteen or twenty fold ; 
and this had been chiefly created 
within tlie preceding’ twenty-five 
years. The rapid progress made 
by Great Britain, during the war, 
in wealth and political influence, 
can therefore no longer astonish: 
the cause was quite adequate to 
the effect. 

Now, however, new circum¬ 
stances have arisen. The war 
demand for the productions of 
labour having ceased, markets 
coiled no longer be found for 




188] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [184 


them; and the revenues of the 
world were inadequate to pur¬ 
chase that which a power so 
enormous in its effects did pro¬ 
duce: a diminished demand con¬ 
sequently followed. Wien, there¬ 
fore, it became necessarj to con¬ 
tract the sources of supply, it 
soon proved that mechanical 
ower was much cheaper than 
uman labour; the former, in 
consequence, was continued at 
work, while the latter was super¬ 
seded ; an# human labour may 
now be obtained at a price far 
less than is absolutely necessary 
for the subsistence of the indivi¬ 
dual in ordinary comfort. 

A little reflection wilL show', 
that the working- classes have 
now no adequate means of con¬ 
tending- with mechanical power: 
one of three results must there¬ 
fore ensue;— 

1. The use of mechanism must 
be greatly diminished ; or,— 

2. Millions of human beings 
must be starved, to permit its 
existence to the present extent; 
or,— 

8. Advantageous occupation 
must be found for poor and un¬ 
employed working classes, to' 
whose labour mechanism must 
he rendered subservient, instead 
of being applied, as at present, to 
supersede it. 

Machinery again. 

At the commencement of the 
late war, all the products of Great 
Britain and Ireland were pro¬ 
duced by about five millions 
and a half of fha, working classes, 
aided by a comparatively limited 
proportion of mechanical agency. 
The war created a large demand 
for men in the prime of life, for 
all the purposes of war, and it 


also created a demand for all the 
materials of war, in such a man¬ 
ner as to give a most extraordi¬ 
nary stimulus to the rapid ex¬ 
tension of more mechanism. The 
result of these combined proceed¬ 
ings was to leave this country, 
at the commencement of peace, 
witlr a working population of 
about six millions, and an in¬ 
creased mechanical agency, which 
is now daily at work, that effects 
as much as could be accomplish¬ 
ed by the united labour of 
150,000,000 more, and without 
consuming either food or raiment, 
and requiring but a few of other 
articles of manufacture. The 
certain results of this unnoticed 
change in the manner of supply¬ 
ing the wants of this and other 
countries, was to add, in a most 
extraordinary manner, to the 
amount of annual products, with¬ 
out increasing the power of con¬ 
sumption in the same proportion. 
The one, therefore, greatly out¬ 
runs the other, and a very mate¬ 
rial diminution of products be¬ 
came necessary. Individual in¬ 
terest immediately made the cal¬ 
culation, and found mechanism 
to be a cheaper agency than ma¬ 
nual labour ; human beings were 
therefore dismissed from employ¬ 
ment ; their labour in conse¬ 
quence rapidly fell in value, and 
with it fell almost every other 
article of commerce, and misery 
at once and most extensively 
followed. This is the grand cause 

a 

that is constantly operating every 
hour to grind you to misery, and, 
while it continues, without other 
arrangements being made to 
give a right direction to this 
magic power, hitherto unknown 
to the world, you must be sub¬ 
jected not only to the misery 




August 30, 1817. [186 

that now exists, but to much I says the population of New La- 
greater. Were every shilling- o» nark consists of manufacturers of 


your national debt and taxes re¬ 
moved to-morrow, and were the 
Government wholly unpaid for 
all its services, in a very few 
years, either this or some other 
country must suffer more than you 
now experience. MECHANISM, 
which may he made the greatest 
of blessings to humanity, is, under 
the existing arrangements, its 
greatest curse ! 

But, under the existing com¬ 
mercial system, mechanical power 
cannot in one country he discon¬ 
tinued, and in others remain in 
action, without ruin to that coun¬ 
try in which it be discontinued. 
No one nation, therefore, will dis¬ 
continue it; and although such 
an act were possible, it would be 
a sure sign of barbarism in 
those who should make the 
attempt. It iron Id, however, he 
a Jar more evident sign of bar¬ 
barism, and an act of gross ty¬ 
ranny, were any government to 
permit mechanical go ice r to starve 
millions of human beings. 

Shifting of Burdens. 

A mere change of sufferers, 
whether it be from one part of a 
class to another—from one class to 
another—or from one nation to 
another—is no) emedyjor the great 
and increasing evils which ike 
world now suffers. 


Mr. Owen, in one of his printed 
Addresses, states, that “ He is 
the principal proprietor of 
the works and village of New 
Lanark, and had the sole di¬ 
rection and superintendence of 
them' for eighteen years. He 


cotton thread chiefly; but also of 
iron and brass founders, iron and 
tin smiths, millwrights* turners 
in wood and metals, sawyers, 
carpenters, masons, tilers, paint¬ 
ers, glaziers, tailors, shoemakers, 
butchers, bakers, shopkeepers, 
farmers, labourers, surgeon, mi¬ 
nisters of religion, instructors 
of youth male and female, 
superintendents of various de¬ 
partments, clerks, and police¬ 
men ; forming a mixed society of 
trades and work-people. He had 
much experience among' the 
working classes before he under¬ 
took the management of the 
works at New Lanark, by super¬ 
intending large manufacturing 
establishments in Manchester and 
its neighbourhood, for about 
eight years preceding, in which 
great numbers of men, women, 
and children were employed.— 
The chief object of his attention 
during the number of years he 
had so many persons under his 
care and superintendence, was to 
discover the means by which the 
condition of the poor and working 
classes could be ameliorated, and 
with benefit to their employers. 
He became convinced that the 
situation of these classes may he 
easily greatly improved; and 
that their natural powers may he 
far more beneficially directed, 
for themselves, and for society at 
large, without creating injury of 
any kind, to any class, or to any 
individual; and, that with even 
fewer exceptions than he anti¬ 
cipated, consideringthe obstacles 
he had to encounter, in the igno¬ 
rance and ill training of the peo¬ 
ple, which had given them the 
habits of drunkenness, theft. 






187] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [188 


falsehood, and want of cleanli- 
. ness; with opposition to each 
other’s interests, sectarian feel¬ 
ings, strong national prejudices, 
both political and religious, 
against all attempts on the part 
of a stranger to improve their 
condition; to which may be 
added, the unhealthy nature of 
their employment. These obsta¬ 
cles lie removed or overcame, by 
the principle of prevention solely. 
Instead of wasting time and 
talent in considering an endless 
variety of individual effects, he 
patiently studied the causes pro¬ 
ducing* those effects, exerting* 
himself to remove them ; and, by 
thus acting*, it appeared that the 
same time and talent, when em¬ 
ployed under the. system of pre¬ 
vention, could produce results 
very much greater than under 
the system of coercion and pu¬ 
nishment. For instance, in the 
case of habitual drunkenness, it 
appeared useless to apply to the 
individuals who had been taught 
to acquire the practice of intoxi¬ 
cation, to desist from it,- while 
they remained surrounded by 
the circumstances that perpetu¬ 
ally tempted them to continue 
the habit. The first step adopted 
in that case, was to convince the 
parties, when sober, of the ad¬ 
vantages they would derive from 
having the temptation removed ; 
which, when attempted in a mild 
and proper spirit, was never diffi¬ 
cult to accomplish. The next 
step was to remove the tempta¬ 
tion ; and then the evil itself, 
with all its endless in jurious con¬ 
sequences, ceased altogether.— 
The notions which have influ¬ 
enced the conduct of mankind 
up to the present period, confine 
the attention to (ffecls, and from 


want of useful inquiry, lead to 
the conclusion, that the causes 
from which they really proceed, 
however injurious, cannot be al¬ 
tered or controlled by man.— 
Facts , however, prove, that the 
reverse of these notions is true : 
let men therefore attend to facts, 
and to facts only,, and it will be 
obvious that they can, with ease, 
remove the real causes which 
create bad habits, errors, and 
crimes. While we permit the 
causes to remain that must leave 
mankind in ignorance, that must 
create in them intemperance, 
idleness, uncharitableness, vice, 
crime, and every vile passion, 
and, at the same time, expect, or 
wish them to become the reverse; 
there is precisely as much wis¬ 
dom in such expectation, as to 
imagine, contrary to all the ex¬ 
perience of the world, that effects 
shall no longer continue to follow 
their natural causes. To inflict, 
therefore, upon men, pains apd 
penalties for having* vicious qua¬ 
lities (more unfortunate for them¬ 
selves than others), which are 
produced in them by the existing* 
circumstances, is to act upon 
notions devoid of every preten¬ 
sion to sound judgment and 
rationality. Mr. Owen says, that 
acting on these principles, the 
results had not once disappointed 
his expectations; on the contrary, 
they had exceeded his most san¬ 
guine hopes.” 

I was taken ill as soon as I left 
Mr. Owen’s last meeting*, to which 
I went very much indisposed, 
and have since scarcely quitted 
my bed; I am therefore unable 
to give an account of that meet¬ 
ing as I intended, or to offer 
further remarks upon the Plan, 
as I also intended—perhaps both 


/ 




189 ] August 30 , 1817 . [190 


are rendered unnecessary by 
tlie meeting' having' rejected the 
Plan. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

27th August, 1817j 


POSTSCRIPT. 

In consequence of the way in 
which I noticed Mr. Owen’s Plan 
in the Register last week, I have 
received the following letter:— 

(Copy) 

ct 32, IVarwick-Street, Golden-Square, 
<{ August 26, 1817. 

44 Sir, 

“ As you have not only pre- 
44 ferred the pauper system to the 
* 4 system which Mr. Owen pro- 
“ posed in its stead, but also ridi- 
44 culed that disinterested patriot 
44 and philanthropist, for prefer- 
44 ing his own to that system,more, 
44 1 hope , from the necessity you 
44 are under of getting a few 
44 pence from the imbecility of a 
44 weak and malignant political 
44 party,than from your conviction 
44 of the error of his choice; and 
44 as to slacken my pace towards 
44 the workhouse, it is abso- 
44 lutely necessary that I should 
44 collect my debts, have the 
44 goodness to make out my ac- 
44 couut, as in a few days 1 will 
44 call for what may be due to me. 
44 Jn the mean time, and lament- 
44 ing your political depravity , 

44 1 am, Sir, 

44 Your obedient Servant, 

44 IL CamvubJLL. 

44 Mr. IIonl. 


The writer of this letter is Mr. 
Hector Campbell, late of Surry 
Street, in the Strand, the author 
of a great variety of communh 
cations to the newspapers, re- 
specting Land, Labour,Coin, Bank 
Notes, and Corn Rents. -Now is 
appears from this letter, that this 
gentleman, with whom I am very 
well acquainted, and who has 
plans of his own fully large 
enough to engross all his atten- 
tion, and that of his Majesty’s 
Ministers beside, has fallen in 
love with Mr. Owen’s, by way of 
make-weight; and therefore con-, 
ceives himself in duty bound to 
persecute ail persons who will 
not be as 44 liberal” as himself. 
I happened to publish a two¬ 
penny tract, of Mr. Hector Camp¬ 
bell’s, which he was very 
anxious to bring out on the me- 
morable second of December , the 
day of theSpahelds’ riots; and he 
now, for the first time , and in this 
manner , calls on me for the 
settling of the account (which 
I suppose may be something 
more than a bawbee , and some¬ 
thing less than a sovereign ), 
because he fancies I prefer the 
pauper system to Mr. Owen’s 
Plan! This reason for, in this 
way, calling me to book, and 
the 44 hope,” the curious “hope” 
expressed by Mr. Campbell, 
with his lamentation over what 
he calls my political depravity , 
unsupported by a shadow oi 
truth or probability, are entitled 
to my silent contempt. I am ut¬ 
terly ignorant of the existence ot 






191 ] Hone 5 Reform 

the “ weak and malignant politi¬ 
cal party” he talks about, and 
am acquainted with very lew men 
so deeply engaged in politics as 
himself. Mr. Campbell, as an 
incessant correspondent and 
avowed admirer of Mr. Corbett, 
and as a Member of the Westmin¬ 
ster Committee, officiating also 
as Steward at Sir F. Burdett’s 
Anniversary Dinners, and leading 
off in the Westminster Meetings 
and Committees, as a Manager, 
has been ever a distinguished 
politician, and might have been a 
little more explicit . But if I dis¬ 
dain Mr. Campbell’s insinuations , 
it is nevertheless my wish to cau¬ 
tion, and very seriously caution, 
Mr. Campbell, against scattering 
about such random suspicions of 
any man; and I enjoin it to him 
as a duty, when he knows of such 
a fact against a public man, and if 
he thinks himself a proper pets,on 
to do it , to make the charge in 
public , and adduce his proofs. 
Mr. Campbell, I remember, was 
a violent antagonist of the Spen- 
cean Plan , which he thought 
shocking, and wrote Letters in 
opposition to it, in the public 
papers, the very day after the 
Evanses were arrested. Mr. 
Campbell also deemed it neces¬ 
sary to go to the Secretary of 
State, to get a Plan of his oicn 
adopted. Mr. Campbell n#w 
supports Mr. Owen's Plan, which 
he thinks not shocking, though 


ists’ Register. [1.92 

it is the Spencean Plan doubly 
dipped ! Mr. Campbell knows 
the two Evanses are at this mo¬ 
ment in Horsemonger-lane jail— 
is Mr. Campbell a candidate for 
being sent thither with Mr. Owen, 
to keep the Evanses company; 
or will he, as he in justice ought , 
take another walk to the Secre¬ 
tary of Stale , to convince his 
Lordship that the Plan of the 
Evanses is innocence itself, when 
compared with Mr. Owen’s ; and 
entreat that Mrs. Evans may 
have her husband and her son 
restored to her? 

I have indulged Mr. Camp¬ 
bell by the publication of his 
letter; but I ought to apologize 
to Mr. Owen for doing* so, as I 
am sure that gentleman will per¬ 
ceive his plan cannot be pro¬ 
moted by such partisanship as 
Mr. Campbell’s. 


TO READERS. 

THE FIRST VOLUME of the 
Register may be had complete. 
Price Five Shillings , in extra boards. 

Mr. ROGER O’CONNOIVS 
NARRATIVE of his cruel persecu¬ 
tions since the year 1797, WRITTEN 
BY HIMSELF, is contained in 
No. 4, fur Saturday, August 16 5 of 
which an extra number has been 
printed, to meet the increased demand, 
and may be had. Price Two-pence. 


London : Printed by and fur WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Loogatl Hill ; where LOtMMUNICATlONS (pus.t paid) should be addressed. 
—Price IVo-Pence each, L& per Hundred, ur 51. 10s. jyr Thousand, 





Price Two-Pcnce. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No* 7 *] Saturday, September 6, 1817. [Vol. II. 



MORE DABBLING 

IN BLOOD! 

EVIDENCE of Yo\\ce-Qff\ce\'sagainst 
BLOOD-MONEY- TOWNSEND 
testifies that Officers have turned the 
Scale against the Prisoner for the 
sake o f the Blood-Money ---He con¬ 
victs Mother Usher, and Brough¬ 
ton the Highway man-— Mr. Wes¬ 
ley's Chapel Clerk disappointed at 
not receiving Blood-Money — DAN¬ 
CER, the Clerk of Bedford Chapel, 
a Brothel Keeper- The RE¬ 

CORDER approves of Blood- 
Money, divides it, declares Police- 
Officers do not exceed Truth , because 
HE watches them, and in a Month 
afterwards, Four Blood Plots are 
discovered in his own Jurisdiction— 
A Gentleman’s Servant executed a 
Fortnight ago, for “ his First Offence 
of any kind," whilst Six Blood Men 

, remain unexecuted - On the 20th 

July , HALL and MORRISON left 
for Execution at Stafford, and disco¬ 
vered to be Innocent, after the Prose¬ 
cutors divided 80 1. for their Blood- 
Money —-Narrow Escape of Two 
Poor Lads at the last Surry Assizes 
—Temptations to BLOOD-PLOTS 
as great now as in 1756, when the 
Blood-Men swore 70 Lives away, 
and received 1720Z. Blood-Money— 
Why no Man is safe from a Blood- 
Man. 


To a man who has been ac¬ 
customed to hang* men, or who 
has been about their persons 


previously, or who is familiar 
with the modes and forms of 
getting 1 them hanged,the division 
of Parliamentary Rewards upon 
their conviction, has no qualms. 
He looks upon it, if he has helped 
to get them upon the scaffold, 
as what he has earned ; and if his 
endeavours in hastening or se¬ 
curing the execution be under¬ 
rated, he enlarges on his merits, 
and quarrels for his right, to the 
last sixpence. It is his trade; 
and should he be without moral 
principle, and greedy of gain, he 
will endeavour to push trade. 
The existence of a reward for 
the death of a fellow-creature, 
the hope of obtaining it, and the 
certainty of its not being certain 
that punishment will follow 
the discovery of the means b y 
which he obtains it, are strong* 
inducements to make a snatch at 
a human life. 

These rewards, paid after trial 
to the officers, or other witnesses, 
on w hose evidence a person is 
found guilty of a capital crime, 
is called Blood-Money. Last sum* 
mer a select Committee of the 
blouse of Commons, appointed to 
inquire into the state of the 
police of the metropolis, very 
diligently investigated the ten¬ 
dency of the Blotd-Money sys¬ 
tem. Messrs. Tow nsend, Saver, 
and Vickery, police-officers of 
Bow Street, and Lavender, a 
police-officer of Queen Square, 


Printed by and tor W. Hone, b7> Old Bailey, London* 


























193 ] Honk’s Reform 

being' examined before (he Com¬ 
mittee, reprobated (he practice; 
and from their evidence, and 
other intelligent testimony, it 
may be collected :— 

That juries are apt (o look 
upon the evidence of a police- 
officer unfavourably, because 
he is supposed to have an eye 
on the Blood-Aloney of the 
person against whom he is ap¬ 
pearing as an evidence. 

That the question as to Blood- 
Aloney is put by counsel to 
officers, for the purpose of de¬ 
creasing the value of their 

o 

evidence. 

That no police-officer can go into 
the box at the Old Bailey with 
any comfort to himself, know¬ 
ing that he will be asked 
respecting the Blood-Money, 
by counsel. 

That officers are not considered 
by.: the public so respectable 
and independent as they would 
be if Blood-Money was done 
away. 

That the salaries of officers being 
very low, if it were not for 
private gratuities and rewards, 
of which Blood-Money forms 
a part, officers could not live. 
That the salaries of police-officers 
should be increased ; and it is 
(he general opinion of officers 
themselves, that Blood-Money 
should cease. 

That it would also he much more 
satisfactory to officers them¬ 
selves, if they were paid by 
the magistrates or judges, for 
extra services performed, 
whether convictions were ob¬ 
tained or not, instead of being 
compelled, as fhey now are, to 
look to the Bipod-Money as a 
means of defraying their ne¬ 
cessary expenses. 


ists’ Register. [196 

That if officers’ salaries were in¬ 
creased, there would he still 
the same thirst for the gain, 
and for th e n i a gistrat es’ re w T ar d; 
and it would make a man more 
desirous of keeping his situa¬ 
tion. 

The evidence of the police- 
officers, as to the insufficiency of 
their salary, and the necessity 
they are under of making it up 
in some other way, is most con¬ 
vincing. 

Vickery, after expressing his 
opinion that officers should be 
rewarded for extraordinary exer¬ 
tions, and speaking of the offi¬ 
ces connected with the different 
parts of the metropolis, says, “ 1 
held a situation in one of those 
offices for twelve years; and I 
may venture to say, that w ith all 
the exertions I could make, and 
all the industry I could use, I 
never had the means of saving a 
s'myle sixpence for my family, in 
case any accident might happen to 
myself. There is another thing I 
would mention to the Committee; 
I am not speaking for myself, for 
perhaps 1 may never want it, but 
1 am speaking on behalf of men 
who will want it; for it is to be 
observed, that many of the officers 
hardly receive more reward for 
their services, than is just enough 
to enable them to live without be¬ 
coming thieves; and therefore I 
should suggest that a provision 
should be made for such men as 
are wounded, or receive severe 
bodily injuries, in the perform¬ 
ance of their duty; or wdio are 
worn out in the service. It is 
a weary life, and wears men 
out very fast; and without prais¬ 
ing these men too much, I 
think something should be done 
for those who have done their 





197 ] 

duty to the utmost of their 
power through a long life, in 
protecting the lives and pro¬ 
perty of the public. I hope the 
Committee do not think I ath say¬ 
ing too much when I suggest 
that some trifling provision should 
be made, in the nature of super¬ 
annuation-money, for those men 
who have attained the age of fifty, 
sixty, or seventy years, or w ho 
otherw ise may be incapacitated, 
from age or infirmity, to do their 
duty. / got myself cut all to 
pieces two years ago, and that w r as 
in an attempt to take two men who 
had committed a murder; but 1 
did not expect to live: I was laid 
up for six months, and I was in that 
situation at the time, that 1 should 
not have left my wfe and family 
afarthing if I had died.' 

Townsend's evidence is deci¬ 
sive, as to. the necessity of ren¬ 
dering the officers independent of 
Blood-Money , and putting them 
beyond the reach of temptation. 
It is given in a strain of natural 
simplicity, interspersed with facts 
which render it very valuable.— 
The Committee inquire thus :— 

“Should vou not think that it 
would be a much better mode of 
rewarding the services of the 
officers of the police, if it was 
left in the breast of the police- 
magistrates, to pay for every spe¬ 
cial service that each officer did, 
the rew r ard which those magis¬ 
trates thought fit to apportion V 9 
To which Iownsend answers, 
“ I have always thought so; from 
the earliest part of my time 1 
have thought it, and for the best 
of all reasons; 1 have, with every 
attention that man could bestow, 
w r atched the conduct of various 
persons who have given evidence 
against their fellow-creatures for 


[198 

life or death, not only at the Old 
Bailey, but on the circuits; and I 
have always been perfectly con¬ 
vinced that would he the best 
mode that possibly could be 
adopted to pay officers, parti¬ 
cularly because they are dan¬ 
gerous creatures; they have it 
frequently in their power (no 
question about it) to turn the 
scale, when the beam is level, on 
the other side; I mean against 
the poor wretched man at the 
bar: w hy ?—tliis thing called na- 
tore says profit is in the scale; 
and, melancholy to relate, hut l 
cannot help being* perfectly sa¬ 
tisfied, that frequently that has 
been the means of convicting 
many and many a man; and I 
told Sir Charles Bund cry my 
opinion upon that subject thirty 
years ago, when he wanted to 
get rid oi' rewards, that it should 
be in the breast ©f the judges on 
the circuit, and the judges at the 
Old Bailey, or the judge who tries 
at the Old Bailey, whetbjer they 
have convicted or not convicted 
the party, if they see the officer 
has done his duty towards the 
public, and his duty fairly and 
uprightly towards all parties, 
they should have a discriminat¬ 
ing power to pay that officer ac¬ 
cording to the nature of the case: 
then the officer does not stand 
up and look at this unfortunate 
creature, and swear to this or 
that thing, or the other thing, 
for what? for the lucre — for na¬ 
ture is nature, do with us what 
you will f and therefore I am 
convinced, that whenever A. is 
giving evidence against B. lie 
should stand perfectly unin¬ 
terested. 

“ ],for one,shoqJd naturally say, 
if placed upon the jury, yes, it 


September 6 , 1817. 







IIohe’s Reformists’ Register. 



may be true these officers are 
speaking truth; but it turns out 
by. cross-examination that there 
is £120. to be given if these three 
men are convicted, and therefore 
I cannot believe all these men 
have sworn : but if there was ?io 
reward , the officer might be al¬ 
ways paid liberally, provided the 
judge had the power by act 
of Parliament to pay it. But 
the prosecutor says, ‘ How am 
I to do? If this man is not 
convicted, I shall not yet my 
expenses. Here is going to King¬ 
ston, or somew here else; how 
much shall I have allowed to be 
paid by the county? It will not 
half pay the expenses;—‘Yes,’ 
says the officer, ‘ this is a pretty 
thing; I will take care 1 will 
play no more at this game; be¬ 
cause that (fame will not afford 
even the poor devil of an officer 
to appear,decent on the Monday 
morning*, or to acquit himself, 
perhaps, from being summoned 
before the Court of Conscience 
for some trifling debt; for 1 have 
been always of opinion, that an 
officer is a danyerous subject to 
the community, if he is not so kept 
and so paid, as to afford him the 
means ofbeiny honest 
The Committee again inquire— 
“ Do you not think, where the 
officers hold in their hands the 
balance of life and death, that a 
rich criminal may have an influ¬ 
ence over a needy officer, highly 
injurious to the public interest V 9 
And Tow nsend in answer says 

V 

—“No question about it. Twenty- 
two years ago, I convicted, at the 
summer assizes, a celebrated old 
woman, Mrs. Usher, worth at 
least three thousand guineas, for 
she made over that property by 
hear attorney. 1 then attended 


Vanxhall: Mrs. UsHEit picked a 
lady’s pocket; I was close by, 
and secured her. She was tried 
before Baron Hotiiam. Mr. Ives, 
the gaoler in Surry, before the 
trial, came to me, and said, 

4 Townsend, you know Mother 
Usher very well V ‘ Yes/ said 
I, ‘ these ten years/ He said, 

‘ Cannot this be stashed?* mean¬ 
ing, put an end to : I said, No, it 
was impossible that it could be: 
because the case was very plain, 
and of all women upon earth, she 
ought to be convicted; and in 
my Opinion, if she is convicted 
capitally, nothing but her sex 
and her old age ought to save 
her from being executed ; and I 
shall think it my duty, when she 
is convicted, to state to the judge, 
after conviction, my opinion upon 
her case, which I did. The pre¬ 
sent Attorney-General was her 
counsel. Baron Hotham said to 
me, ‘Thiswoman you seem to be 
well acquainted with/ Yes, my 
Lord/ said I; “I am very sorry 
to say she is a very old offender; 
buther age, which your Lordship 
lias heard her give, and her sex, 
are the only plea that ought to 
save her;’ for the jury found 
her guilty of stealing, but not 
privily, which took away the 
capital part; therefore she was 
sentenced to two years’ imprison¬ 
ment in the New Gaol in the 
Borough. I then lived in the 
Strand; two of her relations 
called upon me, trying to see 
what could be done; and they 
would have given me £200. not 
to have appeared against that 
woman. She was a very rich 
woman, and made over all her 
property before she was con¬ 
victed ; she got the best p$rt of 
it by plundejw 





201] September 6, 1817. [202 


“ At the same assizes I con¬ 
victed Broughton, for robbing 
the York mail. I found on him 
£135. in Bank-notes,a gold watch, 
and a guinea and a half. Mr. 
Parkin, the solicitor, paid me. 
Justice Buller staid till I got 
down there, after attending Mrs. 
Usher’s trial, to give evidence 
against him. Broughton, was 
brother to one of the King’s 
messengers, and another brother 
kept the Red Lion, in Barnet, for 
years. There was another plan 
laid: so that if an officer had not 
been firm,the consequence would 
have been, that temptations would 
be frequently thrown in officers’ 
way; and how* is it possible to 
avoid those temptations, provided 
the officer so employed has not 
the means of barring off those 
temptations, by being* paid libe¬ 
rally for what he does ? For how¬ 
ever we may be, in whatsoever 
state we are placed, nothing can 
he so dangerous as a public officer , 
where he is liable to be tempted ; 
for God knows, nature is at all 
times frail, and money is a very 
tempting thing ; and you see 
frequently, that much higher cha¬ 
racters than, police-officers and 
thief-takers , as they are called , 
have slipped on one side , and 
kicked over places,''' 

This evidence of Townsend’s 
appears to accord with truth. 
There cannot be a doubt that 
the independence of officers of 
justice is highly essential to the 
ends of justice: they should, by 
their salaries, be placed beyond 
the reach of being tempted by 
offenders. If Blood-Money were 
at an end, and officers were duly 
and liberally rewarded, accord¬ 
ing to the skill and diligence 
they exercised in an affair, whe¬ 


ther successful in detecting the 
offender or not, their usefulness 
and activity would be increased, 
and they would cease to be sus¬ 
pected by juries. As it is, how¬ 
ever, officers are not the only 
persons in whom the hope of 
Blood-Movey operates. Every 
nrosecutor, whose mind is de- 
based, is more or less liable to be 
influenced by the horrible consi¬ 
deration. Vickery mentioned a 
remarkable instance of a clerk 
to one of Mr. Wesley’s chapels, 
whose house had been robbed, 
being in expectation of dividing 
the Blood-Money on the convic¬ 
tion of the offender. Vickery’s 
relation of the affair is circum¬ 
stantial, and admirably to the 
point:—he says, “ I certainly 
have seen great inconveniences 
arise from the rewards by Acts 
of Parliament; and in one parti¬ 
cular instance I got myself very 
much ill-treated in consequence of 
it , and that was in apprehending 
a man of the name of Asker, 
seven years ago, for robbing the 
house of the clerk of Mr. Wes¬ 
ley’s chapel in the City-road. 
He lived in a little house 
in Windmill-street, Finsbury- 
square; he had to go in the 
evening of Sunday to perform 
Iris' office in chapel; before he 
went there he sat down to 
read by a candle, and it was sus¬ 
pected that the parties who rob¬ 
bed his house must have seen 
into his house bv means of his 
candle, the windows not being 
shut. He left his house to go 
to his duties; when he returned, 
he found his house stripped of a 
considerable quantity of wearing 
apparel and other things. When 
I come to hear a statement of the 
party, I am well aware whether 



203] 

it comes within the meaning of a 
burglary or not. The parties, 
after two or three days, were ap¬ 
prehended, and the property 
found upon them, and the man 
identified the property. It went 
to the court to be tried, and the 
parties were convicted capitally, 
but the burglary was taken off; 
he was convicted of stealing 
above forty shillings in the dwell¬ 
ing-house. Mr. Shelton, the 
clerk of arraigns, made a bill in 
the usual way, a trifling sum to 
the prosecutor, and included in 
the same bill something for the 
witnesses ; it is never more than 
a few shillings. I had received 
it from the hands of Mr. Shel¬ 
ton, and handed it over to the* 
prosecutor: he said, ‘ Mr. Vick¬ 
ery, there is a REWARD at¬ 
tached to this, as well as this, I 
suppose V — 4 No, sir, there is net; 
for the jury have god rid of the 
burglary, and there is no reward 
for this man’s conviction.’— 

‘ Why, he is convicted capitally ?’ 
t-' c So ire is.’ — c God bless me ! 
ivhat can be the reason f ’— 4 Why, 
sir, that you have neglected to 
state before the jury, that you 
bad been reading by candle¬ 
light, prior to your going out to 
evening service; and on that 
account we did not prove the 
burglary.’— 4 God bless my soul! 
you ought to have told me that ,’ 
was his reply; 4 for this will not 
half pay my expenses for attend¬ 
ing here.’ There was a good 
deal more said: he iras in full 
expectation of the RE WARD .” * 

* Another Chapel Clerk has been distin¬ 
guished in evidence before a Committee of 
the House of Commons, for uniting with 
his clerical functions the office of a public 
brothel keeper. Smith, a special constable, 
arid beadle of St. Giles’. 1 } parish , and Ro- 
fcjbRTS, the watch-house keeper, acquainted 


[204 

Sayer being asked whether 
the species of rewards denomi¬ 
nated Blood-Money have not a 
tendency to induce an officer to 
speak more positively against an 
individual than he might other¬ 
wise he disposed to do, if there 
was no reward, answered, 44 I 
think so; I have often hoped not; 
biit I think i-t may be fact in some 
cases.”—“ From the long expe¬ 
rience you have had,” inquired 
the Committee, “ have you not, 
in point of fact, seen cases in 
which you could not but think 
that something of that sort has 
happened?”—‘ 4 Clearly so,” says 
Sayer. 

Holdsworth, the late City- 
Marshal, was asked if he consi¬ 
dered the rewards called Blood- 
Money were a good or bad mode 
of paying* officers. He answer¬ 
ed, “ Infamously bad . I wish 
M‘Coull was liere; he would 
name the men, and tell you the 
supposed crimes for which they 
suffered, and would give you 
proofs they were not guilty of 
the things ihey suffered for, and 
tell you the confessions of men 
who afterwards suffered ; parti¬ 
cularly-I remember a man of tbe 
name of Arthur Connolly, who 
committed a highway-robbery, 

the Committee, that several houses of ill 
fame were kept in that parish by the 
clerk to Bedford Chapel , in Charlotte 
Street, which was a chapel (f ease to the es¬ 
tablished church. This chapel clerk’s 
name is Dancer; and Mr. Stables, one 
of tbe parish-officers, said, at a watch- 
house committee, he was astonished that 
any clergyman should suffer a man of that 
stamp to assist in administering the H»!y 
Sacrament. Dancer had for ten years 
kept houses of ill fame, the resort of 
thieves who rescue each other from the 
officers, and of prostitutes of the most 
abandoned profligacy : he had been chapel 
clerk several years before he kept the 
brothels. 


Hone’s Reformist^s’ Register. 







205] 

and another man was executed 

for doing' it-1 have heard 

officers give their evidence, and 
been in jeopardy for them!” 

After the Committee had ex¬ 
amined the principal police-ma¬ 
gistrates and police-officers, they 
proceeded to take the evidence 
of Sir JOHN SILVESTER, Bart. 
F. R. S., RECORDER of the City 
of London. This personage, on 
many accounts so important, is 
more especially so from being 
the first law authority of the 
City of London ; its organ on all 
public occasions; audits Judge 
in its Courts of Session, and in 
the Sessions of Oyer and Ter¬ 
miner for London and Middlesex; 
—trying and passing sentence 
of death on most of the capital 
convicts, and dividing the Blood- 
Money . His opinion, therefore, 
was required by the Committee 
on Blood-Money particularly. 
They put this question to him:— 
<<r It has been stated to the 
Committee by different magis¬ 
trates (no less than by the police- 
officers themselves), that they con¬ 
sider the mode of rewarding the 
detection of offenders, known by 
the name of parliamentary re¬ 
wards , as one which they look 
upon as prejudicial to the public 
interest, and which they would 
wish to have changed; have you 
any opinion upo.n that subject?” 
—“ Yes,” says the Recorder, “ I 
think very differently .”-In¬ 

deed, Mr. Recorder; but why? 
— “ I thir.k” exclaims the Re¬ 
corder, “ that rewards do not 
tend to any improper ends ! ”— 
But why, Mr. Recorder? —“I 
thought 1 might be asked that 
question , and ”—now when Mr. 
Recorder said this, we expect 
his reasons, of course; but no: 


[20fi 

instead of these he says, “ I have 
brought with me a list of the re¬ 
wards!” And then he says, 

“ On the first day of every ses- 

•> •> 

sion, after conviction, I distribute 
them at the Old Bailey ; but 1 do 
not make a distribution till 1 have 
considered every individual case, 
and the merits of every witness, 
upon the back of the indictment; 
l then apportion the rewards ac¬ 
cording' to the best of iny judg¬ 
ment.” lie is asked to state the 
amount of BLOOD-MONfcY he 
annually divides; and he an¬ 
swers, “ I cannot.”—“ Nor any 
thing like it ?”—•“ No,” says he ; 
•‘it would be all .guess-work!” 
So that if appears the Recorder 
of London said he expected to be 
asked if Blood-Money was not 
prejudicial to the public* interest, 
and denies that it is, without say¬ 
ing wdiy or wherefore; but be¬ 
cause he expects the question to be 
asked, he brings with him a list of 
the rewards, that is, a list of the 
offences in which Blood-Money 
is payable on conviction, and says 
that fie distributes it at the Old 
Bailey, which is the grand mart 
for Blood-Money ; but how much 
he distributes, or any thing like 
it, he cannot tell, or even guess 
at, though he divides it every six 
weeks! The Committee not ap¬ 
pearing satisfied with the Re¬ 
corder’s simple opinion in fa¬ 
vour of Blood-Money, as it is, 
then address him in these words: 
“ The evidence before the Com¬ 
mittee has not g'one so far as to 
say that no rewards should he 
given; but it has been proposed, 
not only by various magistrates, 
but also by the police-officers them¬ 
selves, that they would be better 
pleased (hat the rewards should 
be paid at the discretion of tht 


September 6 , 1817 . 







207] 

Judge, of the Recorder , or of the 
poll ce-m eight rate, for services per¬ 
formed, than settled by act oi 
Parliament, in that manner which 
is generally known by the name 
of BLOOD-MONEY; because all 
the different parties have stated 
that they consider themselves as 
coming' into Court with a stain 
upon their evidence; and it 
has been distinctly avowed, by 
more officers than one , that they 
themselves have witnessed evi¬ 
dence given against an offender , 
apparently for the sole purpose of 
getting the reward ; the Commit¬ 
tee wish (o learn from you, whe¬ 
ther, in that view of it, you con¬ 
sider the parliamentary rewards 
as the best mode?” The Re¬ 
corder's answer is very curious. 
He says, “ I can only speak for 
myself; and can say, that 1 con¬ 
sider the present mode' as llie 
BEST mode! 1 see great in¬ 

convenience in the police-magis¬ 
trates distributing it, because 
they may he considered as liable 
to partiality to their own officers, 
it seems tome. / divide it now; 
and no act of Parliament could 
give me MORE POWER than 
f have at present . T hey talk of 
BLOOD-MONEY, as applied to 
officers ; low and ifn-orani people 
will do that; but I do not find 
that the police-officers outs trio 
the truth, and it is perhaps because 
they know that l WATCH them!” 

Not with si and i ng i he Recorder 
could not tell how mud; BLOOD- 
MONEY lie d ivided, and thought 
the present mode the best mode, 
mid most unaccountably sup¬ 
posed the Committee to be con¬ 
triving how to increase his power, 
and said that BLOOD-MONEY 
was talked of by low and ignorant 
people, and that he did apt find 


[208 

officers outstrip the truth,, per¬ 
haps because HE watched them ; 
yet in the space of one mouth after 
he gave that evidence of his 
watchman-like abilities,a horrible 
Series of BLOOD CONSPIRA¬ 
CIES was actually discovered to 
have been arranged, planned, 
and executed, within his own ju¬ 
risdiction, both in London and 
Middlesex ! It was not a single 
plan, contrived by one or two in¬ 
dividuals known to each other, 
that was discovered ; but FOUR 
distinct BLOOD PLOTS, to en¬ 
tice and seduce persons to com¬ 
mit capital crimes, for the pur¬ 
pose of getting the Blood-Money 
on their conviction. In three of 
these atrocious conspiracies, the 
parties were wholly unconnected 
and unacquainted ; and it is 
stated in print as a fact, that 
no less a sum than Seven Hun¬ 
dred Pounds was distributed by 
the Recorder of London, at the 
last Old Bailey Sessions before lie 
delivered his evidence to the 
Committee. Tim foremost plot 
in atrocity was that planned 
by Brock, Pelham, and Power, 
in conjunction with a man named 
Barry, who afterwards became 
King’s evidence. Barry under¬ 
took to trepan a proper number of 
victims into the act of coining. 

To every one residing in this 
metropolis, it must be well 
known, that many persons of the 
labouring classes rise with the 
hist dawn of light, not knowing 
how they shall pass the day ; or 
how obtain a morsel of bread to 
satisfy nature. Cheapside mar¬ 
ket is the usual stand of such 
persons, waiting the chance of 
employment. There the labourer 
appears with his hod and shovel, 
but u the ninth hour” may pass 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 




209] September 6 , 1S17. [210 


without bringing them any occu¬ 
pation. This was considered a pro¬ 
per place to find persons ready for 
Any work—the willing victims of 
trfeachery; and there it was that 
Barry accosted two unfortunate 
Irish men. He said to one' of 
them, “ Have you any work, mv 
lad? My master has plenty oi 
employment for some smart fel¬ 
lows; but it is very hard work.” 
“ Oh ! ” answered the poor man, 
happy to hear of some means of 
livelihood, “ I want bread, and 
do not mind how hard the 
work.”—“ Oh ! but there is some 
hazard in it.**—“ Why,” conti¬ 
nued the poor fellow, “ so has 
every kind of work ; mounting a 
ladder five stories high, with a 
heavy hod of mortar, is attended 
with great hazard; but an Irish la¬ 
bourer does not care much for 
danger.”—“ 1 know that,” added 
Barry; “ but this work is of a 
very peculiar kind, and 1 know 
that no man is bound to stay at a 
work he does not like; so, per¬ 
haps, when you try this work, 
you might not like it, and would 
go away. So my master would 
not hire any one, but such as will 
take a solemn oath , that if he 
leaves the work, he will never 
speak about it.” And then Barry 
produced a paper signed with 
the cross, supposed peculiarly 
binding’ on the consciences of 
people of their religious persua¬ 
sion, arpl said he must swear by 
it The two poor Irishmen, named 
Quin and Reardon, having con¬ 
sented to Barry’s proposition, 
were brought to a room, set to 
work, and a breakfast of bread 
and butter and coffee was laid 
before them. It was long since 
they had had such a meal. They 
were happy in having obtained 


employment; and remembering a 
poor lad who had arrived in 
town within the last fortnight, 
the honest creatures, anxious that 
he should share their good for- 
tune, expressed a hope that he 
too might be employed. Permis¬ 
sion was given then to bring 
their friend ; and Connell, a 
young hoy , not able to speak our 
language, was set at work with 
the others. They were given a 
fil e, scissars, metal, and the 
other requisites for their work; 
and a shilling as a pattern, by 
which they were to shape their- 
counterfeits. Being set to work, 
one of the poor Irishmen, observ¬ 
ing the effect of the process on 
the pieces of metal they were 
cutting out, said, in Irish, to the 
others, “ It is money we are 
making, for which we might all 
he hanged /” This observation 
startled the others, and all re¬ 
solved, between themselves, that 
they would continue the work no 
longer; and, as an excuse for 
getting out of the house, said 
they should go to dinner. Poor 
fellows! it was indeed an ex¬ 
cuse ; for they had no means to 
provide a dinner. Barry, who 
was with them, desired them not 
to disturb themselves about their 
dinner, as thev should have a 
good one there; and immediately 
leaving them, under pretence of 
procuring it, the officers were 
introduced, and the three poor 
Irishmen immediately appre¬ 
hended as coiners, tried for their 
lives, and received sentence of 
death ! 

The prime mover in the three 
other BLOOD PLOTS., were 
Vaughan, alias .Jew Nicker , a 
Bow Street patrole; Johnson, 
formerly a City officer; and a 




211 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [212 


wretch named Dannelly, alias 
Jack-a-Dandy; and these vil¬ 
lains, who had entrapped men to 
commit crimes, and convicted 
them at the Qld Bailey, and had 
received their Blood-Money from 
the hands of the RECORDER, 
were tried in their turn, at the^ 
Old Bailey, upon capital indict¬ 
ments for these horrible offences, 
and all six found guilty, in less 
than three months after the Re¬ 
corder, in opposition to the 
opinions of the most respectable 
magistrates and police-officers, 
told the Committee of the House 
of Commons, that j Blood-Money 
had no had tendency, and that 
he imagined officers would not 
swear “ hard and fast,” because 
HE watched them ! Since then, 
various executions have taken 
place, and in particular, William 
Bull, a young man, suffered 
death this day fortnight. This 
poor fellow, a gentleman’s ser¬ 
vant out of place, having taken a 
walk to Chalk Farm, was there 
inveigled into the company of 
some thieves, who made him 
drunk, and persuaded him to 
join them in robbing his late 
master’s house, whom he had 
left about two months before. 
The newspapers say, that the 
greatest law authorities were in¬ 
flexible in the case of William 
Bull, though it was “ Ids.FIRST 
OFFENCE of any kind;’ for 
“ it Mas considered, that no 
“ mMier could with safety repose 
“ on his bed, unless all servants 
“ were intimidated by the terrors 
“ of justice from perpetrating 
“ such crimes.” May it not be 
as truly said, that “ no poor man 
“ can repose with safety in his 
“ bed, unless Blood-Money men 
* are intimidated by the like 


“ terrors from swearing away 
“ the life of every helpless per- 
“ son they can ensnare*?” Are 
the destitute and friendless safe, 
whilst the Blood-Money men are 
unintimidated? What an immense 
difference in criminality between 
s .a poor creature whom it has been 
thought necessary to put to 
death for “ his FIRST and only 
offence and villains who contrive 
and execute schemes of whole¬ 
sale butchery, in expectation of 
forty pounds for every victim they 
can entrap, and get quietly put 
to death under the forms of law ! 
How many various and dreadful 
crimes had these wretches com¬ 
mitted, how many souls had 
they sacrificed, before this con¬ 
traband trade they carried on in 
the lives of their fellow creatures, 
under the very nose of the 
Recorder, was discovered? How 
many rewards had they pock¬ 
eted, before they set the three 
poor Irishmen to coin, for whose 
lives they expected to divide the 
sum of one hundred and twenty 
pounds' ? Yet they, the chief 

actors in the FOUR Blood Plots , 
though tried a twelvemonth ago, 
'and capitally convieted, and sen¬ 
tenced to die, for the deep dam¬ 
nation of this and similar atro¬ 
cities, remain unexecuted , and 
the law respecting Blood-Money 
is unaltered ! Are these men not 
heavy enough in crime? IIow 
often is it necessary that they 
should fasten their fangs in hu¬ 
man flesh, and drink the life¬ 
blood from the heart, before their 
wickedness can have reached 
the height of the unfortunate 
William Bull’s “ FIRST OF + 
FENCE of any kind !” But thex 
newspapers say, that the greatest 
Iciao authorities were inflexible in 







213] September 0 

his case; ami he was executed 


accordingly, in order that all ser¬ 
vants may be intimidated ! What! 
are the lovers of Blood-Money a 
more timid-minded, a more easily 
intimidated, a less criminally in¬ 
clined cjass of society, than yen- 
llemeiis servants ? Do they who 
sally forth in the morning in 
search of stray lives, and whose 
business, and whose living, is to 
entice and ensnare the hungry 
and the unwary, by ones, and 
twos, and threes, and toss them 
naked and helpless upon the 
naked sword of impartial but. 
blind justice—do wretches, whose 
trade is crime, require less 
intimidation than the domestic 
servants of England, who if they 
have the property of their mas¬ 
ters and mistresses under their 
care, are themselves and their re¬ 
putation, at the mercy of those 
masters and mistresses, from 
whom they often experience the 
wicked injustice and cruelty of 
being dismissed without charac- 
ter, for trifling* or imaginary 
faults, and thus thrown helpless 
upon the world, are sometimes 
lost for ever ? 

The Blood-Men being unex¬ 
ecuted, and as Blood-Money is 
still to be had, it is not wonder¬ 
ful that BLOOD PLOTS should 
increase . The temptation re¬ 
mains, and the following sin¬ 
gular circumstances show that 
habit and inclination and temp¬ 
tation united, are too strong to be 
resisted. 

At Wolverhampton, on the 
23d of July, Hall and Morrison, 
two soldiers, were drinking at an 
hour too late for admission to 
their lodging*; and, after apply¬ 
ing in vain to be allowed to go 
into the guard-room to sleep, 


1817. [214 

walked about the village to kill 
time, lu loitering through the 
churchyard, they met a man who 
seemed to be in want of work, 
and, like themselves, without a 
lodging for the night. A con¬ 
versation ensued, and the stranger 
told them his name was Bead; 
that he was a bricklayer’s la¬ 
bourer, out of employment, and 
a Her (fordshire man. It happen¬ 
ed tliat in his description he hit 
upon the part of the country 
from which one of the soldiers 
came. A jesting dialogue took 
place between them, and at 
length it was agreed that they 
should 'wrestle. Hall was the 
friendly opponent of Read upon 
lb e occasion, and lie was thrown 
in the first round of wrestling. 
In the second, however, Hall was 
more successful in the feat of acti¬ 
vity, and Head dropped a shilling 
and a penny from his pocket. 
Morrison immediately picked up 
the money, said it would do for 
beer, and put it in liis pocket. The 
soldiers quizzed Head about his 
loss, and were heat’d by a watch- 
man near the spot acknowledg ing 
that they had the shilling, and 
would certainly dispose of it in 
the most convivial way. Read 
growled about his money, and 
showed a disposition to quarrel. 
About eight o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing, the three men were seen 
near the market-place by another 
watchman, and the soldiers were 
bantering Read upon the same 
subject. The good humour of 
Read, however, at this time ap¬ 
peared quite broken up; he 
spoke of having the soldiers 
taken into custody, but was an- 
wered by a laugh from them. A 
grocer, named Powis, saw them 
all under similar circumstance^ 





215] Hone’s Reformists’ Register, [216 


and heard Read complain of no 
attempt at robbery , but saw that 
he was not pleased at being 
laughed at. The grocer soon 
after met a man named Roberts, 
the keeper of the House of Cor¬ 
rection at Wolverhampton, and 
mentioned to him that Read 
said two soldiers had got his 
money. The answer of Roberts, 
which did-not strike the grocer 
as extraordinary at first, was, “ / 
must see that man: this is a good 
jobr The event, however, soon 
explained the language. Ro¬ 
berts immediately inquired after 
Read : questioned him upon the 
loss he had sustained, and in a very 
short time apprehended the two 
soldiers , upon a charge of robbing 
Read in the highway, of a shil¬ 
ling and a penny. Before the 
magistrate, Read swore that the 
soldiers knocked him down and 
robbed him of his money in the 
churchyard. Their commitment 
was immediately made out, and 
they were sent to the assizes at 
Stafford, where, on the Saturday 
following, they w ere tried for the 
capital offence before Mr. Baron 
Garrow\ Read swore that they 
knocked him down and robbed 
him of a shilling and a penny, in 
a churchyard at Wolverhampton, 
on the 23d of July. The evi¬ 
dence of the woman in whose 
house the prisoners resided, went 
to prove that they did not sleep 
at home on the night of the im¬ 
puted robbery. To those two 
witnesses the evidence was con¬ 
fined, and against it there ap¬ 
peared nothing upon the trial, 
except the declarations of the 
prisoners. They w ere convicted, 
received sentence of death, and 
left for execution! 

The inhabitants of Wolver¬ 


hampton knew nothing of the 
intention of Read upon the in¬ 
terference of Roberts in this 
transaction. It was generally 
concluded amongst them, that 
the angry state of mind in which 
Read appeared, would have in¬ 
fluenced him to swear a common 
assault; but nothing serious was 
at all apprehended from the 
wrestling bout. There was con¬ 
sequently no interference upon 
the part of those who were ac¬ 
quainted with many of the cir¬ 
cumstances ; and the matter died 
aw ay, until the village was struck 
with horror at an account in the 
Stafford paper, of the proceed¬ 
ings at the assizes. An old man 
was reading the paper in an ale¬ 
house, to a number of politicians, 
who were not much affected at 
any thing' they heard, until lie 
came to that part which stated 
the number of persons left for 
execution. Amongst the names 
were those of Hall and Morrison. 
The whole population of Wolver¬ 
hampton instantly showed how 
they felt upon an occasion so 
dreadful. 

The Rev. Mr. Guard, one of 

the most venerable characters in 
that part of the country, who 
ofiiciates in the village where 
Hall’s family resides, upon 
hearing the event of the trial, 
set out for Wol verhampton, w her e 
he tound the people already 
meeting, and acting* upon the 
subject. The men being ordered 
for execution, not a moment was 
to be lost. Mr. Guard, who had 
known Hall from his infancy, 
and would have staked his life 
upon the integrity of the young 
man, made a quick but deep in¬ 
quiry into the facts, and having 
foujid every thing confirmatory 




217 ] 

of his innocence, followed Mr. 
Baron Garrow on his circuit, to 
state what he had learned from 
the very best authority, and ob¬ 
tain a respite. He saw Mr. Baron 
Garrow ; but his Lordship ap¬ 
peared to see no reason to alter 
the opinion which he had formed 
from hearing the trial. The 
worthy clergyman, however, was 
so well convinced of the truth 
of his own information, that he 
could not help exclaiming, with 
more zeal than discretion, “ / see 
you are determined to hang those 
poor men*' Mr. Baron Garrow 
was offended at this intemperate 
observation, and an eminent 
barrister remarked, that Mr. 
Guard’s object was wholly de¬ 
feated by the use of it . Mr. 
Gtt vrd immediately came to town, 
and he obtained access to Lord 
SIdmouth. Lord Sidmoutii ob¬ 
served, that in case's of this kind, 
the Judge was necessarily better 
acquainted with ail the bearings 
of the evidence than the Secre¬ 
tary of State, and therefore his 
power was seldom interfered 
with, except under circumstances 
of strong fact. Mr. Guard posted 
back to Wolverhampton the mo¬ 
ment after he parted from the 
Secretary. A meeting- of the in¬ 
habitants was called, at which 
Mr. Mandeb, and all the other 
respectable residents of Wolver¬ 
hampton, attended. The wit¬ 
nesses w ere sworn, and a petition 
to the Prince B fount was signed 
and delivered into the hands of 
Mr. Guard, who, accompanied 
by Mr. Charles Mandeb, very 
soon after arrived in town. Those 
two gentlemen went with Mr. 
Pearsall, of Cneapxrde, to Lord 
Sidmoutii, and put into his hands 
the evidence of the innocence of 
the soldiers. 


[218 

Upon the next meeting, Lord 
Sidmoutii said, such was the 
effect of the affidavits upon him, 
that he was not only immediately 
convinced that the soldiers ought 
not to be executed, but, in the 
absence of his clerks, he w rote 
the despatch for their respite 
with his own hand, and sent it to 
the Sheriff; because, said his 
Lordship, “ 1 could not endure 
the thought that the soldiers 
should have one hour more of 
unnecessary anxiety.” 

Mr. Pearsall said, there was 
no doubt that the men had no 
intention of felony; it would ap¬ 
pear at another time, that the 
prosecutor had no intention of in¬ 
dicting them , until he teas insti¬ 
gated by Roberts , with the view 
of gaining the reward called 
‘ BLO OD-M 0XE F, ” which 
was accordingly pocketed by 
Read , and the keeper of the 
prison , to the amount of Eighty 
Pounds ! 

Lord Sidmoutii declared, that 
under such circumstances, an 
immediate investigation should 
take place. He coincided with 
the opinion of the impropriety of 
Roberts’s conduct, and said a 
pardon would he instantly grant¬ 
ed to the soldiers. 

In this case of Hall and Mor¬ 
rison, there cannot remain a 
doubt of the Blood-Money being 
the cause of their prosecution. 
They were tried before a judge, 
who is at least as keen a$ the 
Recorder of London, who sees 
no had tendency in Blood-Money.; 
and it is very remarkable that 
their conviction, which adds to 
my want of faith in the infalli¬ 
bility of the Recorder, actually 
took place on the second 
anniversary of the execution 


September G, 1817 . 






219 ] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [220 


of the unhappy ELIZABETH 
FENNING— a day which I shall 
ever remember, because 1 saw 
her die; nor shall I ever for¬ 
get her case, because I investi¬ 
gated it for four months, daily, 
and incessantly, and became ac¬ 
quainted with the conduct of all 
the persons connected with it, 
from the RECORDER himself, 
who tried her, to the executioner, 
who put her to death, under his 
sentence. I have now in my pos¬ 
session, and 1 hope to keep to the 
day of my death, an immense 
mass of original vouchers, proofs, 
documents, and other papers, 
authenticating every statement 
in my publication relative to the 
unfortunate girl’s deplorable fate. 
I say, it is a remarkable fact, that 
a trial on the anniversary of the 
fatal death of poor Elizabeth 
Penning, should negative the 
Recorder’s opinion respecting 
Blood-Money* in addition to 
the negative it received, in less 
than a month after it was given, 
by the disco-very of Four new 
Blood Plots ! 

But behold this is not all; 
for the Wolverhampton Blood- 
Money affair is scarcely known, 
a week having barely elapsed 
since the matter was developed, 
when Mr. Burgess, a solicitor, 
who was most praise-worthily 
active in detecting the Blood- 
Conspiracy against the three 
poor Irishmen, suddenly steps 
forward to unfold a case which 
loudly demands the most serious 
investigation, because, notwith¬ 
standing the Recorder may be 
of a different opinion, it is, in my 
opinion, another instance of the 
bad tendency of the Blood-Money 
system. 

Mr. Burgess appeared before 


the sitting magistrate, R. Cham- 
bers, Esq. at Union-hall police- 
office, on the part of two 
young men who accompanied 
him, named John Good and 
Thomas Thorpe; and stated, that 
on the 8th of June last, the two 
lyoung men were apprehended 
on a charge of highway-robbery, 
and on the following morning* 
brought before the magistrate at 
Union-hall, and charged by one 
Wm. Penman, of Kent Street, 
Borough, on his oath, with rob¬ 
bing him on the King’s highway. 
His deposition is as follows:— 
“William Penman, on his oath, 
says, that about half-past ten 
o’clock last night he was stopped 
by four men in Peckham Fields, 
three short men, and one tall man, 
w ho knocked him dow n, and for¬ 
cibly took his watch, chain, and 
seals. They afterwards went over 
the hedge, and when they were out 
of sight, he got up, and came to 
town. He w as walking towards 
his house, and near the Bull 
public-house he saw the pri¬ 
soners, and followed them to 
Kent Street in the Borough, and 
gave charge of them. He was 
acquainted wdth the prisoner 
Good befpre.” Mr. Burgess 
said, that upon the above evi¬ 
dence, and the statement of AN 
OFFICER, the tw r o prisoners 
were fully committed for trial, 
to the custody of the keeper 
of Horsemonqer Lane qaol , and 
DOUBLE IRONED. They were 
kept in custody from the 9th day 
of June, until the lull of in¬ 
dictment having been returned 
by the grand jury, “ not found.” 
They were discharged by pro- 
Icamaiidn at the last Croydon as¬ 
sizes ; being ten weeks confined , 
ddubje ironed. These two men 




521] 

were completely in lags in the 
office, flawing been in custody for 
so long a 'period, and obliged to 
sell and pawn all their goods and 
clothes, and having lost their 
situations and characters, they 
were reduced to the utmost dis¬ 
tress. 

Mr. Burgess said, he coy Id 
fully prove their innocence , not 
only from the mouth of Pen¬ 
man, the prosecutor, but also from 
the testimony of other witnesses; 
and he trusted that the magis¬ 
trate, who was the same that com¬ 
mitted them for the robbery, 
would order the chief clerk of 
the office to prosecute. Penman : 
but here Mr. Burgess was inter¬ 
rupted by the magistrate, who 
said that he could not take cog¬ 
nizance of the proceeding; Mr. 
Burgess might take the men be- 
fore the grand jury, and prefer an 
indictment, or make an applica¬ 
tion to the Secretary of State for 
the Home Department. Mr. 
Burgess said that he would pro¬ 
secute, if the magistrate would 
order him to be allowed funds. 
Pie was determined the poor fel¬ 
lows should have redress, and for 
the sake of the public, he con¬ 
ceived such a dangerous charac¬ 
ter as Penman should not go 
unpunished . The magistrate said 
that he should be happy to render 
any assistance. He would not 
take the oath of Penman for 
the value of a straw. 

Mr. B urgess sai d, th at al th on gh 
he would not take the oath of 
Pen&an, yet a jury had believed 
him on his oath; for one Wheeler, 
who was committed on the same 
charge as Good and Thorpe, for 
being an accomplice with-them, 
had been capitally convicted last 
Croydon assizes, and then lay 


[222 

under sentence of death 1 He had 
witnesses to prove that Penman 
had said in the company of seve¬ 
ral persons, “ that he should net 
have sworn before the magistrate 
that the prisoners Good and 
Thorpe were the men that robbed 
him , had he net been INSTIGA¬ 
TED TO DO IT BY AN 
OFFICER . He could also show 
that Penman went to Horsemon- 
ger Lane gaol, and declared they 
were innocent of the crime with 
which they were charged ; but he 
was induced to swear what he had 
by an officer. 1 le then gave ’hem 
a few shillings, and again said 
that he should not appear against 
them. They (the prisoners) said 
to Penman, that they M ere afraid 
the officer would persuade him 
to swear again what he had done 
before; to which he replied, that 
the officer had brought him into 
difficulties enough, but he was de¬ 
termined to cut with him, and he 
should not lead him into any 
others. Pie, Mr. Burgess, was 
satisfied that Penman had been 
induced to swear against the pri¬ 
soners for the CONVICTION 
.MONEY. Pie conceived that 
this was a case whcli ought to be 
sifted to the bottom ; for had not 
Penman had great fear of detec- 
tion, ©r feltsome comp.unction,i/46 
lives of two innocent men might 
have been sacrificed. 

There are details enough in 
this sheet to show that the 
BLOOD-MONEY SYSTEM still 
operates as it did in Jonathan 
Wild’s time, and as it afterwards 
did in the year 1756, when si¬ 
milar Blood-Conspiracies were 
discovered. We have the disin¬ 
terested testimony of pojice- 
officers and magistrates them- 
selves, that they believe it to be 


September 6, 1817. 




223Q 

bad; and we have the shock¬ 
ingly unsatisfactory opinion of 
the Recorder, that it cannot 
be better than it is; but who, 
when he is asked for his rea¬ 
sons, presents a list of the re¬ 
wards; and who, although he 
divides it, cannot even tell how 
much Blood-Money goes through 
his hands in the course of a year! 

Can any 7 thing more strongly 
show the horribly iniquitous 
temptation to plan BLOOD 
PLOTS than this--—that the 
Blood-Money men, in the year 
1756, swore away the lives of 
more than seventy persons; that 
they received upwards of One 
Thousand Seven Hundred and 
Twenty Pounds in Blood-Money ; 
that though it was proved they 
committed murder , they escaped 
due punishment; that the disco¬ 
very of their dreadful villanies 
produced no alteration in the 
Blood-Money system; that the 
Blood-Men convicted a year ago 
(notwithstanding the Recorder 
watched them), remain unexe¬ 
cuted ; that Hall and Morrison, 
at the late Stafford assizes, nar¬ 
rowly escaped execution, and 
their prosecutors actually re¬ 
ceived their Blood-Money ; that 
the jeopardy of Good and Thorpe 
is attributable to the same expec¬ 
tation ; and that on an average 


[224 

£600. or £700. is paid at the Old 
Bailey every session, namely, 
every six weeks, by the Re¬ 
corder, for the London and Mid¬ 
dlesex BLOOD-MONEY alone! 
There is not a person who reads 
this sheet but may be a victim 
to the system. No ones life is 
safe, against whom a Blood-Man 
thinks he can safely swear a 
crime; which, if he can once fix 
it, pufs forty pounds in his pocket, 
and sends an innocent being” to 
the gallows 1 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

3d September, 1817. 


TO READERS. 

THE FIRST VOLUME of the 
Register may be had complete. 
Price Five Shillings, in extra boards. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

T. J-n’s Communications are too 

incorrect for insertion, 
u Of Veritas’s Hint 1 cannot avail myself. 

A Friend or Mankind, at Maidstone , 
sent a parcel by the Maidstone Coach, 
wrote “ Pauly” outside, and did not pay the 
carriage. I accordingly returned it by the 
porter, to the coach office. Agreeably to 
notice on every Register , all Communi¬ 
cations rhust he carriageJree, 


Hone* Reformists’ Register 


fctmdon : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old BailKV, three doors from 
Loogatr Hill;, wber^ COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he address*^. 
—Prive Two*Pence each, 12s. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 









Price Two-PenceJ 

“T V- 1 ■ ! ■ ■■ ■■■ 

HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 8.3 Saturday, September 13, 1817. [Vol. II* 


PLOTS! 

“AS PLENTY AS BLACKBERRIES.” 


BARTHOLOMEW FAIR REBEL¬ 
LION! — Pikes—The Bank to be 

«*- * 

attacked —Intended general Insur¬ 
rection— Children to be keptcitjlonie 
during the Massacre, and the Leaders 
to Sup at the Piebald Horse— Let¬ 
ter from the Piebald Landlord—No 
Plot, no Supper!—Lord S. a Great 
Gull— His Lordship recommended to 
the Courier, for the Names of the 
Traitors, and a Sight of the Arms. 

Specimens of PLOTS in IRELAND; 
viz.—The Rev.Mr. HAMIL TON'S, 
a Magistrate, who dressed up an 
Effigy to represent himself, put it in 
his own Parhur, with a Bowl of 
Punch before it, had it fired at, and 
Prosecuted 20 People for a PLOT 

to Murder him ! - Also, Paddu 

M‘Kew's Plot — the Sheep-stealer’s 
Plot—The Rat-trap Plot — And Six 
other Plots. 

AN ADDRESS-—BY MAJOR 
CARTWRIGHT, to the People 
of the United Kingdom. 


BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 
REBELLION! 

We may now fairly ask the 
question, whether Ministers have 


not a settled purpose to govern 
as they like, quite at their ease, 
without caring- a straw what the 
People think about the Govern¬ 
ment? This we may certainly 
ask, because it appears that our 
rulers really do not care for public 
opinion. If this be so, they 
may as well let us know it, and 
spare us the mortification of being 1 
laughed at, when we talk of our 
being* a Free People, and living 
under a Free Government. They 
suspect us and watch us as if 
we were their natural enemies. 
Our innocent actions are misin¬ 
terpreted ; and those which arise 
out of our gaiety or our sorrow, 
are rendered criminal. If we 
acquaint them with our griev¬ 
ances in private, they neglect 
uS; if we complain in print, they 
call us seditious; if we meet to 
petition, they call 11 s traitors; if 
we talk of a change of system, 
they threaten to cut our heads 
off; if we are quiet, they are 
persuaded we are engaged in a 
conspiracy, and the Plot-manu¬ 
facturers are set to work directly, 
lest we should be; and if we go 
to Bartholomew fair , they are 
sure it is to make an insurrec¬ 
tion, and they order out the mili¬ 
tary and the cannon ! 

That this should he so, is 
almost incredible, but nobody 
wonders . We are used to out-of- 
the-way things. We Londoners 
got up on Sunday morning, and 


v * «/ 


fainted by and for W. Hone, G7, Old Bailey, London. 























227 ] Hone's Reformists’Register. [228 


read large placards of the Sun¬ 
day newspapers, with the words 

44 INTENDED INSURRECTION 

AT 

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 

LAST NIGHT I! 1 ” 

and when those who had been 
the night before at the fair saw 
it, they said, “ Oh, this is only 
a newspaper puff,” till they also 
read in a newspaper as follows: 

« APPREHENDED TUMULT! 

“ Sunday Monitor Office, 
One o'Clock. 

44 The following important com- 
tfiimication has been just trans¬ 
mitted to us from the highest 
authority . 

44 Information having been re¬ 
ceived by Lord Sidmouth and 
the Lord Mayor, that an insur¬ 
rection was to have taken place 
last night in Loudon, every ne¬ 
cessary step was taken to prevent 
such an occurrence, if it were 
indeed seriously contemplated. 

44 The information conveyed to 
the Noble Secretary of State was 
hi substance this:—that a multi¬ 
tude of persons were To assemble 
at Bartholomew fair in the even¬ 
ing, armed with PIKES and 
other weapons , with which they 
intended to sally forth, attack 
the Bank and other public build¬ 
ings, and finally excite and pro¬ 
duce a GENERAL INSURREC¬ 
TION ! The rendezvous of the 
rioters was announced in cards, 
Tvhich were industriously circu¬ 
lated in the following terms:— 

© 

44 4 Friends of Reform, 

44 4 Supper on Saturday even¬ 
ing, September G, 1817, at the 


Piebald Horse, Chiswell-street, 
Finsbury-square. 

44 4 Supper precisely at 9 o'clock . 

44 4 Tickets 2s. 6d.’ 

44 In consequence of the in¬ 
formation , the MILITARY were 
called out , and remained under 
arms, at stations, where they 
might be called into action in 
five minutes, if necessary. 

44 The Lord Mayor, also, with 
that promptness for which he has 
ever been distinguished, sum¬ 
moned the attendance of the 
whole City Police. His Lord- 
ship made Giltspur-street Comp¬ 
ter his head-quarters, and fre¬ 
quently during the evening 
perambulated the fair, issuing 
orders, and despatching the va¬ 
rious officers in the most promi¬ 
nent directions of the expected 
tumult. His Lordship was ably 
seconded in his precautionary 
measures by several others of the 
City, and some of the County 
Magistrates. 

44 It is gratifying*, however, to 
state, that up to the hour at 
which we have dated this intel¬ 
ligence, nothing like riot or dis¬ 
turbance has been manifested. 

<( Monitor-Office, Two o'clock. 

“ We have w aited most anx¬ 
iously to the latest moment, in 
order to relieve the anxiety 
which the foregoing account 
would be likely to create; and 
being compelled, from the ex¬ 
tensive circulation of our paper, 
to go to press, we rejoice to say, 
that up to this hour every thing 
remained tranquil and undis¬ 
turbed. The MILITARY, how ¬ 
ever, are still on the alert, and 
the guards at the Bank and 





220 ] September 13 , 1817 . [230 


other public buildings remain 
doubled” 

In addition to this statement, 
the substance of other accounts 
is, that the Lord Mayor received 
“ much of the information con¬ 
nected with this extraordinary 
business ” from the Office of the 
Secretary of State; but, inde¬ 
pendent of tliis, his Lordship 
himself was furnished with a 
communication on Friday even¬ 
ing* by an INDIVIDUAL, whose 
hame is kept a secret. 

There is also the substance of 
a letter , given in the following 
words:— 

“ There will be a risinq and 
DREADFUL MASSACRE to¬ 
morrow (Saturday) night. T ad- 
vise you most earnestly to keep 
your otv?^ and to cause the chil¬ 
dren of others to stay at home.— 
Many, many, I assure you, will 
fall, and the soldiers will cer- 
tairtly join.” 

Which letter amounts to no 
more than this, that it would be 
prudent to keep the children at 
home. Then, again, it is stated, 
that the leaders and their as¬ 
sociates, were to assemble near 
the Artillery Ground, Fins¬ 
bury Square, for the purpose of 
exciting the Revolution! The 
force intended to effect this in¬ 
tention, was to consist chiefly of 
persons from Bartholomew fair , 
w T ith a multitude beside, how¬ 
ever, from other quarters, all of 
w hom w ere to assemble by nine 
o’clock. A cart w r as to be upon 
the spot, plentifully stored with 
PIKES and other w eapons; ami 
the first principal object of at¬ 
tack w'as to be the Armoury in 
the Tower , w here it was intended 
to seize the field-pieces, and 
small arms found there. This 


done, the rebels w r ere to divide 
into two main parties, one to take 
their station in the neighbour¬ 
hood of the Bank of England, to 
capture that; and the second 
party w ere to make their head¬ 
quarters in and about Gray’s Inn 
lane; and all the Leaders were 
to go to supper at the Pied 
Horse, in Chiswell Street! To 
be sure, the landlord of the Pied 
Horse said he knew nothing 
of any such supper; there had 
been no supper bespoke at his 
house; and as to a conspiracy , 
he believed it was a conspiracy 
against him , to get his license 
taken aw r ay. However, the Lord 
Mayor lost no time in assem¬ 
bling together the entire civil 
force within his jurisdiction, and 
disposing it in suspected quar¬ 
ters; and Lord Sidmouth, who had 
communicated .with the Lord 
Mayor, put the whole of the dis¬ 
posable part of the MILITARY 
in requisition, and in the even¬ 
ing a body of the Horse Guards 
marched into the City, by the 
way of New'gate Street, and in 
the rout of the Mansion-House. 
Large bodies of troops were sta¬ 
tioned in the neighbourhood of 
St. George’s Fields, the Old and 
New Roads, and other places ; 
from whence they might be 
brought into action by signal in 
a few minutes. The prisons and 
other public places were also 
receptacles for troops—Newgate, 
the Giltspur Street Compter, 
White Cross Street, and the Bank 
of England in particular. Still 
the Revolution did not come, nor 
did the Conspirators assemble at 
the Pied Horse public-house. 
One man is said to have gone 
there and shotvn his card, and 
to have been sent awaY supper- 



231 ] Monk’s Reformists’ Register. 


less by tlie landlord, who writes 
a letter, beginning almost as sen¬ 
timental as speeches by Joseph 
Surface, but which being in 
many respects very much to the 
purpose, I here insert. 

“ Sir, 

At a period when Publicans 
purchase their property at an 
excessive price, and are liable 
to be deprived of that property 
by any caprice, they cannot be 
too careful in their arrangements, 
nor too vigilant in the protection 
of their characters. Several Sun¬ 
day Papers having circulated a 
REPORT of an intended insur¬ 
rection in the metropolis on Sa¬ 
turday night, and announced that 
a supper was provided for the 
conspirators at this house , I re¬ 
quest that you will permit me to 
assure you that for my lease 1 
paid a very large premium ; that 
1 have occupied the premises for 
seven years; that they are ex¬ 
clusively frequented by respect¬ 
able neighbours, and regulated 
with the strictest decorum ; that 
they are open only to one club, 
called “ The Farriers’ Society ; ” 
and that I have been distinguish¬ 
ed by an uniform loyalty , which 
would induce any persons dis¬ 
posed to riot rather to avoid than 
to assemble at my residence. 
And that ACCORDINGLY on 
Saturday no supper was ordered 
—no Meeting occurred, or was ex¬ 
pected; and that every visitant 
had quitted the house at an early 
hour. As 1 may he materially in¬ 
jured, and even ruined, by the 
report to which I have referred, 
if the Magistrates be thereby in 
duced to suspect the regularity 
ol my house, and tne propriety 
of my conduct, i entreat that you 


will insert this refutation in your 
Paper, and oblige, sir, 

Your obedient humble servant, 
, James Willis. 

Pied Horse, Chiswell Street, 

Sept. 8, 1817.” 

s 

1 like Mr. W illis’s letter much, 
because being, as he says, distin¬ 
guished b y a uniform loyalty , 
his denial of the PLOT at the 
Pied Horse carries weight. He 
denies it altogether, and evident¬ 
ly does not believe a word about 
the Bartholomew Fair Revolution . 
Two days after it was to have 
happened, he says, the Sunday 
Newspapers circulated, what he 
calls, a “ REPORT” of “ an in¬ 
tended insurrection.” He, like a 
man of sense, believes nothing 
of the “ intended insurrection,” 
though it was in print that it had 
been intended, and though he 
knew the Secretary of State sent 
die troops out, and he saw them 
from his own door; and though 
cannon were actually dragging 
about the City; and he likewise 
says, not only that “ no Meeting 
occurred ,” but that none was 
“ EXPECTED!” Mr. Willis 
knew that the whole was a hoax , 
and his letter gives the lie direct 
to the false pretences of those who 
ordered out the troops and the 
artillery. In the squib entitled 
file “ Official Account of the Bar- 
“ tholomew Fair Insurrection , 1 ” 
the Rebellion is unmercifully 
laughed at, and is imagined to 
be contrived by the show-people, 
for the purpose of kidnapping 
Ministers to exhibit them about 
the country iu caravans, as a col¬ 
lection of living animals , amongst 
which a Noble Lord is aptly de¬ 
noted as a great gull , a character 
which neither implies the mauu-* 



233 ] September 13 , 1817 . [234 


factoring, or conniving at the 
manufacture, of Sham Plots , 
though it certainly implies the 
possibility of being heaved. But 
it seems the Courier actually 
knows there was to be an insur¬ 
rection. It avows it. It says— 
“ The/rtt//i,we have good reason 
“ to know , is, that a PLOT, wild 
“ and extravagant, undoubtedly, 
“ but of a diabolical nature , was 
laid by men , irho are no novices 
“ in business of this sort , and who 
M ought to have profited by expe- 
u rience, for throwing the metro- 
“ polis into confusion on Satnr- 
46 day night, and for that purpose 
“ of converting the merry-makers 
“ at Bartholomew fair into an 
“ armed mob,’ 9 This acknow¬ 
ledgment is very important, be¬ 
cause as there was not the slight¬ 
est disturbance at the fair; as 
we have no account of any one 
be in in custody on the charge 
of Revolution-making; as every 
person actually concerned, or 
suspected of being concerned in 
such a business, either directly 
or indirectly, would have been in 
custody immediately ; and as the 
Courier positively says it has 
good reason to know there was a 
plot, a diabolical plot, laid by 
men no novices in business of this 
sort; it clearly points out to 
Lord SinMOUTH ^c/icrc to look for 
the PLOTTERS ; and his Lord- 
ship has nothing more to do than 
ask the Courier to introduce him | 
to its experienced acquaintances, 
the TRAITORS, and favour him 
with a sight of the ARMS with 
which they were to commence 
Bartholomew Fair llebellion ! 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

JO th September, 1817. 




SPECIMENS 

OF 

PLOTS IN IRELAND. 

As attention has recently been 
pretty much occupied by Plots 
and Conspiracies, an article con¬ 
taining' a brief history of those 
which have distinguished the 
modern annals of Ireland, may 
not prove uninstructive. The 
following is a sketch as rapid, 
and with as close an adherence 
to fact, as possible. 

Paddv M‘Ke>v’s Plot. 

This famous conspiracy was first 
heard of in 181 L Early in that 
year certain informers had alleged 
in affidavits, sworn before Mr. 
Ogle, of Fork ill, in the county 
of Armagh, that a person named 
Paddy M‘Kew, had for some 
years been engaged in hatching 
a plot in that county against the 
Church and State. The informa¬ 
tion produced considerable sen¬ 
sation. Mr, Ogle and several 
others believed it to be perfectly 
true. It g-ave rise to an active 
correspondence with Govern¬ 
ment, and persons came to town 
o confer with Mr. Pole. At 
ength, however, a meeting of 
the Magistrates of Down was 
leld, and after due investigation, 
they thought themselves war¬ 
ranted in resolving', that no con¬ 
spiracy existed in their county 
against either Church or State. 
It was, they alleged, true, distur¬ 
bances prevailed in some dis¬ 
tricts, hut they delared it to be 
their opinion that they arose 
u from local causes,” and that 
they had nothing “ political or 
alarming in their complexion.” 





235] Hone’s Reform 

There were some, notwithstand¬ 
ing. who could not get rid of the 
notion that Paddy was a real 
conspirator, until the beginning 
of 1812, when he was forgotten 
for some time, and public atten¬ 
tion was claimed for the 

Keegan Plot. 

In the Daily Freemans Jour¬ 
nal of the 8th of January, 1812, it 
is set forth, that about eight days 
ago, a meeting was held of the 
Trustees of the Charity-school, 
belonging to the Catholic chapel 
in Church Street. The school¬ 
master neglected to attend at the 
usual hour, and arrived in a state 
of intoxication. He endeavoured 
to excuse himself, saying, he had 
been detained by important busi¬ 
ness,—and then he stated broadly 
that he had been engaged in the 
business of Ike new Association , 
to one division of which he said 
he was secretary. The nature of 
this Association was required of 
him, and he gave the following 
account:— 

That it was an Association 
instituted for the purpose of 
separating Ireland from Eng¬ 
land by force of arms—that it 
had also for one of its objects, 
the extirpation of heresy —that, 
however, the most active person 
he knew of in it was a Mr. Fisher, 
a Protestant, who had assured 
him and the other persons he en¬ 
gaged in the plan, that it had 
the sanction of the Catholic Com¬ 
mittee ; and that Mr. Hay was 
their private secretary—that he 
had been supplied with a blun¬ 
derbuss, and many others were 
armed, as it urns easy to procure 
arms out of the stores of the 
Castle! —and that an attack was 
shortly to be made in Dublin,' as 


ists’ Register. [230 

x * 

they were assured that the gar¬ 
rison was at present very weak ! 
The Trustees adjourned to the 
next day, and then called him 
before them. Being sober, he 
wished to conceal or retract the 
facts, but being closely pressed, 
he admitted that he had become 
a member of such an Association, 
and repeated the account he had 
given the preceding evening’, 
with this addition, that he be¬ 
lieved the name of Fisher was 
not a real but an assumed name . 

On Thursday, the 2d, those facts 
w ere communicated for the first 
time at the room belonging- to the 
Catholic Committee, in Capel 
Street, to Mr. Hay, in the presence 
of Major Bryan. It w as at length 
unanimously resolved to commu¬ 
nicate the entire transaction to 
the Attorney-General, in the 
presence either of Mr. Grattan, 
or of the Knight of Kerry. A 
delegation were admitted into 
his presence, and that of Mr. 
Pole, and all the information 
which had been obtained relative 
to the plot was communicated. 
Keegan, who represented him¬ 
self to be Secretary to the conspi¬ 
rators, and Adams, their alleged 
Treasurer, with some others, w ere 
arrested. The President was 
allowed to escape to America. 
After a lapse of some time, Kee¬ 
gan, Adams, and the others, w ere 
brought to Green Street, and dis¬ 
charged by proclamation. 

Rose rea Plot. 

On the 29th of December, 1815, 
th q Rev. Mr. Hamilton, who hap¬ 
pened to be at once a Curate and 
a Magistrate of Roscrea, wrote 
off to tiie Irish Government (with 
whom he was in close correspon¬ 
dence) alleging that he was fired 




September 13, 1817. 



at in bis house on the evening pre¬ 
ceding. A shot was fired, and 
the whole town of Roscrea was 
thrown into consternation. The 
garrison beat “ to arms,”—hun¬ 
dreds of the inhabitants were 
seen in the streets, with flam¬ 
beaux in their hands; houses were 
searched, and arrests made; no 
one went (o bed during the whole 
night; informations were for¬ 
mally sworn next day against 
the family of the Egans, res¬ 
pectable Catholic merchants , the 
eldest of whom was nearly half 
a century a brewer in Roscrea— 
and these gentlemen , with many 
others , amounting in the whole to 
20, were sent off as felons , to the 
gaol of Clonmel . In process of 
time the whole party were brought 
to trial, and it turned out, that the 
shot, for the firing of which they 
were stigmatized and incarcerated, 
was fired by a man of the name of 
Dyer, who, with another, M as em¬ 
ployed by the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, 
in bringing treasons and conspi¬ 
racies to light. It besides was 
proved, that the thing fired at 
was not the person of Mr. Hamil¬ 
ton, but an effigy of the Reverend 
Gentleman, dressed and prepared 
by himself and these two plot 
discoverers , and placed in Mr. 
Hamilton’s parlour, in the posture 
in which he usually sat, and, to 
make the representation more 
complete, having a glass and jug 
of punch before it! The whole 
Court were horrified at this ex¬ 
traordinary developement, and the 
prisoners were of course dis¬ 
charged without being called 
upon for their defence. Mr. Ha¬ 
milton himself was examined at 
the trial, and he accounted for 
himself thus:—He said, he be¬ 
lieved there was a conspiracy to 


take away his life, in which the 
Messrs. Egans and the others 
u ere concerned—that Dyer and 
his associate told him so —that 
his object was to bring the busi¬ 
ness to light—that Dyer and 
himself thought the best plan for 
effecting such a purpose Mould 
be to dress up an image , with hat, 
wig, jug* of punch, &c.—that 
Dyer undertook to induce the al¬ 
leged conspirators to be present at 
the firing of the shot —that after 
managing the image affair, and 
taking a pistol, he (Dyer) Went 
out, as the Rev. Gentleman ima¬ 
gined, to fulfil his engagement— 
and, finally, that he (Mr. Hamil¬ 
ton), could not tell whether there 
were any of the supposed con¬ 
spirators actually present at the 
firing of the shot, but that Dyer 
told him there M 7 ere, and he be¬ 
lieved him ! Such was the story 
of Mr. Hamilton. The Rev. Gen¬ 
tleman has been relieved from 
his magisterial vexations, by be¬ 
ing- deprived of the Commission 
ol‘ the Peace, and there have 
been no new conspiracies against 
bis life. 

These proceedings occurred 
early in the year 1816. April in 
the present year (1817), gave 
birth to the 

CARRICKFANNAN PLOT. 

ft -* _ ^'» 

A person of the name of Row an 
was the chief actor in this drama* 
At the last assizes of Lifford, five 
persons, Charles Muluall, Pat* 
M‘Colgan, John Feeny, Alex¬ 
ander M‘Cleary, and Bryan 
M‘Colgan, were indicted for ad¬ 
ministering an unlawful oath, at 
Carrickfannan, in December last, 
to the aforesaid John Rowan. 
This worthy person was ^of course % 
the principal evidence against 







2891 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [240 


tliem. He stated that all the 
party took the oath in his pre¬ 
sence, and administered it to 
him. In his cross-examination, 
lie said, he took two oaths of a 
similar nature in Longford, and 
broke them —on recollection, he 
acknowledged lie took a third, 
and broke it—he prosecuted to 
conviction twelve men , at the 
Longford assizes —he swore in¬ 
formations against ten others, 
who had not taken their trial at 
the time he was engaged in pro¬ 
secuting' tlie five persons we 
have named—on his first coming 
to Innishowen, he assumed the 
name of John M*Laugh*in; he 
went by that name when he 
swore the last oath; it was not 
tlie first time he had been made 
acquainted with the Ribbonman’s 
oath—it was not to lay traps for 
innocent country people, but to 
detect murderers, that Major 
D’Arcy brought him to Long¬ 
ford ; he was not a native of that 
county; Major D’Arcy directed 
him to come there from Longford; 
he had attended at several meet¬ 
ings of Ribbon men ; he did not 
deny being a Ribbonman ; if he 
did not know the Ribbon business 
well, he could do nothing in Iu- 
nisbowen; he established a Rib¬ 
bonman’s lodge there , and the 
people of Innishowen were well 
instructed ; he was at one house¬ 
burning only; what passed at 
his lodge in Innishowen, he com¬ 
municated to Major D’Arcy only; 
he called himself John McLaugh¬ 
lin, and his friend and associate 
Parker, called himself George 
3M‘Laughlin ; he considered him¬ 
self as one of Major D’Arcy’s 
right-hand men ; he considered 
himself a useful man ; he was not 
at all anxious to make Ribbon- 


men in his lodge, or to prevail 
on the people to administer 
illegal oaths; he knew the Rib- 
lion system well before he left 
Longford ; lie communicated to 
Major D’Arcy, shortly after, all 
that happened ; but he had not 
an opportunity of going immedi¬ 
ately after this meeting to Major 
D’Arcy ; he once belonged to a 
yeomanry corps, the Hon. Sir 
Thomas Newcomen’s; he passed 
himself on the people of Innis- 
shovven as at ravelling tailor want- 
ing work; he had been a filer, 
and brought his fife with him to 
Innishowen. Parker was also a 
fifer; he did not find out any 
murderers; there was a person 
committed by Major D’Arcy, who. 
was to take his trial at these as¬ 
sizes, for a conspiracy to murder $ 
and there were several other 
persons charged by them for 
tendering unlawful oaths; witness 
was the person to give evidence 
againt them ; he was sent there 
for that purpose; he never gave 
such information to Ma jor D’Arcy 
as would tend to prevent their 
meetings; he did not communi¬ 
cate with Major D’Arcy until the 
crime of tendering the unlawful 
oaths was committed ; he could 
not prevent one hundred men 
from being Ribbonmen; Major 
D’Arcy was Brigade Major to the 
corps to which witness belonged; 
they were old acquaintances; wit¬ 
ness was compelled to take the 
first and second oaths, which he 
had taken and broken ; he was 
the principal witness for the 
crown, at these assizes, to estab¬ 
lish the indictment for the con¬ 
spiracy to murder; the person to 
be prosecuted was a shop-keeper 
of the name of Doglierty, residing 
in the town of Cam; he admitted. 





241J September 13, 1817, [242 


that, in the course of his life, he 
had sworn five false oaths; he 
drd not intend to keep the lass 
oath ; he did not intend to keep 
any oath hut the oath of alle¬ 
giance. Such was Rowan, the 
prop of this prosecution.—Some 
other witnesses were examined, 
amongst whom was Parker, a 
fellow-plotter of Rowan’s. The 
Jury returned a verdict of ac¬ 
quittal, much to the satisfaction 
of the Judge who presided, and 
the entire Court. Several bills 
of indictment, grounded on the 
swearing of the informers, were 
ignored by the Grand Jury. 

THE M‘GrVERAN PLOT. 

At the last Down Assizes, 
a notorious thief, of the name 
of Feltx M‘Alinden, was ac¬ 
cused of sheep-stealing, by James 
M‘Giveran and others. Suspect¬ 
ing that the proofs were so con¬ 
clusive against him, that he must 
necessarily be convicted, he set 
about devising means of averting 
the danger. “ A Plot ” was the 
most feasible scheme that oc¬ 
curred to him. He lost no time 
in gaining the ear of a plot-hating 
Magistrate, and, without much 
difficulty, his informations were 
taken against M‘Giveran, the poor 
man whose property he stole, 
and the other innocent people 
alluded to. He imputed to these 
persons “ a conspiracy to rob and 
kill all the Protestants .” M‘Gi- 
veran and his friends were in¬ 
stantly sent off* to gaol. When 
the assizes came on, they were 
duly put upon “ God and their 
country:” and in his efforts to 
convict them, xWAlinden did not 
want the assistance of the loyal 
magistracy; and Mr. Charles Orr, 
a Magistrate, gave M‘Alinden a 


favourable character. Unfortu- 

^el\. however, for the worthy 
Magistrate, and most fortunately 
for M’Gtveran, and the other poor 
fellows on trial, a certificate was 
produced, under this Magistrate’s 
own signature, in which M‘Alin- 
den, the very man to whom he 
had now given a good character, 
upon his oath was described as 
a vagabond and a sheep-stealer! 
It further appeared, that Mr. Orr 
had likewise told a Mr. Paxton, 
a Magistrate who received the 
informations against the men on 
their trial, that a certificate of 
character produced by the in¬ 
former, purporting to be signed 
by himself (Orr), was altogether 
a forgery! It also further ap¬ 
peared, that notwithstanding this, 
Mr. Paxton received the infor¬ 
mations. M‘Giveran and the 
other accused men’s innocence 
being as apparent as MAlinden’s 
perjury, they were acquitted; 
and M‘Alinden, who would have 
sworn their lives away, was after¬ 
wards tried and convicted, for 
having stolen the sheep of the 
very man against whom he had 
sworn. 

THE GARVAGH PLOT. 

About the middle of February 
last the ministerial papers an¬ 
nounced an absolute rising of 
the people in the North. Ac¬ 
cording to their accounts, regi- 
ments of Ribbonmen were march¬ 
ing about, almost in open day, 
committing the most horrible ex¬ 
cesses. Arrests beyond number 
took place, and John M‘Canait 
and Neal M‘Cabe were among 
the apprehended individuals.— 
They were all seized on infor¬ 
mations sworn by one Hugh 
M^loskey, before the Rev. Gea« 



243] Honk’ Reformists’ Register. [244 


Vaughan Sampson, a Magistrate 
of Derry. The Derry assizes 
came on in April, but there was 
no trial. M‘Closkey, in fact, ac¬ 
knowledged he had ivronged all 
the unfortunate people whom he 
was the cause of throwing into 
dungeons , and being himself in¬ 
dicted for perjury, lie pleaded 
guiltv. 

is 4 / 

THE DANG AN PLOT. 

This plot was of a family with 
the rest. Owens and Waring 
•were not content with attempting 
to prove that Mr. O’Connor was an 
accomplice in one of the foulest 
murders and robberies on record, 
and had, after one scene of 
iniquity was over, engaged to 
pursue the trade of plunderer 
and assassin; but they added to 
their accusations the charge that 
he was a trainer of Carders —an 
“enemy to monarchy, and sup¬ 
porter of anarchy ”—a person 
determined at a favourable op¬ 
portunity “to surprise the plans 
of Government ”—a persecuter of 
Protestants—a man swearing 
others to “disregard the moans 
and groans of Orangemen,,and 
wade knee deep in their blood.” 
Mr. O’Connor is a Protestant, 

THE KELLS PLOT. 

This was developed at the Trim 
assizes, which has been rendered 
so memorable by Mr. O’Connor’s 
trial. Philip Reilly, John Neil, 
and Edward Maguire, were the 
intended victims. They were 
charged with having wickedly 
and feloniously confederated in 
September last, to kill and mur¬ 
der John Roth well, Esq. a Justice 
of the Peace for the county of 
Meath. This accusation, how- 
r, was not enough, and an 


approver, of the name of Brady, 
was produced to swear that the 
prisoners administered to him an 
oath, binding him to “ cut away 
heretics—to buy nothing from a 
Protestant shop-keeper, or save 
Protestants, men, women, or chil¬ 
dren ; nor to sit in company with 
an Orangeman.” William Wilson 
was the first witness produced. 
He swore that he and the prison¬ 
ers met in the town of Kells, in 
September last, for the purpose 
of swearing to murder Mr. Roth- 
well. In giving a history of his 
life, on his cross-examination, he 
said he served in the army in 
India—-came lately from Dublin, 
from the Major’s office—was in 
various quarters, in various capa¬ 
cities, constable, process-server, 
approver, &c.—was besides a 
Protestant, and kept a bible 
about him to read during his 
leisure hours—he went to mass 
once or twice—he shot a woman 
in India, and would do so again 
—he would shoot a man too—he 
twice swore the oath of allegi¬ 
ance—swore nevertheless the 
Ribbonman’s oath, and an oath to 
murder—yet has a regard for the 
Government of this country—he 
prosecuted several persons to 
conviction at the last Trim assizes 
—receiving, however, himself, 
sentence of transportation—he 
intended to swear against many 
other persons—and had received 
a pardon, W. B. Wade, Esq. a Ma¬ 
gistrate of Meath, was produced 
to show that he had several 
communications with Wilson, re¬ 
lative to the alleged conspiracy ; 
and that the story he told him 
during these communications 
agreed with what he had just 
sworn. On being cross-examined, 
this Magistrate said lie conceived 





September 13, 1817. 



Wilson a elever man, and be¬ 
lieved that a miscreant, deter¬ 
mined to carry this diabolical 
plan into effect, would be con¬ 
sistent —had heard of the con¬ 
spiracy in London , that hut for 
the Lord Mayor , would have 
ended in the hanging of four un¬ 
fortunate Irishmen, Lucy Gar¬ 
diner, a sister of Wilson’s, endea¬ 
voured to bear out Ins testimony. 
Patrick Brady was produced to 
support Wilson. The first fact 
he stated was, that Wilson had 
prosecuted him with several 
others to conviction, at the last 
Trim assizes, and that he was 
sentenced to transportation, but 
received a pardon to qualify him 
to give testimony against the 
prisoners. In his cross-exami¬ 
nation, he stated he intended to 
swear against several, and that 
many respectable men of Kells 
were implicated—he had several 
interviews with Mr. Wade, ftnd 
Mr. Roihwell, on writing for them 
after his conviction—though a 
married man, he lives with Judith 
Owens—he did not see, however, 
what that had to do with the pre¬ 
sent trial: “ it was,” said he, 
“as much her fault as mine:” 
he was in gaol more than once ; 
—he was put in for being* a Rib- 
bonman, and also for a rape; in 
reference to the latter crime, he 
asked, “ whose fault was that?” 
He was excommunicated by the 
priest of his parish.—Question, 
by Mr. M‘Nally, “ How many 
men have you sworn against; 
how many do you intend to pro¬ 
secute this assizes ? Nine or ten. 
—Q. Might I not say, eleven or 
twelve? You might.—Q. Might 
I not say twenty or forty ? You 
might.” The prisoners, who were 
proved by respectable witnesses 


to be men of excellent character, 
were acquitted. Serjeant Jebb 
then said, he would not bring 
forward any other prosecution 
founded on the evidence of Wil¬ 
son and Brady—upon which all 
persons indicted upon their ex¬ 
amination before the Grand jury, 
were ordered by the Court to be 
discharged. 

THE BANBON RAT-TRAP PLOT. 

About a month ago, the 
neighbourhood of Bandon, oil a 
Sunday, was put in a sta(e 
of unprecedented alarm, by the 
appearance of a large military 
force, consisting of a body of ca¬ 
valry from this city, which, on its 
arrival in Bandon, was joined by 
the force stationed there. Thus 
reinforced, they proceeded fur¬ 
ther west, the wondering rustics 
gazing in astonishment and alarm 
at the immense cavalcade, the 
rear of which was brought up by 
a noted sheep-stealer , of the 
name of Griffin, who was tried, 
convicted, and sentenced to seven 
years’ transportation, at the last 
assizes, for the above-named 
offence. As the procession pro¬ 
ceeded, inquiries were made as 
to its destination, and it was 
found, that this formidable force 
was going, under the conducting 
guidance of the sheep-stealer , 
who had given information to the 
Mayor of Cork, and Colonel 
Douglas, the Commander of the 
garrison, in the absence of Ge*- 
neral Gordon, that there were 
concealed, in certain spots, ten 
French Generals, and ten thou¬ 
sand stand of arms; which spots 
he was going to point out. The 
sheep-stealer was attended on 
either side by Mr. Francis Mur¬ 
phy, one of the principal super- 





247] 

intendants of the County Gaol, 
and a Mr. Lamb, turnkey of fhe 
same. Upon arriving at the de¬ 
mesne of Edward O’Brien, Escj. 
of Kilcbleman, the sheep-stealer 
called a halt, and announced, that 
in this gentleman’s garden some 
of the generals and arms were 
concealed under ground. Forth¬ 
with, the implements of digging 
were set to work, and, after exca¬ 
vating many feet, there were 
found the remains of—a rut- 
trap! This discovery encouraged 
the miners to dig further, and 
they were amply compensated by 
an abundance of clay and stones, 
but no generals, however, or 
fire-arms. The sheep-stealer , at 
length, corrected the error into 
which he had fallen : he had mis¬ 
taken the place, and he now re¬ 
collected t hat it was more west, 
at Mr. Francis M‘Carthy’s. The 
party, then, after having dug up 
Mr. O’Brien’s garden, disturbed 
and alarmed his family, and 
trampled his grounds,proceeded, 
still under tne guidance of the 
sheep-stealer , to Mr. M'Carthy’s. 
The sheep-stealer offered to point 
out the very spot; it was at the 
other side of a high wall, and 
near a bog. Mr. Murphy, under 
whose immediate care the fellow 
was, had long suspected his in¬ 
tentions, and that he meditated an 
escape. Fie suffered him to go 
over the wall, but took the pre¬ 
caution of coupling him, by a 
hand-cuff, to Lamb, the turnkey. 
The same scene that had been 
practised at Mr. O’Brien’s, was 
repeated at Mr. M‘Carthy’s, but 
not even a rat-trap could be 
found, and the latter gentleman 
is, of course, exempt from the 
well-founded suspicion which 
must attach to any person, in 


[248 

whose demesne or neighbourhood 
so alarming an engine may be 
found. - The party returned to 
Cork and Bandon, fatigued and 
harassed, and the alarm of the 
poor country people was changed 
into mirth at the fools’ errand, 
upon which the sheep-stealer had 
sent the cavalry garrisons of 
Cork and Bandon. This Griffin, 
after having been convicted at 
the last county assizes of sheep¬ 
stealing, conceived the idea of 
effecting his escape by imposing 
on the credulity of the Magis¬ 
trates; a detailed account of the 
operations was transmitted to 
Government, and the relics of 
the rat-trap , found at Mr, 
O’Brien’s, are all that remain of 
the Bandon Plot. 


MAJOR CARTWRIGHT, 

TO THE PEOPLE OF TI1E UNITED 
KINGDOM. 

Brethren in the Law, and Co» 
heirs in the Constitution , 

To which give ye the prefer¬ 
ence,—to SLAVERY or to 
FREEDOM f 

Is it your choice, that, through 
real representatives , YOU should 
make your own LAWS?- Or is 
it your desire, to live under laws 
made by Boronghmongers? 

Is it your choice, that, through 
real representatives , YOU should 
impose and apportion your own 
TAXES ? Or is it your desire, 
that those taxes should be im¬ 
posed and apportioned by Bo - 
r on ghmongers ? 

What ye desire, that declare. 

But there are impatient per¬ 
sons, who experiencing Taxation 
without Representation, and Peti* 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 





249] September 13,1817; [250 


lions without Redress , object to 
petitioning, as a degradation. 

Be it, however, recollected, 
that to sue in a court of law to 
recover a properly is not to pray 
a favour, but to demand justice ; 
and that to petition Parliament 
for redress for a grievance, is not 
to beg' an alms , but to claim a 
right. 

HOW LONG could a court of 
law, in defiance of law, abso¬ 
lutely refuse to a suitor to do 
him justice, or to try his cause ? 

HOW LONG can Parliament, 
in defiance of the Constitution, 
absolutely refuse to the nation 
to redress its greatest grievance, 
or to tale it into consideration ? 

Ye children of impatience, 
wait awhile, and PERSEVERE 
IN PETITIONING. The day of 
redress approaches. Then shall 
ye subscribe to the truth of this 
maxim of your law, that “ Right 
is not without a remedy !” 

Equity, law, and common sense 
all proclaim, that, according to 
convenience, we may either write 
or print the Petitions we sign. 
The Lords receive either. The 
Crown receives either. But a 
.House of Commons, in the teeth 
of equity, law, common sense, 
and their own journals, RE¬ 
JECTED hundreds of our Peti¬ 
tions for that House’s REFORM, 
because, forsooth, those Petitions 
were printed ! ! 

And this Boron ghmonger expe¬ 
riment on our patience, has been 
thickly followed up by measures 
void of justice or sense, still 
more outrageous, and eveu BE¬ 
YOND THE AUTHORITY OF 
PARLIAMENT TO ENACT, 

Do then a few shameless 
empty-headed and violent men 
dream* that, because tjie rotten 


boroughs are in their hands, the* 
whole kingdom is theirs, and all 
men’s property? Do they opine, 
that, by servilely saying “ Aye” 
or corruptly saying “ JVo,” they 
can enslave MILLIONS ? 

Of all things hateful to a Bo - 
roughmonger, his most violent an¬ 
tipathy is to a PETITION for 
REFORM. By the instinct of 
the animal, he knows it to be his 
bane. 

Whereas, on the contrary, con¬ 
scious that such PETITIONS are 
a sovereign antidote to the rotten 
borough poison, now raging in 
every vein of England’s agonized 
body-politic, the true physician 
cannot administer them too copi¬ 
ously. 

PETITIONS are the nation’s 
VOICE. On tliis VOICE de¬ 
pends SALVATION. ’Tis this 
VOICE alone that hath power 
over the disease. ’Tis this alone 
can make us whole! When 
the nation shall stand up and 
cry with a loud voice,—“ Comb 

FORTH FROM THE GRAVE,” the 
Constitution shall assuredly rise 
again, even from the dead. 

Provided PETIT1ONS be short, 
the writing will be little trouble* 
If we desire to be FREEMEN 
rather than SLAVES, shall we 
grudge a little trouble? Can 
freedom be deserved by men, too 
indolent for exhibiting their de¬ 
mand in writing—a task of tWQ 
minutes ? 

By our matter being condensed, 
perhaps our style may be im*- 
proved. Compelled to be con¬ 
cise, perhaps we may speak more 
to the point. There is but ONE 
POINT worthy our regard. To 
that point, let us inflexibly ad¬ 
here ! It embraces all we mean, 
when we speak of the Constitu- 





251] Hone’s Reformists' Register. [252 


tion, the laws, or liberties of our 
country ! 

Borough mongers have no taste 
for public meetings, or free dis¬ 
cussion. Their relish is for des¬ 
potic power in a placeman, to 
imprison at his sole will and 
pleasure whomsoever lie please. 
Their favourite contemplation is, 
the gloom of a patriot’s solitary 
dungeon, whence no complaint, 
no petition, no remonstrance, no 
breathing of want, nor sigh of 
anguish can escape, to disturb 
their voluptuousness; nor the 
bolts of heavenly truth be hurled, 
to appal their guilty souls ! 

The well-paid blood-money 
myrmidons of the Borough- 
mongers did, indeed, their utmost, 
in the way of JaIse-su:earing , to 
convict of treason, men, whom 
juries found innocentof the crime; 
and in the way of false tales 
and treacherous persuasions , to 
seduce the unwary sons of misery, 
sinking under their sufferings, 
into unlawful paths for obtaining 
a redress of their grievances. 

The machinations, in short, of 
these satanical plotters, were 
two-fold. Their first aim was 
to associate together in the pub¬ 
lic mind, if possible, the discor¬ 
dant ideas of Reform and dis¬ 
affection: their second, to offer up 
to the mammon of their idolatory, 
a hecatomb of human victims. 
The more spotless, the more ap¬ 
propriate ! By tlie terror of this 
bloody sacrifice, they hoped 
to perpetuate their accursed 
dominion. 

But, by the goodness of pro¬ 
vidence, and through the ster¬ 
ling virtue of our juries, the 
counsels of the wicked came to 
nought. Into the pit they digged 
tor others, themselves have 


fallen. They and their myrmi¬ 
dons, it is now manifest, are the 
real traitors who conspire to sub¬ 
vert the Constitution. 

In the Journals of the Com¬ 
mons, on the 6th of May, 1793, 
it stands recorded, that Peti¬ 
tioners tendered proof at the bar 
of the House, that a majority of 
the seats were even then usurped 
by Boroug/mongers, Was not 
this, in true Constitutional effect, 
a real charge of high treason 
against the usurpers, thus plung- 
ing a poinard into the very vitals 
of the State; which Lord Chan¬ 
cellor Somers aud Chief Baron 
Eyre both pronounce, “ THE 
GREATEST OF ALL TREA¬ 
SONS?” 

From that day (now four-and- 
twenty years ago) to this, the 
House, so far from redressing 
the grievance, hath not yet taken 
it into consideration, although in 
the last session urgently impor¬ 
tuned so to do by a million of 
applicants ! 

In the most authentic book* 
on the state of the representation, 
this treasonable usurpation is 
now stated to extend to four 
hundred and eighty-seven of the 
seats, being more than two- 
thirds of the whole ; while well- 
grounded suspicion carries it 
even farther. 

On the very division, which 
proved the determination of the 
House to place us in our pre¬ 
sent situation (no man having a 
particle of liberty, and the Con¬ 
stitution taken away), had all 
these members, whose pecuniary 
interests would have disqualified 
them from being on an ordinary 
jury , been excluded from the 
vote, as they evidently ougrht to 
* Oldfield’s. 






253] September 13,1817. [254 


have been, then, instead of the 
bill having* been carried by a 
corrupt influence, it would have 
been lost by a majority of SIX¬ 
TY-FIVE, and no single Secre¬ 
tary of State would now have the 
horrid Algerine power, of immur¬ 
ing whom he pleases in a d ungeon. 

With distinct evidence before 
the public of the aforesaid usurpa¬ 
tion, for the most part that of 
PEERS, in whom it is peculiarly 
criminal and disgusting, what 
can the pious Lord Sidmouth 
and the moral Attorney-General 
mean, by glewing up their eyes 
against seeing this monstrous 
mass of treason—this flaming 
wickedness in high places, 
while they send their scouts 
through the land to hunt for 
conspirators against the State, in 
the lowly abodes of men, whom 
that rampant wickedness has 
provoked to a justifiable ex¬ 
pression of discontent, for having 
fiyst brought them into misery, 
and its perpetrators then con¬ 
temptuously refusing them that 
justice which can only help them 
out, and afford them future pro¬ 
tection ! 

And what kind of scouts were 
thus commissioned ? Why, mis¬ 
creants of recorded infamy; mis¬ 
creants, who scattered treasons 
where they found none!—Be it, 
therefore, repealed, that the Bo - 
rouglimongers and their myrmi¬ 
dons, so far as yet discovered, are 
the only traitors who conspire 
to subvert the Constitution! 

Their treasons being as black 
as ink, as deadly as nightshade, 
and as notorious as the sun at 
noon, why, in God’s name, begins 
not Mr. Attorney-General at the 
right end of his work! Does he 
not know that it is the nature of 


political reformation rather to 
descend, than to ascend? 

Could these gross-minded wal- 
lowers in corruption—could these 
profligate dolts, ignorant of any 
better mode of governing than 
that of brute force or more brutal 
cruelty, hope to extinguish an 
English Constitution, without ex¬ 
tirpating an English People?— 
What have these Algerine * 
achieved ? 

For open, outward discussion, 
they have indeed caused deep 
inward thought and meditation. 
But, for a tranquilizing utterance 
of griefs, have they not generated 
a volcanic discontent at wrongs, 
equally intolerable and unutter¬ 
able—a discontent hourly ga¬ 
thering foice by compression? 

Under the rankest hypocrisy 
of pretence for preserving the 
Constitution, have they not un¬ 
masked themselves as its assas¬ 
sins, out-heroding Ilerod, by ex¬ 
ceeding the tyrant James in 
tyranny? If he were expelled 
from the throne, for “ suspending” 
and “ dispensing ” w ith individual 
law s, have they not “ dispensed ” 
with all law, in annihilating at 
one sw eep the Constitution itself, 
and delegating to one of their 
creatures an absolute despotism? 
What is the value of a permission 
to go to law, or to walk about, if 
held at the will of a tyrant, who, 
at any moment, can hide me from 
the sight of men, save only a 
jailor! 

Do w r e not at length clearly 
discover w hat the Algerines from 
the very first intended by their no¬ 
table phrase—“ the Constitution , 
as by law established first en¬ 
grafted into Acts of Parliament 
in 1795,* and most ostentatious/n 

* The Gagging Acts. 







Hone’s Reformists’ Register, 


255] 

repeated in the indictment of 
Watson and others; for have we 
not now despotism “ as by law 
established,”—strange as such 
language ought to sound in the 
ears of ENGLISHMEN % 

But, before I take leave of the 
achievements of these Algerines, 
shall I not express my persuasion, 
that, for the hundreds of PETI¬ 
TIONS OF RIGHT, on which 
they trampled with unparalleled 
insolence, and a wickedness at 
which morality shudders, they 
are conjuring up and calling 
forth thousands and tens of thou- 
sands , for our deliverance from 
that deadly curse, which none 
but a devil could have invented 

—TAXATION WITHOUT RE¬ 
PRESENTATION % 

By a Committee of the Hamp¬ 
den Club, the public have been 
already apprized of the extraor¬ 
dinary statute of the 13th of 
Charles II. c. 25.;—a statute 
which the Boro ughm angers took 
care should not be repealed; 
that though it slept , it should not 
die. This statute inflicts “ a pe¬ 
nalty of ONE HUNDRED 
“POUNDS, and THREE 

* MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT 
•‘WITHOUT BAIL,” on every 
person who, “beyond the number 
“TWENTY,” shall “sign a pe- 

* tition,” for redress of any griev¬ 
ance, through “ matters estab¬ 
lished by law in church or 
“ state.” 

And the honourable the House 
of Commons, in contempt of right 
and decency, have told us, they 
will not, receive our Petitions, if 
printed. Here, then, if neither 


[256 

choosing to be slaves, nor to drop 
into the pitfalls of penalty-hunt¬ 
ing informers,; to be flayed alive, 
every score of petitioners must 
write the form they sign. 

There will of course be variety, 
the absence of which was last 
session so much complained of; 
but yet, conciseness and compre¬ 
hensiveness being most in re- 
quest ? the subjoined form,* from 
the adoption it hath already ex¬ 
perienced, bids fair to get into 
extensive use. 

I bad intended that this ad¬ 
dress should have been anony¬ 
mous, and had actually put to it 
a fictitious signature; but this be¬ 
ing no time for the friends of 
constitutional freedom to shrink 
from an avowal of their senti¬ 
ments, I now subscribe myself 
your faithful servant, 

John Cartwright. 

9th Sept. 1817. 

* THE FORM. 

To the Hon. the Commons of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
in Parliament assembled. 

The Petition of the undersigned inhabi¬ 
tants of 

Defective Representation being the 
Nation’s Bane ; . 

We pray that all male subjects 
(infants, insanes, and criminals 
excepted) may equally share in 
annually electing Representa¬ 
tives to serve in Parliament. 

, (Signed) 


THE REGISTER 
OF LAST SATU R I) A Y 

IS ENTITLED, 

MORE DABBLING 

. IN 

BLOOD! 


London: Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old IUi lev, three doors from 
Ludgai e Hill; where LQMMUNICA I IONS (post paid) should be addressed* 
—Price Two-Pence each, 1 2s. per Hundred, or 51. 10 $. $>er Thousand, 









Price Two-Pence. 


HONE S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND M EEKLY COMMENTARY. 

w 1 1 *■ ■ . ■ ■■■ — * . . - - - - . ... — 

No. 9-] Saturday, September 20,1817. [Vol. II. 



CRUELTIES 

OF TIIE 

BOROUGHMONGERS 


BOROUGHMONGERING EXPO¬ 
SURES—Lord Carrington, a Peer, 
makes Four Members of Parliament 
-—The Borough of MID HURST, 
without One Voter, returns Two 

Members - WENDOVER ; the 

Voters and their Families turned out 
of their Houses to live on a Common 
—Afterwards receive j^’GOOO. from 

the Moon !. MANCHESTER 

PETITIONERS' Acquittal— W. 
STANDRING'S Case—A Chapter 
from M. Schejjer's suppressed Work 
on the present State of England—A 
Bartholomew Fair Alarmist—-IVho 
the Supporters of Boroughmongering 
are—-A Boroughmonger s Member 
described—A Starving Man, toho 
Stole last IVeek, in order to be Trans¬ 
ported—Another Starving Man Shot 
in a Reverend Gentleman’s Garden, 
near Canterbury, whilst seeking 
Food—“ An easy Ten Shillings,” 
and “ Giving a Little One in,” ex¬ 
plained—Independence of a Poor 
] iashman —Boroughmongering Des¬ 
potism exemplified—Major CART¬ 
WRIGHTS New Mode of PETI¬ 
TIONING BY TWENTIES des¬ 
cribed-—li'hy it is the most easy 
method of Petitioning—TheBorough- 
mongers must give way. 


This being a season of the year 
when every person in town, who 
has money and leisure, goes into 


the country to recruit his health, 
and prepare for the fatigues of a 
winter in London, our old ac¬ 
quaintances, the BOROUGH- 
MONGERS, have taken wing. 
They not only know how to en¬ 
joy themselves, but can afford to 
do it better than most people; 
and therefore they are off to their 
mansions, or the watering places, 
or in sporting parties, or on lake 
excursions, or to France, or to any 
other place, than that which of 
course they think of going to by 
and by—putting off that visit, 
however, as long as possi¬ 
ble! And yet, perhaps, this 
supposition is not correct. A 
Boroughmonger, who bargains 
for, and corrupts or causes to be 
corrupted, and buys his fellow- 
countrymen, cannot, have much 
conscience. The Borouglmionger, 
who takes advantage of the igno¬ 
rance aud the consequent false 
wants and vulgar vices of the 
needy, to degrade them still more, 
and,t hat they may more effectually 
serve his purposes, makes them 
feel the degradation, will not 
suddenly repent him thereof,and 
save his soul alive. He knows 
that the Ministers’ favour pro¬ 
duces him, one way or other , so 
many hundreds or thousands of 
pounds sterling every year; and 
lie would be astonished at.being 
requested to regulate bis votes 
according to the People’s.hopes 
and wishes. 



PifSiteU by and far W. limit, 07, Old Bailey, Luinioii. 


I 

























Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


What charm is there to a Bo- 
ro.ug!mioisger,ii] a dry morsel,and 
quietness therewith, compared 
with claret and venison, and tlie 
society at the dub-houses? Hence 
our interests are forgotten,and we 
ourselves are forgotten. A Bo- 
Toughmonger thinks no more of 
7is 1 than if we were out of exist¬ 
ence, except at an election. At 
all other times his thoughts are 
engaged on himself, and his pro¬ 
perty, and his pleasures; in plan¬ 
ning how to get more rich, by 
dipping his hand deeper into our 
pockets; or how to become more 
powerful, and strengthen his 
political connexions, by adding 
new rivets to our fetters. In a 
former Register* is an instance 
of this unfeeling selfishness, in an 
account of the borough of Itches- 
iter, the proprietor of which pulled 
down a hundred houses, and put 
the occupiers, who had voted 
against him, with their families, 
into a large workhouse. As the 
Borough mongers never forget 
jthemselves , so we must never for¬ 
get than; and just by way of 
keeping them in recollection, we 
will lake a took at two of Lord 
Carrington’s boroughs, each of 
which sends two Members to 
Parliament, or rather each of 
which enables him to send two 
Members to Parliament; that is, 
the two boroughs being his entire 
property, Lord Carrington, 'can 
MAKE , and dees make, FOUR 
Members of the House of Com¬ 
mons, And thus it is:— 

/ MIDHURST. 

Sussex. 

This nominal borough is a 
companion to Old Sarum , for 
though there is neither house nor 
* No. 5, VoL I. 


[260 

inhabitant at that place, the nomi¬ 
nation of Members of Parliament 
is the same in both. Midhurst 
lias one hundred and eighty-two 
houses, but not one solitary voter. 
The appointment of Members, for 
it cannot be called the election 
of them, is, at O id Sarum vested 
in the Earl of Caledon, as pur¬ 
chaser of seven small plots of 
ground, called burgage-holds, 
and here, at Midhurst, the same 
power cj making Members of 
Parliament is vested in Lord 
( hi RRija gto.y, without any land 
at all l 

The right of voting at Midhurst 
was in one hundred and twenty 
freeholds, which having been 
purchased up, the houses and land 
constituting these freeholds were 
again sold upon lease for nine 
hundred and ninety-nine years, 
retaining the nominal freehold, 
which fictitious character gives 
the right of nominating TWO 
Members for the borough of Mid¬ 
hurst. Tb ese freeholds were the 
property of Lord Montague, and 
by him sold to the present Earl 
of Egremont, who sold them 
again to Lord Car ring ion. The 
ceremony of election is performed 
hereby one person, Mr. Tyler, of 
Petworth, deputed by the pro¬ 
prietor for that purpose, the in¬ 
habitants of the town of Midhurst 
having no more concern in choosing 
the Members than as many fo¬ 
reigners, though they pay all the 
taxes, and serve all public offices, 
Wo cannot,says Oldfield, under¬ 
stand how the Members for this 
place can be considered as repre¬ 
sentatives of the people, when 
there is not so much as one solitary 
individual existing within the pre¬ 
cincts of the place to make a con¬ 
stituent body! If the voice oj 




261] • September 20, 1817. [262 


the nation is only to be heard in 
the House of Commons, how can 
that possibly happen, unless it be 
its real representative ? And 
whether we are governed con¬ 
trary to our inclinations, or by 
persons to whom we have given 
no such commission, we are 
equally an enslaved people. The 
above instance is a sufficient 
conviction of the mockery of our 
representation, and of the want 
of some immediate radical cure 
for so great an evil. 

And now to his Lordship’s other 
borough, of 


WENBOYER, 

Bucks . 

This boron yh lias about 100 
voters-the right of voting 

o o 

being in the inhabitants not re¬ 
ceiving* alms. Oldfield savs it 
is one of that' class of “ excres¬ 
cences of the Constitutiou,” as 
they were termed by the great 
Earl of Chatham, called a pro¬ 
prietary borough , it being the 
SOLE ‘ AND ‘ ENTIRE PRO¬ 
PERTY of Lord Carrington ; 
and its elective franchises are 
transferable IN THE MARKET, 
like any other goods and chattels. 
This borough was formerly in 
the possession of the late Earl 
Yerney, and the tenants in ge¬ 
neral lived rent-free, on condition 
of giving their votes to the per¬ 
sons his Lordship should nomi¬ 
nate. A Mr. Atkins, a con¬ 
siderable lace-manufacturer in 
the place, undertook to carry 
the election against his Lord- 
ship by surprise, and conducted 
his measures with such secresy, 
that no opposition was expected. 
On the day of election, to the 
astonishment and confusion of 
Earl Yerney and his agents, Sir 


Robert D arling, a former sheriff 
of London, was proposed, and im¬ 
mediately returned by a consider¬ 
able majority. This disobedience 
to his Lordship’s wishes was 
punished by the voters being in¬ 
stant lg ejected out of their houses , 
and obliged to take refuge in huts 
and tents , which they pitched for 
themselves in the common fields, 
where they remained for six 
months, in all the penitence of 
sorrow, until a promise of good 
behaviour in future, so far soft¬ 
ened the rigour of this noble re¬ 
sentment, as to suffer them, with 
some few exceptions, to repossess 
their former dwellings. 

The in habitants, howgver, keep¬ 
ing this severe treatment in re¬ 
membrance, took the first oppor¬ 
tunity to retaliate upon bis Lord- 
ship, by a repetition of their 
former conduct, in 17S4; when 
his Lordship, having every rea¬ 
son to apprehend that he should 
lose his seat for the county, 
offered himself and Mr. Jolliffe 
as their candidates. The electors, 
well knowing that the deranged 
stale of his Lordship's private 
affairs would oblige him, very 
shortly, to sell his property in 
the borough, took the opportu¬ 
nity, of again putting up their 
suffrages to the. highest bidder. 
One individual engaged that 
two candidates should be chosen, 
against his Lordship’s interest 
and influence, for £6000, This 
being settled, a gentleman was 
employed to go down, where he 
was met, according to previous 
appointment, by the electors, at a 
mile from the town. The elec¬ 
tors asked the stranger where lie 
came from l He replied, “ From 
the jioon!”' They then asked, 
“ What news from the .moon ¥ y 


\ 



Hour’ Reformists* Register. 

the waste of war is over, our suf- 



2(53] 

He answered? that he had brought 
from thence £6000. to be distribu¬ 
ted among them by the borough 
agent , ana to whom the money 
was then delivered. The electors 
being thus satisfied with the 
golden news from the .Moors', 
chose the candidates, and re¬ 
ceived their reward* The borough 
was soipe time after purchased by 
J. B. Church, Esq. against whom 
a feeble opposition was made by 
two gentlemen in the interest of 
the Marquis of Buckingham ; but 
as the moon had withdrawn her 
influence, it failed of success.— 
Mr. Church spld itagaiil to Lord 
Carrington, the present proprie¬ 
tor , in whose possession it re¬ 
mains. 

Such cases as these we must 
never lose sig ht of. The Borough- 
mongers are the masters of the 
nation itself; they are greater 
than the King, because they have 
jnoie power —they have all the 
power—they have the whole power 
of the Government in their hands, 
and the ejitire property of the 
People at their disposal. The 
Borough mongers lay on the 
taxes, and tax us as much as they 
please. They are the tax-makers ; 
and we, the tax-payers, have 
nothing to do with the taxes but 
to pay them, when the Borough- 
mongers have decreed them to be 
paid. The Manchester Petitioners 
knew perfectly well what they 
were about, when their excellent 
Petition, iu a former Register ,* 
prayed for Parliamentary Re¬ 
form. These Petitioners, who 
were stigmatized by the name of 
Blankeieersr attributed their suf¬ 
ferings to the Borovghmonefers, 
from whom they could get no re¬ 
dress, ( * Now/’ said they, “ when 
* No. 12, Vo!. I. 


ferings are become more general 
and dqeper than ever. And this 
state oi*things We attribute to the 
rapid increase of TAXATION\ 
which has been quadrupled ; to¬ 
gether with the increase of rent , 
which has probably been doubled 
during the war; which together 
so nearly absorb the whole produce 
of the kingdom , as to leave a 
quantity very far short of being 
sufficient to keep the Petitioners 
in existence; and therefore their 
lives are now become a burden 
and a plague to them.” This is 
truth ; and the Boroughktongers, 
unable to get over it, surrounded 
the hustings of the Manchester 
Petitioners with MILITARY, and 
caused the speakers to be carried 
off by a party of the first regi¬ 
ment of dragoons.* The Bo- 
roughmongers charged them with 
M Insurrection and Rebellion/* 
and the very Magistrates of Man¬ 
chester echoed the charge.— 
Alarm could not be more effec¬ 
tually excited amongst the timid, 
than by these terrible words, 
uttered “ with authority” Crafty, 
and cunning, and designing, our 
Lords, the Boroughmongers, 
knew this, and the Rwei'end, yes, 
the Reverend W. R. Hay, the sti¬ 
pendiary Chairman of the Man¬ 
chester Quarter Sessions, told the 
Grand Jury, purposes of the 
“ blackest enormity would be dis- 
“ closed to the public/* Then 
all the old women cried out, 
“ Lord have mercy upon us ! Do 
ye hear what that dear worthy 
Reverend Gentleman said? Well, 
it*s a good thing that all these 
wicked men are to be hanged, or 
we should not he safe in our 
beds ! ” and then the few empty 
* See Register, No. 8, Vol. 1. 





265] g* September 

dupes, half frightened to death, 
and a host of interested knaves, 
and a whole army of special con¬ 
stables, and police-officers, and 
tax-gatherers, and excisemen, 
and place-holders, and jobbers, 
and corruptionists, who feed and 
fatten on the public money, raised 
a cry from one end of the king¬ 
dom to the other, that an exten¬ 
sive rebellion was organized; 
that the Blanketeers were going 
to London to make a Revolution,; 
but were happily prevented, by 
tlieir horrible plot being disco¬ 
vered; and every body of course 
expected that these same Blan- 
keteers would be hanged, drawn, 
and quartered, as traitors ! Be¬ 
hold, however, Lancaster Assizes 
come, and the Juryjast Saturday 
week, is most gravely informed 
by the Counsel for the Crown, that 
all is now quiet in the county !— 
that it cannot be the wish of 
Government to punish, unneces¬ 
sarily !—rtliat there is a different 
turn in public feeling to what 
there was fn March last!—and as 
ike Defendants had already s uf- 
Jered so long imprisonment , no 
evidence would be offered ! ” The 
learned Counsel therefore re¬ 
quested the Jury would acquit 
the Defendants; the Jury accord¬ 
ingly pronounced a verdict of 
not guilty ; and th us ends the Man¬ 
chester Rebellion ! But does 
any reasonable man believe for a 
moment—-either that these per¬ 
sons were guilty—that the mili- 
tary were constitutionally em¬ 
ployed in taking them into cus¬ 
tody—that they ought to sutler a 
long imprisonment without in¬ 
demnity—or that the Borough- 
mongers, having reduced the 
People.to a state of unbearable 
misery, and compelled them to 


20,1817, „ [206 

meet openly to express their feel¬ 
ings in Petitions for a redress of 
their grievances, should have the 
power of calling out the soldiers 
to make them prisoners, and con¬ 
demn them to imprisonment with¬ 
out trial ? One of these prisoners 
Willi am Standring, whose name 
stands first among the persons 
pronounced not guilty, has, I am 
informed by a Manchester friend, 
especial reason for complaint. 
Mr, St^noring had been at the 
Manchester Meeting, but took no 
active part in it. He saw the 
people on the hustings surround¬ 
ed and carried off by the troops, 
and saw them carried to gaol; 
and he afterwards went to look 
at the proceedings of the military 
and the constables on the bridge 
leading to Salford, Whilststand- 
ing, there as a mere looker-on, a 
constable ordered him away; he 
refused, and the constable took 
him into custody, Standring 
being searched, a printed copy 
of tiie Petition, which he had 
bought, together with three plays, 
were found in his hat, fie was 
sent to the gaol, The Magis¬ 
trates ordered him to find bail. 
He alleged that he was guilty of 
no offence, and that he would not 
find bail. He was committed to 
prison, and again brought up and 
required to find bail, which lie 
again refused; and the Magis¬ 
trates finding him positive, after 
long confinement discharged 
him. Having been discharged, 
he recollected he had forgotten 
to ask for the plays that had 
been taken from him, and he 
returned into Court, and applied 
to have them delivered up. In 
the plenitude of power, instead 
of complying with his request, 
the Magistrates ordered him 



2671 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [268 


again into custody ; and he was 
actually committed to gaol in a 
few minutes from his first libera¬ 
tion, and there kept, and indicted 
with the rest of the prisoners! 
There is not an honest man in the 
countryj who will not exclaim 
against such arbitrary proceed¬ 
ings as these; and there would 
be an easy remedy for every 
honest man, the object of such 
outrage, if we were released from 
the slavery of the Borougli- 
vioncjers. 

Nothing short of Parliamentary 
Reform will keep us from ever- 
las ti n g sub j ecti on. Reform sh oul d 
always be uppermost in our 
minus, as 

tc A sovereign balm for every wound, 

“ A cordial lor our fears.” 

TJn! ess Boroughmongering be 
destroyed, we shall become a 
jest and a by-word to all other 
nations in Europe. M. Scheffer, 
a German, has just published a 
very valuable pamphlet, on the 
internal and external condition 
of England ; in which he draws a 
picture of oar situation with the 
fidelity and truth of an honest 
and enlightened man. The work 
is' suppressed mi the Continent . 
The following is a translation of 
one of the chapters, certain por¬ 
tions of which are omitted, for 
reasons which the reader and 
the Boroughmongers will under¬ 
stand. 

“THE PRESENT STATE OF 
ENGLAND. 

“ If we may with truth say that 
the English nation has been 
placed in the most favourable 
position for the pursuit of 
Liberty; that by the greatest 
efforts it has reared a Constitution 


which seems to contain within 
itself every possible guarantee ; 
that it has possessed for some 
time a national representation, 
the liberty of the press, the right 
of meeting and petitioning—we 
may, with equal truth, say, that 
its position is now more unfavour¬ 
able, in several respects, than 
that of the enlightened nations 
of the Continent; and that, gene¬ 
rally speaking, it has lost those 
advantages which for a long time 
placed it in the first rank of free 
nations. 

“ In fact, the most important of 
these advantages, was the having 
NO STANDING ARMY; that 
is to say, the British Government 
was long deprived of the most 
powerful instrument which despo¬ 
tism ever invented . But England 
has now an army composed of 
regiments, which, in the Colo¬ 
nies, or on the Continent, have 
been accustomed to ****** *, 
and which have brought back to 
their country these fatal habits. 
England now also sees thirty 
thousand of her inhabitants, form¬ 
ing- part of the Army of Occupa¬ 
tion in France, lose in that country 
the spirit of liberty and indepen¬ 
dence, and acquire, instead of it, 
that spirit which the habit of 
living at the expense of others, 
by force and violence, necessarily 
generates.* More then a hun¬ 
dred thousand Englishmen learn 
the same trade in the Ionian 
islands, in Malta, in Gibraltar, in 
the East and West Indies; and if 
they return to their country, they 
bring back with them a complete 

* “ It would be difficult to say anything 
stronger on this subject than what has 
been said in the Petitions presented to the 
House of Commons of England, in the last 
and present Sessions,” 







September 20, IS 17. 



Jor(je{fulness of the Constitution , 
a great depravity, and an insatia¬ 
ble thirst for wealth. These sol¬ 
diers , docile instruments of the 
oppression of other nations, and 
ready * * * * * * * * * * their 
countrymen, are * * * * * * * 
of the People of England. 

“ The Representation 

Has become, as we have already 
stated, a powerful instrument in 
the hands of Ministers, and it 
would, he a thousand times better 
for the English nation to hare no 
Parliament, than to have one of 
which the majority is composed 
of * * * *, and consequently 
* * * * * men. 

5m 1 JO O'- t i i j /. 

44 The Responsibility of Minis¬ 
ters 

Ceased to be any thing but a 
name , from the moment the House 
of Commons came to be filled by 
these creatures. 

44 Individual Liberty 

Has been so frequently suspend¬ 
ed since 1700, that the Act 
which long served to guarantee if, 
may now be regarded as entirely 
illusory. 

44 The Right of Petitioning 

Has become of no value , as the 
petitions either lie on the table 
unnoticed, or are thrown out, 
without the least attention being 
paid to the wishes of the People. 

44 The Right of Meeting 

Has been always suspended along 
with individual liberty; it has 
become equally illusory, since 
the Ministry have had at their 


command guns and bayonets, to 
disperse the assemblies of the 
People. 

44 The Liberty of the Press, 

Even, consecrated in England by 
a long usage, has received a 
severe blow from a Ministerial 
Circular. 

44 In short, by a natural conse¬ 
quence of the great possessions 
of England, of her colonies, her 
armies, the springs of her internal 
administration, the Government 
has at its disposal so many places, 
such profit able favours, that it has 
been able to corrupt a class of the 
English People , and iufroduoe 
into it that avidity of serving and 
commanding’, which lias pro¬ 
duced such fatal effects in other 
nations. 

44 Thus England has lost al l that 
liberty of which she.w as formerly 
so proud, and of which the Con¬ 
tinent envied her the possession. 
She is no longer pointed out as 
the model of free countries; the 
first place belongs to the United 
States; it is even doubtful if the 
second belongs to Great Britain; 
for we may say that those nations 
which are full of the desire of li¬ 
berty, that they have never pos¬ 
sessed, have never consequently 
seen the degeneracy of those in¬ 
stills! ions which ought to secure 
their rights, are more advanced 
than a nation that has seen the 
very arms of liberty itself the in¬ 
violability of the Monarch and 
Representation , turned against 
liberty . 

•' ■ 

“Ail that the English people 

liave preserved, and which they 
have in common with every en¬ 
lightened people, is the love of 
liberty and the hatred of despot- 





271] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [272 


ism; consequently the hatred of 
the present system of the Go¬ 
vernment, or rather of the Minis- 

try v.y,n< 

’■‘“The question reduces itself 
then to this'—Will the English 
people succeed to re-establishing 
their liberty, and in what manner 
will they attain this object—or 
will the * * * * by which they 
are oppressed be enabled to 
maintain itself, and to become 
established in a durable manner? 

“ As to this last hypothesis, bolls 
the experience of past times, and 
the knowledge of the spirit which 
incessantly animates the English 
people, prove its improbability ; 
we shall not now stop to dis¬ 
cuss it. 

\ * 

“ But if, as it is to be hoped, the 

English nation shall one day suc¬ 
ceed in re-establishing its liberty, 
it can only be by one of the two 
following means :—Either a wise 
Prince will form a true judgment 
of his situation, and see thp ne¬ 
cessity of calling the Party of 
Reform to the Cabinet, or the 
People * * * * * •* * * 

“ The former of these two means 
is undoubtedly the most desir¬ 
able both for the English Pa- 
triots, and for- the lihend-minded 
of every country- Then the Re¬ 
solution would be accomplished 
without agitation and without 
trouble; its results would only 
be the more happy. 

“ But, unfortunately, there is 
little hope that such an event 
will take place in time . In the 
last century, Princes of Wales, 
in the opposition during the life¬ 
time of the King, and even per¬ 
sonal enemies of his Ministers, 
werfe seen to enter into the mi¬ 
nisterial • system on their accies- 
sion the throne, and to preserve 


the instruments which had served 
under their predecessors for the 
oppression of the People. It 
would require great courage and 
great resolution in a Prince, to 
undertake to place himself at the 
head of the nation, against the 
ministerial aristocracy . It would 
require, above all, great energy, 
great strength of character, to tear 
himself from habits once formed* 
and to perceive that it is nobler 
to be the first representative of a 
free people, than to be the object 
of their hatred and execration, by 
wishing to usurp absolute power 1 . 
Besides, it would require such a 
Prince to come forward before 
the People had undertaken to dp 
th em selyes j usti ce. 

“ If the English nation cannot 
re-establish its liberty by a legal 
revolution, it is probable that it 

w ijj * * •*. * * * ; *■ $ 

the .abuses of which it basin vain 
demanded the lefonn. It would 
be difficult in such a case to lay 
down the precise point at which 
it might stop. Woe then to the 
men whose guilty obstinacy shall 
have drawn down the storm on 
their country; whose interests 
and prosperity they sacrifice to 
their own criminal ambition.” 

Had th is foreigner, M. Schef¬ 
fer, been with us all his life, he 
could not have drawn a more, 
faithful representation of our 
present state. And he knows, as 
we know, that there must be a 
change: Government itself knows 
it; and hence tlie repeated 
alarms of plots and insurrections. 
Witness Bartholomew Pair Re¬ 
bellion last week. From whence 
did that alarm proceed, and by 
whom was the story encouraged, 
but by the chief Ministerial 
paper, the Conner?- To show 






273] September 20, 1817. [274 

how industrious the ridiculous further alarmed, in consequence 


lie was sent about, I will relate 
a whimsical anecdote within my 
.own knowledge. A tradesman 
of Manchester came to town on 
business, during Bartholomew 
fair week,.with a friend, who is 
also resident tin Manchester.— 
Their habits being domestic, they 
took a lodging in a private house 
near Smithfield, during their 
stay; and as neither of them had 
been in London before, after 
walking about to see the lions,” 
all day, they went each evening to 
one of the theatres. On Saturday, 
the 6th, the day of the Piebald 
Poney Plot , they took tea with 
hie, and I accompanied them to 
Drury Lane Theatre, which 
opened that night for the season, 
where we calmly sat at our ease, 
and saw poor Sheridan’s inimi¬ 
table School for Scandal; whilst 
wholly unsuspected by us, and 
the people at the fair, the Lord 
Mayor, and Lord Sid mouth, and 
the military, were waiting for 
Punch's Insurrection to break out. 
My Manchester friend and his 
companion, leaving me at my own 
door between 11 and 12, got 
home a few minutes afterwards, 
and went to bed, all of us uncon¬ 
scious of the apprehensions which 
had raged in the neighbourhood, 
it afterwards turned out, that 
iheir landlord was an alarmist — 
that he had therefore been duly 
alarmed , early in tfie evening, 
with the report of the dreadful 
massacre that was to take place— 
that he felt it Ins duty to be slill 


of his lodgers having come from 
Manchester —and that he suspect¬ 
ed them oj * being suspicious. He 
therefore Went to the person who 
recommended them to him, and 
communicated his supposition 
that they were Manchester conspi¬ 
rators , and were,he had no doubt, 
at that moment organizing the 
insurrection, “ appointed for ten 
o’clock! ”—that he fully expected 
his house to be surrounded by the 
military in search of them, and 
that he would certainly not let 
them in that night. Whether there 
was a revolution or not. This 
man, whom 1 call so, because he 
has two legs, was with great 
difficulty persuaded that it was 
possible for men to come from 
Manchester who had i»o design 
to blow up the Government in 
Smithfield, and that there could 
be no danger to Ministers in suf¬ 
fering his lodgers to sleep in 
their beds that night, if their con¬ 
sciences would let them; espe¬ 
cially as he would then have 
their persons in his power, and 
might deliver them up to the 
Lord Mayor, bound hand and 
foot, if thereunto required. The 
argument had due weight. Ilis 
lodgers came home, and Bar - 
tholomew Fair Revolution did not 
come at all; the sapient alarmist 
exchanged his terror for shame f 
he prudently concealed his ap¬ 
prehensions from his inmates; 
and, until the morning, when, on 
visiting their friend, he told 
(them the story, they regained 




Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[276 


u ^conscious of having’ been 
speculated upon as two terrible 
Revolutionists. 

Whilst the Barony Jim angering 
system Lasts, jealousy, and hatred, 
and contempt of each other must 
exist. Bad passions and feelings 
are interwoven with it; the inte¬ 
rests of all are not alike under it, 
nor are we all equal before-the 
law. It rules over our minds 
and affections, and interferes wi th 
our domestic arrangements as 
well as our property. It is main¬ 
tained by our divisions,and reigns 
most triumphant when we are 
least united. The Rorough- 
mon&ers have a direct interest 
in supporting those who will 
support them, and they have the 
depraved and tho vicious of all 
ranks with them. “ Oh!” but it 
may be said, “ you are wrong; 
quite wrong; the respectable 
part of socie y is chiefly against 


you Reformists.” And then the 
impartial person who says this, 
w ill reckon up a long list of most 
respectable personages w ho think 
that a Reform is not necessary. 
All of whom, from Lord Such-an- 
one, and Sir John So-and-so, and 


the benevolent ’Squire What’s- 
his-name, and the good Mr. 
Thing-a-merry, and the Rev. 
Parson of the Parish, including 

o 

the Parish Lawyer, and Apothe¬ 
cary, and Exciseman,and Brewer, 
and Distiller, and Butcher, and 
Grocer, and Cheesemonger, and 
Tailowcbandler, down to Amen 
the Clerk, all, all have an inte¬ 


rest, directly or indirectly, in the 


support of Boroughmongers and 
Bcrouyhmonyeriay, and are there¬ 
fore all loyal— that is, the 
whole of them, from the Peer, 
and the Baronet, and the 'Squire, 
j downwards, are more or less 
people of some property, witji 
little minds, who imagine that as 
they are not starving, there is no 
distress; and “if there is, it’s a 
very shocking thing, and it all 
comes of being wicked, and is 
not to be helped, and therefore 
it’s best to be loyal, because mo¬ 
ney and favours are only to be 
had from those who have them to 
give.” Are these of the race for 
whom IIamuden died in the field, 
and Sidney and Russell bled on 
the scaffold ? To him who names 
walk-abouls like these, and calls 
them men, and talks of their 
being- respectable, and loyal, I 
will mention persons of another 
class, who are almost as respect¬ 
able, and quite as loyal; and I 
dare contradiction, I dpfy it to 
be denied, that the people I shall 
point out are loyal. 1 mean the 
whole body of regular highway¬ 
men and housebreakers, pro¬ 
fessed thieves, and pickpockets, 

| and swindlers ! These are almost 
all loyal, to a man; downright 
I Church-and-King men, to the 
heart’s core; and all their 
hangers-on and associates, the 
thief-takers, bum-bailiffs, and 
gaolers, all— all are loyal. I 
am certain of the fact, and the 
Borovyhmonyers are fully entitled 
and welcome to a continu¬ 
ance of their zeal and attach- 


/ 


i 






277] 

ment, and the benefit of the coa¬ 
lition. 

Under the Borduyhntionqci'ing 
system, the nation cannot hope for 
a body of wise and enlightened 
legislators. A thang with a hat 
and two boots on, one of which it 
spats now and then with a 
switch, walks into the house, 
sticks itself upright, or reclines 
on one of (lie benches, and when 
the division comes, remains, or 
goes forth into the lobby, as 
needs be:—this is a Borough- 
monger^s Member ! To whom but 
to a preponderance of such Mem¬ 
bers do we owe, amidst a mass of 
anomalous statutes, the existence 
of the Blood-Money Laws for 
nearly a century after it was 
known that under their sanction 
men were entrapped, and hanged 
for the rewards? And who but 
such legislators have entailed 
upon us until this time the curse 
of an increasing body of Poor 
Laws, which every year levies a 
sum for the maintenance of the 
Paupers of England, ten times 
greater in amount than the entire 
expenses of the American Go¬ 
vernment ? Under the Borough- 
mongering system , notwithstand¬ 
ing- this immense amount of Poor 
Rate, the poor are daily dropping 
down dead in the street, for want 
of food. The Boroughmongers 
have neither heart nor bowels for 
the misery they do not see. 
With the purse of the nation in 
their power, they have let their 
Parliament separate, without tak¬ 
ing a single effective step to pro- 


[278 

vide for the utterly destitute and 
helpless. I he narratives of ex¬ 
treme distress in the newspapers 
are heart-rending. One case on 
Monday is one of the many 
we read of continually. Johk 
Wright, a miserable young man, 
was brought before the sitting 
Magistrate at Guildhall, by a 
watchman, who stated, that at a 
late hour on Saturday night he 
discovered the door of Mr. 
cobs’s fruit-warehouse, in Fleet 
Market, standing open, and a 
basket of apples on the outside* 
Upon entering the warehouse, he 
found the prisoner in a corner, 
and, in the witness’s language, 
as pale as a ghost: he literally 
carried him to the watch-house. 
The prisoner said he had been a 
long time out of employment, 
and after repeated refusals from 
his parish to give him relief, he 
secreted himself in the warehouse 
about a week ago, where he re¬ 
mained, until his apprehension, 
sustaining life by eating apples. 
Being reduced to a state of de¬ 
plorable weakness by this food, 
he acknowledged that he had 
formed a resolution of commit¬ 
ting a robbery to obtain more 
substantial food. He was fa¬ 
mishing-, he said, when he went 
into the warehouse, and “ he hoped 
to God he should be transported, 
or disposed of in some other way, 
that would ensure him a meal of 
natural victuals a day! ” 

This unhappy mail had been 
a sailor, and perhaps bled for 
that country which denied him 


September 20, 1817. 





2*<>] 

bread, and from which he desired 
to be transported as a criminal, 
for the sake of preserving exist¬ 
ence. Our fellow-creatures now 
crawling along the roads, mise¬ 
rable and starving, with scarcely 
life in their bodies, are as blast¬ 
ing and withering to our sight as 
heaven’s blue lightning. These 
sad objects, prowling sometimes 
from village to village for a 
whole day, without receiving a 
crust, and without tasting'food, 
occasionally commit offences 
against the laws, to sustain ha- 
lure. A friendly Correspondent, in 
the neighbourhood of Canter¬ 
bury, informs me, that one of these 
unhappy men travelled round the 
parishes of Chartham and Chi!- 
ham, unable to obtain either 
relief or employment. Hunger 
over-ruled honesty, and he tres¬ 
passed on the garden of a Reve¬ 
rend Gentleman of note, to get at 
seme fruit. Before he reached 
it, a gun was fired at hi in. He 
fell, severely wounded ; and be¬ 
ing immediately made prisoner, 
and called a most infernal villain 
for robbing the Reverend Gentle - 
man's premises, some straw was 
put in a cart, on which he was 
placed, and carried to Canter¬ 
bury, there to answer before the 
Ma gistrates for his offence, apd 
wheye he was discharged, in con¬ 
sideration of the loss of part of 
his garments, which were torn 
and shot off; and also because of 
his wounds, occasioned by certain 
slugs, which were the property 
of the Reverend Gentleman , but 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


which the poor fellow was per¬ 
mitted to carry away with him, 
because they could not be con¬ 
veniently extracted from his 
body! This unfortunate creature 
could not, even by begging, pro¬ 
cure enough to support life; and 
his previous inquiries convinced 
people he was willing to work. 
What a horrible state is this 
for a human being to be 
reduced to ! Then, it is really 
shocking to think what a poor 
object may suffer in the extremity 
of distress, if he applies to a 
Magistrate for a pass to his 
parish. The second Report of 
the select Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Police 
of the Metropolis, contains the 
examination of John Barnlev, 
the Beadle of the Parish of St* 
Andrew, Holborn, from which i 
extract the following very cu¬ 
rious portion respecting the mode 
by which police-officers exact 
rewards from the very supplica¬ 
tions of poverty, ^ 

Are the police-officers rewarded 
with ten shillings when they appre¬ 
hend vagrants?—Yes; 1 have often 
thought it a very great shame it 
should be done ; when the poor people 
come to the police-office at llalton-gur- 
chn, they coene asking for a pass; the 
police-officers will give them a penny or 
two-pence, and then bring them in and 
swear that they found them begging, 
when in fact they never have begged 

AT ALL 1 . 

Have you seen that with your own 
eyes ?—I have. 

You have seen poor people come to 
the police-office merely for the pur¬ 
pose of applying for a pass, and then 
committed as vagrants ?—Yes, I have; 
the police-officers say the magistrates 





2*1] September 20,1817. [282 


aannot give you a pass, and take them 
to the door, and give them a penny or 
two-pence. 

Do the police-officers desire them 
to beg ?—Some of them (the poor 
people) will tell before the magistrates' 
faces, that they never did beg ; but the 
officers will go and swear that they 
have taken this man begging in the 
streets! he is sent tor seven days to 
the house of collection 3 they get 
ten shillings for their trouble. Per¬ 
haps the man is an Irishman or a 
Scotchman, and they cannot pass 
them , and they will meet with them aga'ni 
in two or three duys , and commit them 
again , and get another ten shil¬ 
lings ! . 

Can you state the names of any 
officers whom you have seen do this ? 
I have seen the two Reads 3 I have 
seen Hutt and Wainwright. 

Did you ever complain of this to 
the magistrates ? I have said that I 
thought it vjrong 3 but I never com¬ 
plained much. 

Do you recollect any instance of a 
poor man complaining of it ? Yes; 
one man was in a passion in the office 
one day, and said, he never begged at 
all, nor meant to beg, that he only 
wanted to be sent home. 

Did the Magistrates believe the 
man or the officer ? They made no 
answer at all. 

Was the man committed 1 He had 
been committed j and was in a passion 
because he had been sent to Bridewell, 
and did not like it. 

Is it likely that a beggar would go 
to the door of a police-office to beg? 
By no means. 

When you complained to the magis¬ 
trates of this practice, was any notice 
taken of it by the officers ? In the 
outer office they said i had no business 
to interfere in it; it was no business of 
mine, and they would turn me out of 
the office! 

Who were those officers ! Young 
Read was one, and Ceorge Wood 
was auoth&r. 

Do you tliiuk that the county is 


robbed to any considerable amount, 
by beadles or police-officers taking up 
beggars for the sake of the ten shillings, 
when they actually have not been 
found begging ? Yes, I am sure ofit; 
to the amount, I should suppose, oi 
several hundreds a year, the county 
rates are robbed. 

Who pays the money ordered by 
the magistrates to the police-officers } 
The high constable, Smart. 

F01 what division does he pay the 
amount of those rewards? For the 
Holborn division. 

Not for the whole county? No. 

Is it your opinion that policfe-offi- 
eers would rather apprehend beggars 
than reputed thieves ? Some do look 
very sharp after them, for the sake of 
the t&n shillings. 

Is there a cant term tvith respect to 
those regards—that they get i( an 
easy ten shillings?" Sometimes they 
will wrangle with one another , and say, 
“ I plied that man, and you have gofr 
him 3 you hate got ‘ an easy ten $hil~ 
lings,' I see.” 

Is it your opinion that those ten 
shillings should be disallowed ? By 
all means in the world ; I think it is 
the greatest robbery that can etfist ; 
how far the law might be right when 
it was made, I cannot say. 

It is a useless burden upon the 
county rate, in your opinion ? Cer¬ 
tainly. 

Is this money paid in .the city oi 
London, on the apprehension of beg-* 
gars ?• I have been informed that the 
Lord Mayor seeing so much of it done, 
has discontinued it 3 but I do not know 
the fact. 

What is the general character o i 
the police-officers ? I do not know ; 
ours is not of the best. 

Can you state any fact with respect 
to any of the officers, which has fallen 
under your own knowledge ? When 
there happens to be a warrant, or any 
thing of that kind .granted, if it is a 
person they like or dislike, I have 
heard them tell the party that has taken 
ike warrant out, that they would look 




283] Honk’s Reformists’ Register. £284 


them up if they did not make it up , 
when at the same time that party was 
aggrieved; and I have thought that 
til at was wrong. 

Havv you had auv reason to believe 

J J 

that officers pass over small offences, 
and wait before they apprehend an 
offender, till they can obtain a reward 
for liis capital conviction ? I have 
sometimes,, thought so. I have ob¬ 
served them to be raihet partial when 
it teas a small thing ; i cannot posi¬ 
tively say that they did it on purpose, 
but I hare often thought so in my 
own mind. 

Do you think that officers, when 
they have apprehended an offender, 
ever strain their evidence in order to get 
u capital conviction} I have heard, 
especially Hutt, say, he did not mind 
giving them “ a little one in." 

Meaning, that they would colour the 
evidence for the sake of getting a ver ■ 
diet ? Yes 5 filling up a chasm, or 
something of that sort. 

Is it a common phrase used by the 
officers, I have given them a little 
one iu ?” I have heard them say so 
frequently. 

That they have strained their evi¬ 
dence for the sake of the reward ? ] 

have always understood it in that 
light. To explain this, I would men¬ 
tion to the Committee, that I took up 
a man about a month ago for a rob¬ 
bery j nobody, as 1 knew of at that 
time, had seen him rob the person, 
though since I have found out there 
was, but he was seen to run away, 
and the man was lying on the ground 
with his pockets turned out ; there¬ 
fore as nobody saw him, there were 
two of them turned up, and I expect¬ 
ed at that time that he would be turned 
up also; but since I have found a 
young man that is so clear in his evi¬ 
dence against him, that <f the little 
one," I think, would have been thrown 
in, if the witness had been a police- 
officer ! 

Yon were quite clear that he had 
been guilty of a robbery ? I had no 
doubt of it. 


And do you think that .if the police- 

officers had apprehended him, they 
would have given <f the little one in, 
to insure the conviction ? Yes ! 

It sickens the heart to read of 
these ? nan-eating practices, and 
to reflect on the degrading and 
pauper-making effect of our in¬ 
stitutions, for remedying the evils 
of pauperism. It seems almost 
impossible that independence 
should ever resume its sway in 
English bosoms, under such a 
system of mis-rule, It is related 
of one Donelly, a miserable 
Irishman, in a state of abject 
penury, that he would not accept 
of a bit of meat, or a potatoe, or 
a drop of milk, if offered to him, 
but that he preferred eating offal 
from a dunghill, to the idea of 
being supported as an object of 
charity in his native place. After 
a fast of three days, lie was know 11 
to refuse proffered victuals. This 
man went twenty-seven miles 
with a letter, from a gentleman 
to his daughter, at a boarding- 
school ; arriving' early in the 
morning, the servant girl opening 
the door after a loud rap, was 
surprised to see a man in rags—• 
without asking a question, she 
said, “ Go along, we have got 
“ nothing for you;”and Donellv 
feeling he had been taken for a 
beggar, turned on his heel and 
went home, a distance of fifty-four 
miles, without delivering the 
letter, or breaking his fast! More 
than a century must pass aw ay 
before independent and ho¬ 
nourable and just feeling's like 





September 20, 1817, 


these can influence the great 
mass e ,r the degraded and bro- 
ken-spirited labourers of Elio-- 

1 O 

land. 

A House of Commons com¬ 
posed of members chosen by the 
People, and having interests with 
the People, would commence its 
labours by relieving us from an 
immense load of taxation, be¬ 
neath which we must groan, 
unless we can emancipate our¬ 
selves from the slavery of our 
lords, the Boroughniongers. We 
are the creatures of their will— 
the slaves of their pleasure. The 
Dey of Algiers, and the Bey of 
Tunis, and the Sultan at Con¬ 
stantinople, are not greater and 
more absolute tyrants over their 
subjects, than the Boroughmon- 
srers are over us, their slaves. 
We see a Borough monger make 
paupers of a hundred English 
families, by a simple mandate. 
To secure the complete subjec¬ 
tion of the borough of 11 Chester, 
the proprietor of that, borough 
determined to reduce the number 
of jts wretched electors, who had 
dared, in one instance, to disobey 
his will. He immediately built 
a workhouse—pulled down a 
hundred houses rented by voters, 
and compelled them, with their 
families, to go into his workhouse, 
there to abide as paupers to the 
end of their lives ! We see that at 
Wendovcr, one of Lord Carring¬ 
ton's boroughs, for which he 
makes and sends two members to 
the House of Commons, a former 
proprietor turned the voters out 


of their houses at one swoop, and 
compelled them and all their 
families to live upon the open 
common for six months; and we 
see that at Midhurst , another 
borough of Lord Carrington's, 
he has actually sold the lease of 
the borough for 999 years; and 
thus, by a fiction, retaining- the 
freehold in his own possession, 
he, without the aid of any voters 
at all, makes and sends two other 
members to the House of Com¬ 
mons. This is what one borough 
proprietor can do—he can make 
and send four members to repre¬ 
sent him and make the laws in 
the House of Commons, whilst 
he himself sits in his own right, as 
an hereditary legislator, -to make 
the laws in the House of Peers. 
Is not this absolute power? 

The total number of the mem¬ 
bers of the House of Commons is 
six hundred and fifty-eight; three 
hundred of these members are 
nominated to sit in that House 
by 144 Peers. One hundred and 
seventy-one more members of the 
House of Commons are nominated 
by 123 commoners. Sixteen 
members are nominated by Go¬ 
vernment, and q lily one hundred 
ami seventy-one members are re¬ 
turned without being nominated. 
In this way the House of Com¬ 
mons is composed of six hundred 
and fifty-eight members; and it 
is against such a composition of 
that House, and for a full, fair, 
and free representation, the 
prayers of the People should be 
incessantly directed. 


I 



287 ] Hone’S Reformists’ Register. [288 


Major Cartwright’s Petition 
oj twenty for Parliamentary Re¬ 
form, in his excellent Address to 
the People of England, inserted 
in the last Register , is calculated 
to make ait immense number of 
petitioners. Any person can 
copy the Petition of twenty on a 
sheet of paper, and get it signed 
by the first nineteen persons he 
meets with; and thus one Peti¬ 
tion of twenty is got presently; 
if each of the Twenty petiti¬ 
oners gets a Petition signed by 
twenty others, there will be four 
hundred petitioners; these four 
hundred petitioners may each 
obtain a Petition to be signed in 
their respective circles, and thus 
there will be eight thousand 
petitioners; each of the eight 
thousand petitioners exerting 
himself to get twenty names 
signed to a Petition, will obtain 
one hundred and sixty thousand 
petitioners, and if each of this 
latter number can in bis turn 
find twenty new petitioners, a 
grand total of three million two 
hundred thousand names will be 
subscribed to Petitions for Re¬ 
form in the House of Commons, 
which may be presented in the 
next session of Parliament. 


The Major’s Petition of twenty, 
is short, and may be comm itted 
to memory in five minutes; so 
that if a person having it by 
heart, should fall in with a friend 
who is desirous of signing it, 
be has only to write it on half a 
sheet of paper, and there is the 
Petition ready for his friend to 
sign, with room for nineteen 
more names to add to it, if there 
should be so many mofe persons 
in company. If every man who 
signs a Petition of twenty , will 
himself copy out a Petition , and 
get it signed by twenty of his 
friends, the table of the House of 
Commons will break down with 
the mass; the Bormghmongers 
must give way; and Reform must 
come. 

WILLIAM IIONE. 

< . • ■ • ; 7 ' • *,v .v • ITT j'7 ' , >5 

67 , Old Bailey, 

1 7th September, 1817 . 


THE REGISTER 
OF LAST SATURDAY 

CONTAINS 

PLOTS! 

“AS PLENTY AS BLACKBERRIES.” 


L- ■><! >n : Pruned by aiul for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bah.ey, three doors from 
i \ i F. Hill ; whet*- l OMMUNICAJ iONS (post paid) should lit iddfcessed. 
—Price Two-Pence each, i A. per Hundred, or 51. IDs. per Thousand. 












Price Two-Pence. 


HONE'S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. 10.jj ■ Saturday, September 27,1817. [Vol. I. 


A LETTER 

TO 

SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 


Reasons for addressing Sir FRANCIS 
—His Services—Sufferings of RO¬ 
BERT SWINDELLS, of 'MAC- 
CL ES FIELD--His House ravaged 
at Midnight, and his PREGNANT 
WIFE forced from her Bed naked ; 
is Delivered, DIES of the Fright, 
and the INFANT DIES for Want 
of its Mother; he is committed to 
Chester Castle, for publishing a 
Parody, and his surviving Child sent 
to the Workhouse ; is liberated with - 
out Trial-Sir F. BURDETT, on 
the first Day of the Session, arrives at 
liis own House from Leicestershire ; 
AFTERWARDS goes to the House 
of Commons—Sir Francis explains 
the Reason of his Absence on Lord 
COCHRANE’S Amendment—States 
that Lord Cochrane had submitted 
his Motion to him—Declares he will 
not be moved as a Puppet —Lord 
Cochrane absent on Sir F. Burdett's 
Motion-Why Sir FRANCIS BUR¬ 
DETT is England's Hope. 

THE MANCHESTER BLANKET- 
EERS' own Narrative of their Ar¬ 
mrest and Liberation. 

MR. HITCHINS S ADDRESS to 
the Livery of London, on the Choice 
of a NEW LORD MAYOR. 


TO SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, 
Bart. M. P. 

Sir, 

I have occasion to write a 
letter to you, but I depart from. 


. * \ -r 

the usual course of addressing 1 
you privately , because in that 
case my communication would 
necessarily be short, and accom¬ 
panied by a mass of papers which 
cannot be sent to you in Ireland 
without heavy expense. I re¬ 
serve these for your inspection 
when you arrive in London, and 
put in print what I have to say, 
to he read by every body. I thus 
give myself the opportunity of 
saying some things to the public, 
which would he out of place in 
a private letter, not omitting, 
however, a word of what I would 
have privately written. 

At the Westminster meeting in 
Palace Yard, to petition against 
the first suspension of the Habeas 
Corpus Act this year, you de¬ 
clared that whatever should he 
the event of the bills then pend¬ 
ing., you would not he prevented 
from meeting your constituents; 
and I shall never forget the hurst 
of approbation with which this 
was received by the electors pre¬ 
sent. You continued with this 
memorable declaration, that whe¬ 
ther a gibbet should he erected in 
the lobby of the House of Com¬ 
mons, and the Members held re¬ 
sponsible for their votes , or the 
subject was to perish in a dun¬ 
geon , deprived of the Trial by 
Jury , you, for one , should be in¬ 
different ; for when JSIagxa 
Chart a and the Bill of 
Rights should, have expired, 
you should think you had lived 


Printed by aad Li w, Haae, t’7, Oid iiuiley, London. 






















2£>1] Monk’s Refors 

long enough* In this language 
tilt People-of Westminster who 
heard it, ami the People of Etig^ 
laud who read it, recognized the 
spirit which dictated your cehe- 
br*a*ed Argument, “ denying the 
right of the House of Come ons 
to imprison the People of 1 ng- 
land,'’ therein you affirmed that 
Magna 'Charta never can he 
repealed till England shall have 
found her grave in the corruption 
cf a House of' Commons; for 
which l etter to your Constiiu- 
cuts, and Argument, you were, 
b v the House of Commons, com- 
nutted prisoner to the Tower of 
London, where, after the electors 
of Westminister framed a spirited 
Remonstrance to the House of 
Commons, they presented to you 
an Address, concluding as fol¬ 
lows :— 

“ We have resolved to remon¬ 
strate with the House of Com¬ 
mons on the outrages commit ltd 
under their orders, and to cad 
upon them to restore you to your 
Seat in Parliament, which the 
present state of the country ren¬ 
ders more than ever necessary for 
th eJan therence of vovr and our 
object , a Reform of the Repre¬ 
sentation in that House . While 
so many Member's are collected 
together by means 4 winch it is. 
not necessary for us to described 
v/e cannot but entertain the great¬ 
est apprehensions for the remain¬ 
der of our liberties; and the em¬ 
ployment of a military force 
against one of their own body, 
is but a sad presage of what may 
be expected by those who, like 
you, have the courage to stand 
forward in defence of the Rights 
of the People.— When ire refect 
on your generous exertions l® .de¬ 
stroy the horrors of secret and 
* Register, Vol. I. No. 6# 


iSTif Register. [292 

solitary confinement ; to mitigate 
the severity of punishment in the 
army; to prevent the cashiering 
of its officers without cause as¬ 
signed ; to restore, for the comfort 
of ike worn-out soldier, the public 
property conveyed by a job to a 
private individual; to prevent 
(he extension of the barrack sys¬ 
tem, the obvious effect of which is 
to separate the soldier from the 
citizen; to prevent the introduc¬ 
tion of foreign, troops ; to briny to 
light an atrocious act of tyranny , 
by which a British sailor teas left 
to perish on a barren reck ; and 
above all, your unremitted exer¬ 
tions to obtain a fullf dir, and free 
Representation of the Peegde in 
PfirHa-iifCnt ; when ice refect on 
the firmness, the unshaken con¬ 
stancy which you have invariably 
shown i in evil report and good 
report: we are eager to express 
the sentiments of gratitude and 
attachment to you with which we 
are impressed, and we are con¬ 
vinced that those sentiments are 
not only f elt by the Inhabitants 
of this City, but by every person 
throughout the land who is not in¬ 
terested in the continuance rd pub- 

j* ,) •. . m x 

he GMise*. 

To you, Sir Francis, whose 
constituents entertained and pre¬ 
serve these feelings of affectionate 
esteem, founded upon the great 
services rendered to your cotm- 
try, 1 now submit the case of 
Robert Swindells, of Maccles¬ 
field, a peor, but I believe very 
honest man, who has sent me all 
the papers relating to it, under a 
persuasion that i will do the best 
n iny power to make his injuries 
known, with a view to procure 
him redress, fits narrative w hilst 
a prisoner in Chester Castle is 
plain and straight forward, and I 
give it in his own artless Ian- 








293] 


September 27, 1817. 


guage, merely correcting the 
spelling: and, to prevent mistakes, 
sending the original copy of the 
writ, and the cer ified copy of his 
commitment to prison, to be 
printed from:— 

Chester Castle, July 21st, 1817. 

Sir, 

I hope you will think with me, 
that I am justifiable in laying be¬ 
fore you a most daring attack on 
my house, person, and property, by 
Samuel Wood, Alderman, Joseph 
Turnscliff, Silk Manufacturer, 
James Powell, Bankers* Clerk, 
and several others. Acting as I 
supposed, under the authority of 
the Magistrates, on the tenth of 
March, about the hour of twelve 
o’clock at night, they came to 
iny house when I was peaceably 
in bed with my wife and child, 
and knocked violently at my 
door, which awoke me; I got 
out of bed, and went to the win¬ 
dow, and asked who was there. 
They said Constables . I told 
them to go away; that they had 
no right to disturb me in that 
manner; they threatened me 
with manv threats and curses, 
and exclaimed, “ By God, if yon 
don't open the door, we will break 
it open ; we will break it in pieces, 
if you don't open the door, and 
<fet ns a light." My wife being 
very much alarmed, and far ad¬ 
vanced in prey nancy, did entreat 
me to open the door, which I did, 
as soon as I had got a light; and 
in rushed a number of men, with 
staffs lifted, ias if thev meant to 
fall me to the ground instantly. 1 
asked them for their authority for 
coming to my house in that man 


£294 

house V* I said, what men ? They 
answered, “ Why those men you 
have in your house.” I told them, 
1 have got no men in my house; 
that there was no person in my 
house, except me, my wife, and 
child. Samuel Wood and others 
took the light, searched the 
house, but found no men there. 
Samuel Wood said, “ There has 
some men slept in your house.” 
I told him that no man did ever 
sleep in my house, but myself; 
they began to rummage my house y 
and destroy my property ; they 
demanded the keys of my chest 
and boxes; I said, I' did not 
know where they was; they 
threatened me, with their staffs 
brandished over my head, that 
they would break the chest in 
splinters, if 1 did not get them the 
keys . My wife and child being 
down stairs, as we got out of bed, 
and I fearing the consequence 
of their threats, told them where 
the keys were; they got them, 
and opened the chest and box. 
One of them having the box un¬ 
der his arm, said they would take 
it along with them; but as the 
kevs were found, and the con- 
tents rummaged, it was left. All 

W J 

this was done, to the great da¬ 
mage of our clothes, and other 
contents; every thing being un¬ 
folded, broke open, and, thrown 
about the house; every bonnet 
and hat being broke flat together. 
They demanded another candle) 

I did not offer to comply ; they 
threatened me with their staffs, as 
before, so that I got them one: 
that being lighted, a party went 
up stairs, pulled the bed-clothes 
off the bed, oh to the floor, turn- 


ner. With ththr staffs lifted over : ed the bed up of » heap, went to 

die beaufet, pulled out most of 
the contents, and broke anti 
are those men you have in your threw them about the floor; ti.ey 


my head, they exclaimed, “ This 
is our authority! and whore- 

9f ■ 






295] 

also opened my wife's work-bags; 
her sewing, which she had been 
preparing for the child she then 
carried, was also thrown about the 
door. When they had plundered 
my house in every direction, 
they took with them a bundle of 
printed papers and pamphlets , 
and went off, saying-, it would 
not be long' before they would 
visit me again, which they never 
ha ve, neither have they returned 
my property, which they took 
away with them. But the scene 
did not stop here ; for on the 
next day, which was on the 
eleventh of March, my wife de¬ 
clared to me, and many otilers, 
that the fright , and starvation 
with cold, had killed her, which 
she continued to express till the 
day of her death; for pains , cough , 
and spitting ensued, which ren¬ 
dered her, Jar several weeks, un¬ 
able to lay down in bed, till the 
%6lh of April, when she was de¬ 
livered, without pains . Being 
unable to rest, SHE EXPIRED 
on the 28th, the day but one after¬ 
wards (though all the assistance 
was got that lay in my power), 
leaving me the child she was 
delivered of, arid another , one 
year and eight months old, to be¬ 
wail her loss! 

I called on Samuel Wood, per¬ 
sonally, at his house, to inquire 
why 1 should be attacked, and 
iny house forced in that manner; 
who said that they did not force 
my house; that 1 had opened 
the door: I informed him that 1 
would see how far they w as jus¬ 
tifiable in such proceedings. I 
don’t presume to say how far 
these men were from being 
drunk; but they were far from 
being sober. 

The reason for my delay in 
seeing after this, w as the silua- 


[296 

tipn in which I was placed —a 
wi fe to be buried at the ex pense rf 
a parish, and a small family to be 
supported by the same . 

On the 17th of May, Ml’. Grtms- 
ditch, an Attorney, brought to 
me a writ, addressed to William 
Swindells. I told him that was 
not my name. He. said it did 
not matter, it was for me, and so 
left a copy. On the next day, 
the 18th, my youngest child died , 
for want of a mother ; and on 
the 31st, another writ was 
brought to me, by Mr. Grims- 
ditch’s Clerk, addressed to 
Robert Swindells, a copy of 
w hich was left me; the contents 
were as follow s :— 

(COPY.) ' 

George the Third’, by the Grace of God 
of the United Kingdom of Great Critain 
and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, 
to Robert Swindells, greeting. VVe com¬ 
mand you firmly, enjoining you, that 
laying aside all excuses and ( pretenees what¬ 
soever, you be and appear before us at 
Westminster, on Friday next, after the 
morrow of the Holy Trinity, to answer to 
us touching and concerning- those things 
which shall then and there lie objected 
against you on our behalf ; and further to 
do and receive all and singular such 
matters and things as our Court, before us, 
shall then and there consider of concerning 
you in the premises ; and this you are not 
to omit, under the penalty of one' hun¬ 
dred pounds, to be levied upon your goods 
and chattels, lands and tenements, if you 
shall make default in the premises. Wit¬ 
ness Edward Lord Ellenkorough, at 
Westminster, the seventeenth day of May, 
in th.e fifty-seventh year of our reign. 

By the Court, 

Lusjiin-gton. 

For the King. 

Sir Samuel Shepherd, K night, A tt orney- 
General of out Lord the King, for our said 
Lord the King proseenteth this writ 
Against the within-named defendant, upon 
an information exhibited against him by 
the said Attorney-General, in the Court m 
our said Lord the King, before the King 
himself, for certain misdemeanours, 
whereof he is impeached. 

May 30th, 1317. 

1 told Mr. Grimsditch’s clerk 


Hones Reformists’ Reciter. 






September 27, 1817. 



that I was not possessed of a 
shilling, therefore 1 could not go 
without means—that I was ready 
and wailing to go if I had got 
the means: lie said l must try 
my friends—I did so. I went to 
the Overseer, showed him the 
writ; he said he knew nothing 
about it—he could do nothing in 
it. I took it to the Mayor; he 
said he knew nothing at all about 
it. 1 told him, if 1 had been 
guilty of misdemeanors, I deli- 
iivered myself into his charge: 
he said, 1 know nothing at all 
about you. On Sunday, June 
22d, about seven of the clock in 
the evening,Mr. Frost, constable, 
came to me, said he had a warrant 
against me; he took me to his 
lock-up room, and kept me there 
till the 27th; during* this time 
Mr. Frost sent a letter to Sir 
Richard Brooke, Bart. Sheriff of 
the county of Chester, stating* he 
had such a person in his custody; 
the answer was, that he must go 
to Mr. Grimsditcii, and know 
what charge he had against me, 
and if it were criminal, he was 
to take no bail; if not criminal, 
I was to find two sureties of two 
hundred pounds each. Mr. Grims- 
ditch endeavoured long to deny 
knowing any thing' about it, hut 
the letter being so blunt against 
him, he was confounded, and in 
a rage said he had sent some 
papers off. All this while / could 
(fel no subsistence, but what L could 
bee/ ; and on the 27th I was con¬ 
veyed to Chester Cattle, to sub¬ 
sist on bread and water, having* 
no means left to get any thing 
else. Such is tiie change of my 
condition in the course of a few 
weeks. A wife, whose character 
is a pattern to all her sex , put to 
death, by cowards ! one child dead 
for the want of a mother! another 


left to the mercy of a parish 
officer ! a*;& myself confined in a 
prison in the Castle of Chester! 
My commitment is in these 
words:— 

fCopy) 

Comity of Chester to nut. — Sir Richard 

Brooke, Bart. Sheriff of the said County. 
To the Constable of the Castle of Chester , or 
to his Deputy or Deputies there , 
Gheetinc., 

By virtue of his Majesty’s writ of norv- 
oinittas attachment, to me directed and 
delivered, these are to will and require 
you, and in his Majesty’s name strictly to 
charge and command 3 'ou, to receive into 
your custody the body of Robert Swin¬ 
dells, late of Macclesfield, in my county, 
bookseller, whom I herewith send; and 
him safely keep, so that I may have 
his body before his Majesty on the morrow 
of All Souls, wheresoever his Majesty shall 
then be in England, to answer his Majesty 
for certain misdemeanors whereof he is 
impeached: and for your so doing, this 
shall be your sufficient warrant. Given 
under the seal of my office, this twenty- 
seventh day of June, one thousand eight 
hundred and seventeen. 

IJy the said Sheriff. (L. S.} 

(A Copy) G. Hurst, Deputy. 
Df.altry & Barlow, 

Clerk in Court for the Crown. 

Leeke. 

This is my situation, after up¬ 
wards of eleven years* servitude in 
his Majesty’s Plymouth division of 
royal marines, out of which I was 
three years and twenty-three days 
on board of his Majesty’s ship 
Ville do Paris, with Admiral 
Cornwallis, off Brest ; three 
years and twenty-three days in 
his Majesty’s gun-vessel, inso¬ 
lent; and four years, six months, 
and twenty-three days, on board 
of his Majesty’s ship Hussar; and 
returned home from the East 
Indies with the Earl of Minto, 
after being debilitated through 
the fatigue of war and severity 
of the country. 

Robert Swindells, 

Of Macclesfield ) now in the Castle of Chester,. 






299] Hone's Reformists’ Register, f300 


A few days after Swindells 
sent me the above lette? from his 
prison, and whilst I was delibe¬ 
rating- what course to pursue, 
Parliament at that time not sit¬ 
ting-, he wrote to let me know he 
had been liberated, and sent me 
all the papers in his possession ; 
from which it appears, that being 
utterly helpless, he had, on the 
5th of July, caused a Petition to 
the House of Commons to be for¬ 
warded to Mr. Brougham, merely 
setting forth his imprisonment, 
and copies of the writ and his 
commitment, and stating that Ire 
had not been served with any 
copy of the Declaration, Charge,, 
or Information ; and being at a 
loss how to act or be advised as 
to his defence, he prayed the 
House to grant him such relief 
as might cause him to be fur¬ 
nished with a copy of the charges 
against him. I do not know whe¬ 
ther Mr. Brougham presented 
the Petition or not, but his inter¬ 
ference obtained for Swindells a 
copy, gratis, of an Ex-officio In¬ 
formation, filed against him, for 
publishing, on the 10th day of 
March, a Parody entitled the 
“ Political Litany,” and also 
another Parody entitled a “ Po¬ 
litical Creed;” winch latter it 
charged, I think rather whimsi¬ 
cally, to be “ a wicked, impious, 
arse, and malicious libel, of 
“ and concerning our Sovereign 
“ Lord the Ping, and of and cou- 
“ earning a certain person therein 
“ called the Earl of Liverpool, 
“ and of and concerning a certain 
other person therein called the 
“ Right Hon. Lord Castlereagh, 
“ and of and concerning* the 
“ House of Lords of this king- 
“ dom, and of and concerning 
“ the House of Commons of 
w this kingdom, imbnyst other 


“ THINGS ! ” Swindells be¬ 
ing thus informed of the charge, 
in gaol, whilst subsisting on the 
prison allowance, and utterly 
without the means of even ‘read¬ 
ing not guilty, the Cro’i n Prose¬ 
cutors were reduced to the ne¬ 
cessity of applying to their pri¬ 
soner, to let Mr. Litchfsel:)-, the 
Croton Solicitor, appear and enter 
a plea for him. To induce turn 
to do so, he was promised that 
Mr. Litchfield would bring ft 
forward for him at the *next 
Chester Assizes, rcithovt expense, 
otherwise all the expenses 
would, jail on himself- —a poor 
prisoner, living on bread and 
water! Swindells accordingly 
signed an authority, as follovvs7— 

( c °py) 

IN THE KINO’S BV.NCH. 

The King against Robert Swindells. 

I, the above-named Defendant, do here¬ 
by authorize Henry Charles Litch¬ 
field, Esq., to cause an Appearance and 
Plea ot Not Guilty to be entered for me to 
this Information. 

Robert Sw indells. 

Dated 23 July, 1817. 

This being signed, he was li¬ 
berated on giving his future re¬ 
sidence, or an address where he 
could be sent to. On what day 
he left Chester Castle I do not 
know, but the prosecution still 
proceeded, as appears by the 
following notice:— 

(Copy) • 

IN THE KING’S BENCH. 

The King against Robert Swindells. 

lake notice, that the issue Joined upon 
this Information will he tried at the next 
Great Session and Assizes to be holden in 
and for the county of Chester. 

Dated 25 July, 1817. 

II. C. Litchfield, 

Solicitor J'or the Prosecution. 

To Robert Swindells, 

the above-named Defendant. 



301] September 27, 1817. [£02 


This was followed by another— 

(Copy) 

IN THE KING’S BENCH. 

The K ing against Robert Swindells. 

I hereby give you notice tb it the issue 
jpimd in this prosecution will not be tried 
at the next Great Session and Assizes to be 
holden in and for the county ot Chester— 
the notice of trial being countermanded. 

Dated 1st August, 181T* 

H. C. Litchfield, 
Solicitor/'or the Prosecution. 

To Robert Swindells, 

the above-named Defendant. 

This was communicated to me 
as soon as received by the fol¬ 
lowing' letter:-— 

(Copy) 

DIkcclesJield , August 4. 

Sir, 

I received jhi^ by Mr. Grim^DJTCh’^. 
clerk, who said his master hail received a, 
letter, of which he was ordered to leave me 
a copy. Now I should be glad to know 
whether I must sit down with the losses and 
usage lhave had , or not. So l wait your 
answer, and am your obedient servant, 

Robert Swindells. 

Parsonage Street , Macclesfield , 

Cheshire. 

P. S. Reing at a loss ho\y to proceed, I 
should be glad for your instructions.— 
Please to excuse all freedom. 

As a Rule of Court had been 
obtained to nominate a Chester 
Special Jury at the Crown- 
Office in the Temple, Louth it, 
and Thursday, the 14th, at 11 
o'clock, was appointed by Mr. 
1 aj$iiingtqn, at the Crovvn-OiTi.ee, 
peremptorily to reduce, { at¬ 
tended there on behalf of Swin¬ 
dells at that hour, and then 
found, by the non-appearance of 
Mr. Litchfield to reduce f.he 
Jury, and the representation of 
the ejerk, that no Jury had been 
nominated, and the prosecution 
was considered as abandoned- 

The offence charged against 
Swindells is the publishing on 
the tenth of March, which is the 
day whereon, at midnight, his 


house was forcibly besef and 
ransacked; and the publirfiiny 
doubtless consists in his then hav¬ 
ing the alleged articles in his pos¬ 
session, of which, amongst other 
things, he was robbed by the 
persons who entered and delibe¬ 
rately packed up his books and 
carried them off, Talk of an 
Englishman’s bouse being his 
castle, indeed ! Here is a ppov 
man, who, disabled jn the service 
of his country, retires to a hum¬ 
ble dwelling, to taste the sweets 
of domestic life; and, in a season 
of general calamity, almost, if 
not entirely, destitute of other 
employ, he endeayptjrs to obtain 
bread for his wife and child by 
selling a few cheap pamphlets. 
On a sudden, and at night, the 
sanctity of his little home }§ out¬ 
raged with spell brutal violence, 
that his wife and infant are 
driven, in tears, and distress, and 
naked, from their bed, whilst 
every corner of the cottage, and 
every description of property, are 
ransacked and ravaged, Rven 
the unfinished garments which 
the fond mother had been pro¬ 
viding for her unborn offspring 
are examined, and scattered 
amongst the wreck of the house¬ 
hold stuff of her unprotected fa¬ 
mily. The poor woman, shiver- 
ng in the hitter cold of a winter 
night, without covering, tending 
the sleeping child §lie escaped 
with from her bed, and terrified 
to agony by fears for her bus? 
baud s safety, and by the sudcl.cn 
and causeless devastation coin? 
mitfed on her comforts—rthis hap¬ 
less wife, on the departure of tf/e 
marauders, declares to her hus¬ 
band, .and repeatedly afterwards 
to otfiers, that the affrighting 
scene of that night will work 
her death—her health declines—? 





303] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



she sustains a preternatural de¬ 
livery—and she dies, leaving her 
new-born infant, and that which 
she fondled on the fatal night, 
without a mother! The unfor¬ 
tunate Swindells, in the midst 
of this distress, is visited by a 
Government Prosecution, served 
with process upon process, his 
last-born babe perishes i or want 
of maternal care, and he is him¬ 
self carried to Chester Castle, 
as a Crown Prisoner ; whilst all 
that remains to him of all that is 
dear in this life, his little lone 
child, is deposited in that grave 
of hope, a parish poor-house! 
Here is distress ! Here is ruin ! 
What! is the publication of any 
pamphlet, however vile, to be 
visited, before trial, with suffer¬ 
ings such as this poor man’s? 
Having sustained an unconstitu¬ 
tional imprisonment, and not 
merely the separation of his fa¬ 
mily, but the destruction of it, 
he has been liberated without 
trial, and without redress! 

1 present this case to you now, 
Sir Francis, as one which is 
scarcely exceeded in misery by 
that of a poor woman near Spald¬ 
ing, w ho, a few weeks ago, des¬ 
titute of food for herself and 
flu *ec children, fetched a bucket 
full of grains, used in feeding 
swine, and throwing' them on the 
floor, as food to her famishing; 
babes, rushed out of doors, and 
in the agony of despair, committed 
suicide! To you, Sir Francis, as 
the eloquent advocate for recom¬ 
pense to individual suffering, and 
the firmest and ablest claimant 
in tbe House of Commons for 
Reform in that House, 1 am sure 
this appeal to procure poor 
Swindells justice, will not be 
made in vain. His is one of the 
instances which exemplify the 


lawlessness, and cruelty of 
power, under a corrupt state oi 
the Representation. 

With you for our champion, 
we, the People of England, will 
not despair of our country, or of 
the cause of Reform. On the 
15th day of June, 1801), you pre¬ 
sented a Specific Flan oJ'Refcrni 
to tlie House of Commons, that 
thenceforward, as you then ob¬ 
served,* “ it might be fully and 
“clearly understood how far you 
“ really meant to go, and at what 
“ point you meant to stop;” and 
from that day unto this, the ne¬ 
cessity of Reform has become 
more and more apparent, from 
one end of the kingdom to the 
other. On the first day of the 
last session, January 28lb, you 
arrived from Leicestershire at 
your own house, and, after being 
engaged there on the subject near¬ 
est our hearts , you then pro¬ 
ceeded to the House of Commons, 
and there, before even the Re¬ 
gent’s speech from the throne 
was read by the Speaker, you 
rose and said, “ I rise thus early 
to give notice, that on this day 
month I shall bring forward a 
motion Jor a REFORM in this 
House of Parliament /’ + On Tues¬ 
day, February the 25th, at the 
Westminster Meeting to petition 
against the Suspension of the 
Habeas Corpus Act, on the hust¬ 
ings in Palace-yard, I heard you 
deliver a speech, with Lord 
Cochrane on your right hand; 
next to his Lordship stood 
Major Cartwright; next to the 
Major Mr. Henry Hunt ; all 
of whom listened in silence to 
that part of the speech which 
is recorded in these words;— 

* See Sir Francis Burdett’s Plan of 
Reform, in the Register, Vol. X. No. 3. 

f Register, Vol. I, p. 6‘. ' * 






September 27, 


1817. 



**So long* as that House (the 
House of Commons), should 
remain under the control of a 
set ot borough proprietors, 
there was no more security 
for the wholesome use of the 
prerogative, than for (he enjoy* 
ment of popular rights. The 
Crown was as much under 
their control as the country; 
and until that bond which they 
affected to call a bond between 
the governor and governed, but 
which he (Sir F* Burdett) call¬ 
ed a bond oj infamy , and a bond 
ofcorruption ,u n d er wl 1 i .oh, i f n o t 
dissol ved, they must all become 
bondmen, should be destroyed 
«—until such a Reform in the 
Commons House of Parliament 
should be effected, as would 
preserve the majority indepen¬ 
dent of the Treasury Bench, 
he certainly could hold out 
v, to them but a very faint 
' prospect of success. To that 
object, therefore, above all 
others, their endeavours ought 
to be incessantly directed. 
He knew of no right that any 
set of men could claim to be 
governors perpetually, unless 
it was that which had been 
formerly known by the name 
of divine right'; and what had 
been said of that monstrous 
doctrine by a great man who 
lost his life in defence of Eng¬ 
lish freedom—he meant Sid¬ 
ney —might be fairly applied 
- to the influence of the borough 
proprietors—‘ he never could 
believe in the principle of di¬ 
vine right, until he could he 
persuaded that some men were 
born with the mark of a saddle 
on their hacks, and others 
booted and spurred to ride 
them’ ” [Loud Applause ].* 

* See Speech at length, in VoiLJ. No. 6 . 


[Mr. Henry Hunt, who spoke 
at the Meeting, having stated 
that a Resolution proposed by 
LORD COCHRANE, on tire 
second night of the meeting, 
fell to the ground for want of a 
seconder—that no ONE Mem¬ 
ber had been found in the Ho¬ 
nourable House to second it—• 
the assertion was taken to be 
in pointed allusion to Sir id 
Burdett, who noticed it as fol¬ 
lows :—] 

“ A gentleman who had spoken 
before him (Mr. Hunt), had 
called in question his conduct 
in Parliament. Now he did 
not think himself accountable 
to that gentleman for the mo¬ 
tives of his proceedings there; 
but in the present instance, 
he had no hesitation in saying, 
that the motion of Ids noble col¬ 
league (Lord. Cochrane) HAD 
BEEN SUBMITTED TO HIM, 
and he advised him not - to 
bring it forward at that time. 
That motion, which was not se¬ 
conded, was brought forward 
at so late a time of tiie night* 
that he and the greater part of 
the Members had left the 
House.* It would have been 
better, he imagined, if that 
amendment had been sub¬ 
mitted by the Noble Lord 
(Lord Cochrane) the next 
day, as a substantive proposi¬ 
tion. While he sat in Partial 
ment, which would be so long 
as He had the confidence of 
bis constituents [applause]* he 
should act according to the 

* Lord Cochrans moved his Resolution 
after the division, at half past three in the 
morning, when the Members were leaving 
the House, and even after some of the Re¬ 
porters, who concluded the business was 
over, had left the House ; and thus the 
British Press , and some other newspaper*:-,- 
do not even notice his Lordship’s having 
spoken. 




307] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [308 


best of bis discretion. His 
constituents might not at all 
times know all the circumstan¬ 
ces, whether this or that line of 
conduct, in many cases, were 
most adviseable [applause .]— 
They might, however, judge 
from the' whole tenor of his 
conduct, whether he was de- 
serving of their confidence, 
and when they judged that he 
was no longer worthy of it, 
whether they had yearly or 
weekly Parliaments, the seat 
which he now filled should be 
at their disposal \Joud ap¬ 
plause ]. But Mr. Hunt had 
gone much farther—he had 
prescribed not only what his 
(Sir Francis Burdett’s) con¬ 
duct should be, but what he 
should say. Really this was out¬ 
rageous. He had rather be the 
tool of a Court, than be moved 
as _ a PUPPET, and com¬ 
manded when to speak, and 
when to hold his tongue.” 

On your Celebrated motion for 
Reform in the House of Com¬ 
mons, June 15, 1809, it appears 
by the following ( notation from 
Corbett's Political Register , 
the division w r as as follows: — 

“ For Sir Francis Burdeti’s Motion. 15 
w Against it. 74 

“ Majority against the Motion. ., ...59 

“ LIST OF THE MINORITY. 

“ Adams, Charle| “ Maxwell, W. 

“ Bufdett, Sir F. “ Moore, Peter 
“ Campbell, General “Thornton, Henry 
“ Combe, Harvey “ Tracey, Hanbury 
“ Cutbbert, J. R. “ Turion, Sir f. 

“ Hutchinson, C. “ Wardle, G L. 

“ Knapp, G. “ Western, C. C. 

“ Lfetevre, C. S. “ Wharton, dohn 
“ Madocks, W. A. 

“ LORD COCHRANE teas 
accidentall:j out qf the House at 
u the time oJ‘ the division 

In this way, it is stated by Mr. 
Ccbbett, ill his Political Re ¬ 


gister , vol. 15, fpr 1809, p. .981, 
that your motion was disposed 
of, and supported. 

In your last motion for Reform 
in the House of Commons, on 
the 20th of May, keeping steadily 
to your object, you asked, “ Was 
it to be borne, then, that instead 
of being governed by laws made 
by our own consent, instead .of 
seeing a full and free representa¬ 
tion, instead of seeing the majo¬ 
rity of the People deputing those 
who were to legislate for them, 
the nation was to be ruled by a 
few borougbmongers l M ould it 
be said that no representation of 
the People was intended, but 
that those men were to enjoy all 
the powers of the Constitution in 
their ow n hands, that they were 
to be the real sovereigns of Eng¬ 
land, and dispose of opr lives, 
liberty, and property, at their 
pleasured Different writers, ao 
cording to.their taste, their edu¬ 
cation, or their peculiar bias, had 
pointed out the advantages, and 
supported the excellence of 
different species of Government. 
The republican, the &ri$focraticul, 
and the monarchiai form of admi¬ 
nistration had all had their pane¬ 
gyrists ; but no author that ever 
he heard of had ever praised an 
oligarchy.”* 

You on this occasion, accord¬ 
ing to Parliamentary usage, 
in all matters of serious abuse, 
moved for a Select Committee to 
inquire into the state of the Re¬ 
presentation, and to report to the 
House thereon; and the division 
was 

For the Motion-77 

Against it - -$65 

Majority - - - - 188 

* Sae Sir Francis Buiidett’s Speech, at 
length, m Register, Vol. 1. No. 19. 







309] September 27, 1817. [310 


On the 23d of May, three days 

afterwards, you dined at the 
. * 

Crown-and-Anchor Tavern, with 
your constituents, to celebrate the 
anniversary of your election, and 
the “ Triumph of Westminster;” 
and I find in the newspaper re¬ 
port, your speech concludes 
as follows: “ The Country Gen¬ 
tlemen, to whom he (Sir F. Bur- 
dett) was always willing to 
direct his attention, would, he 
hoped, see that it was from pro¬ 
digality and corruption , not from 
•the People, that they had to ap¬ 
prehend danger; that they were 
like a simple countryman hustled 
by pickpockets, who pretended 
to be his most zealous friends r 
while they contrived to convey 
away his purse (ApplauseJ. In 
the cause of REFORM, those 
who now co-operated would, he 
trusted, continue to act together 
with mutual forbearance, mutual 
moderation, and united efforts; 
and they might strive to turn the 
helm to reach that haven, towards 
which they had long endeavoured 
to steer the vessel of the state, 
and to which he now looked with 
more sanguine hope than at any 
former period of a life, which, 
though not long, had not been, 
as a political life, very short.” 

If any thing were wanting to 
assure us of your steady perse¬ 
verance in behalf of .the Consti¬ 
tutional-rights of the People, we 
ha ve but to recollect your daily 
attendance on the trials of the 
prisoners for high treason, and 
your vigilant watchfulness of the 
proceedings Jn Court; your pre¬ 
sence, previously, on the trials of 
Mr. Wooler ; and your visiting 
Ireland to bear testimony in a 
Court of Justice to the honour of 
ail excellent man, hunted by 
power, and enduring persecution, 


all his life, and, on this occasion, 
singled out as the victim to an in¬ 
famous conspiracy. 

Reform is surely safe in the 
hands of him who has alike dis¬ 
dained the threats and blandish- 

v v 

meats of the corrupt and the 
ihighty, and been unmoved by 
the shout of the multitude — 
whose constituents, unbought, 
unbribed, and unbiassed, return 
him to Parliament, without soli¬ 
citation, as the representative and 
guardian of their best interests ; 
whom they denominate, for his 
services,Westminster's pride; and 
whom we, the People, with 
twenty years’experience and ad¬ 
miration of his consistency and 
public worth, still look up to with 
delight as England's hope . 

I am, Sir, 

With respect and sincerity, 
Your obedient faithful Servant, 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

24th September, 1817. 

THE 

Manchester Blanketcers . - 


To Mr. Hone* 


Manchester, Sept. 12, 1817. 

Sir, 

As you had the kindness to in¬ 
sert the account of the prosecu- - 
tion against the Manchester 

V..7 

Blanketeer.Sy you have now offer¬ 
ed for insertion in your valuable 
Register , the ulterior proceed¬ 
ings of the sons of Corruption 
against those men. After writing 
the statement here alluded to, 
some gentlemen, friends of Re¬ 
form, whose conduct en this 
occasion deserves the highest 
encomiums, in commiseration of 
their friendless situation, ordered 
a plea to be entered in the Court 







jllj Hone's Reform 

qf King's Bench, and the trial 
came on on Saturday, September 
the 6th, at Lancaster; when Mr. 
Williams, Counsel for the Pri¬ 
soners, objected to two Jural's, 
Colonel Cawthorne, of Lancas¬ 
ter, and General Gascoigne, of 
Liverpool. Mr. Topping, for the 
Crown, stated, that it was not the 
intention of Government to pro¬ 
ceed against the prisoners; that 
at the time of their arrest, Man¬ 
chester was in a very disturbed 
state, but on account of the new 
tone that things had assumed, his 
Majesty’s Government, never de¬ 
sirous of prosecuting the King's 
subjects, but in cases where the 
public justice demanded it, 
thought it unnecessary to press 
any thing: against the Defendants. 
In consequence of this, Baron 
Wood ordered the Prisoners to 
be immediately discharged. But 
although this order was given at 
nine o’clock in the morning, it 

V J f 

was six o’clock at night before 
those in prison were liberated. 

And now, sir, that this sfceue is 
wound up, and the buffoons of 
Corruption had quitted the stage, 

I will thank either you, or any 
unprejudiced Englisnman, to take 
a deliberate survey of the con¬ 
cern, from its commencement to 
its conclusion, and then say, if 
any, but the veriest tools of 
tyranny and oppression could 
have acted as the persecutors in 
this case have done. They com¬ 
menced with lawlessly trampling 
under foot all order and even the 
very appearance of justice, and 
concluded by cowardly sneaking 
behind the scenes, and leaving 
the Crpwn Lawyers to plaster 
over their dirty work. 

The tools of Corruption knew, 
that if they brought the Defend- I 
ants to a fair trial, it would 


lists’ Register. [;}12 

have been proved, upon the oath 
of respectable evidences, that the 
meeting of the 1 Otli ot March 
was both legal and peaceable; 
and that no act of disorder was 
committed, till Mr. Withington, 
Chief Constable, aud Nadin; his 
worthy deputy, came with a body 
of military, who, taking the word 
of command from Withington, 
instantly charged an unarmed 
multitude, at iuH gallop, tram¬ 
pling all under the feet of their 
horses who could not get out of 
their way, and laying about them 
with their swords at the same 
time. T here it would have been 
proved, that hundreds of this de¬ 
fenceless multitude (which con¬ 
sisted of at least 60,000), w r ere 
trod under the feet of the dra¬ 
goon’s horses ; their two worthy 
and Quixotic chiefs beating all 
who came within their reach with 
their whips or sticks at the same 
time. 

No, my good Mr. Topping, it 
was not because Government (as 
the thing is called) did not wish 
to bring forward this prosecu¬ 
tion ; it was because they knew 
these damning facts would be 
substantiated, and that an eternal 
stigma would rest upon the actors 
in this never- to -be-forgotten 
scandalous transaction. The per¬ 
formers in the scene before us 
will certainly rank as high in the 
list of Corruption, as either a 
Castles or an Oliver; and when 
she distributes her favours, it is 
humbly hoped those candidates 
tor candle-ends and cheese¬ 
parings, will be remembered; 
and it is also hoped, that when 
the reckoning day arrives, they 
will be brought forth. So then 
it should seem, Mr. Topping, that 
fit was merciful in the persecutors 
to abandon this prosecution, was 




313] September 27, 1817. ; [S!4 


it? The Blanlzcfeers did not 
think so; they wished for a fair 
triah in the open face of day and 
heaven; they had repeatedly re¬ 
fused any favours from the sons 
of Tyranny and Corruption; and 
the only favour they requested, 
was, for the Crown Lawyers 
to proceed with the prose¬ 
cution, that their countrymen 
might decide betwixt them and 
their accusers. But a public ex¬ 
posure was what those gentle¬ 
men above all things wished to 
avoid; they loved darkness, be- 
cause light would have cursed 
them. Why, sir, had the Blan- 
keleers wished to have compro¬ 
mised this affair, it had been done 
prior to its coming* into Court; 
they had had innumerable pro¬ 
posals made to them, to be libe¬ 
rated ou their own bail to keep 
the peace; and made, too, both 
by friends in disguise, and open 
foes, out of prison and in the 
prison ; from the Governor down to 
the lowest scullion, had been set 
on to sound them; and all kinds 
of threats and promises were em¬ 
ployed by these living machines, 
who crawl about the cells, but 
without effect; and the firmness 
and moderation of those patriotic 
(though poor men), have tri¬ 
umphed over lawless and tyran¬ 
nic power. 

Never, Mr. Hone, will the 
transaction of this memorable 
day be forgotten in Manchester. 
Posterity will scarcely credit the 
account, when they read, that a 
most wanton and desperate attack 
was planned and executed upon 
a peaceable meeting', consisting 
of sixty thousand people; and 
that about 150 or 200 dragoons 
were allowed to trample hun¬ 
dreds under the feet of their 
horses, and wound numbers with 


their swords ; * and that all this 
was done without any physical 
resistance whatever. The imps 
of tyranny knotty that had the 
people been disposed to use 
force, the whole of their myrmi- 
dons must have been destroyed 
in an hour. What evidence is 
wanting, more than this fact, to 
prove the peaceable disposition 
of the Reformers, and give a 
complete negative to the enemie.4 
of Reform? There w ere also, at 
that very moment, at least three 
spies , or rather fomenters of riots, 
busily at work, endeavouring to 
create disturbances : but nothing 
could induce the people to 
swerve from a peaceable demean¬ 
our, or cause them to commit a 
single breach of the peace! This 
w as the mb ! this is the pinching 
point! What, not a single riot¬ 
ous act! Intolerable ! not to be 
endured ! Sure, the people are 
metamorphosed into stocks or 
stones; go forth, our brave spe¬ 
cials, and bring before us those 
riotous dogS! Away they go, 
carrying tumult and disorder in 
their train ; and woe to the man 
who comes in their way with a 
ragged coat on, or a bundle in his 
hands. Some they heat with 
their truncheons, and some they 
take to gaol. But still no dis¬ 
turbance, still no resistance ; not 
the smallest tumult, save what 
themselves produced ! The 
cause was hopeless, their affairs 
became desperate—something 
must be done. The town is now' 
made a barrack ; and to keep up 
the farce, the Lying-in-IIospital 
and Auction Mart filled with sol¬ 
diers. But this was not enough ; 
taking military possession of the 
town was not a riot. In this 

* There were two men died soon aft.or 
o{ their wounds. s > 





815] Hone* Reformi 

dreadful emergency, comes forth 
the redoubtable knight, Oliver, 
and then appear the two esquires, 
Waddington of Bolton, and 
Lomas of Manchester, with all 
the red-collared gentry into the 
bargain, and away they go among 
the Reformers, ransacking’ every 
hovel of misery through the 
county; denouncing armies of 
Reformers as ready to rise at a 
stamp of the foot, and destroy the 
soldiers, and take the barracks, 
and linally set fire to Manches¬ 
ter, and involve all in one com¬ 
mon ruin. Our worthy Magis¬ 
trates assured us they had posi¬ 
tive information that the town 
was to be bred; and we were 
very grateful for the care they 
took of us. And now comes the 
upshot of the business; they knew, 
positively knew, where the rebel 
armv was to rendezvous ! and ac- 
cordingly one second chieftain 
in the list of constables, with a 
suitable civil and military force, 
hastened to the scene of rebel¬ 
lion, where, according to the fore¬ 
knowledge of the Magistrates, 
the wlftde army of tltp conspira¬ 
tors were assembled! The spies 
give the signal! the constables 
and the military rush forth, and 
lay hold of their prey! The 
whole of the rebels were made 
prisoners, consisting of two or 
three spies, and six or seven of 
their dupes. This was rare w ork : 
the prisoners were conducted 
with military honours to the jail; 
and the sjyies, poor innocent crea¬ 
tures, bellirj men of yood moral 
char caster, wove set at liberty, 
Here ended die Man chaster plot- 
makers' conspiracy ; and if any 
Member of Parliament deems flie 
facts here alluded to of import¬ 
ance, be may be put in a 
way to substantiate them all. 


ts’ Register. [310 

We certify, that as far as this 
is connected with our case, it is 
true. 

Peter Lever. 

W illiam Standring. 
George Grimshaw. 
Matthew Lythgo. 
John Williams. 
William W t ood. 
George Murray. 


NEW LORD MAYOR. 

FOR HONE'S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER* 

To the Independent Livery oJ~‘ 
London . 

Gentlement, 

The time is fast approaching, when 
you will be called upon to elect your 
Chief Magistrate for the ensuing year, 
and most, probably the same spirit 
which was manifested, and the same 
exertions which were made last year, 
will be again necessary for the se¬ 
curing to the civic chair a man 
worthy of your confidence , and who has 
never sacrificed that confidence at the 
shrine of his own interest. This must 
be kept in view, because, by keeping 
it in view, the plan to be pursued will 
be easy, and the result certain. A 
few questions may be necessary to ask 
you, and as I address only those who 
pride themselves on principle, and that 
principle integrity and consistency, I 
shall at the same time answer, them. 

First,— -Is it to your interest , indi¬ 
vidually or collectively, to have a Lord 
Mayor whose apostanj , next to his 
imbecility, is the delineation of his 
character, and whose merits consist 
in supporting every - measure which 
tends to deprive you of your rights* 
With confidence I may answer, NO ! 
Will you then have Mr. Alderman 
Christopher Smith ? 

Secondly,— -Will you have for 








31?] September 

your Chief Magistrate a man whose 
humanity was evident in sanctioning 
the flogging of a poor unprotected 
sailor-boy3 and who tells you, as a 

REPRESENTATIVE, INSTRUCT me to do 
what you please, I will do as I please? 
\\ itii the same confidence I will an¬ 
swer, Go© forbid ! Will you then 
have Mr. Alderman Atkins ? 

Do you want a man who will not, 
at the ?iod of the Ministry, surrender 
into their hands your rights and pri¬ 
vileges ? Do you want a man, who, 
as an Alderman, has conducted him¬ 
self upon all occasions with integrity, 
and as a careful guardian of your in¬ 
terests? 1 answer, YES ! Such then is 
ALDERMAN GOODBEHERE. 

Thus have you a choice; and let, 
me beseech you to be firm, and secure 
your choice. If any of my brother 
Livervmen are lukewarm and iiidiffe* 

J 

rent upon the subject, and ask, what 
matters it who we have, so as we 
Rave a Lord Mayor! him I beg to 
ask, does it. not matter whether we 
have a friend to Corruption , or an 
enemy to it ? At all times the selec¬ 
tion of an upright man is ot import¬ 
ance 3 at this time it is of the utmost 
consequence ! Have we not in the 
present year witnessed the import¬ 
ance, ill the case of the persons tried 
at Westminster for High Treason. 
Where was the alleged offence against 
the State commuted ? In the City 1 
Who was it, that with four others ., put 
to the rout, Falstaff and his brave 
associates ? Who was it that received 
the examinations of these Quixotic 
rebels ? Who was it forwarded all 
the off dal communications to the 
Secretary of State," but the present: 
worthy Chief Magistrate ? He alone 
was ostensibly the witness to prove 
the crime, and he was never examined! 
and why ? Solely, because he would 
have u told the truth, (he whole truth. 


27, 1S17. [318 

and nothing but the truth 3 ” which, on 
a trial for life or death, is of no im* 
portance to some persons. „ Had Mr. 
Christopher Smith been Lord 
Mayor (and here I must congratulate 
the Livery that he was not), would 
not the effect have been totally diffe¬ 
rent? Would he have dared attack 
the motley groupe ? Would he not 
have exclaimed,— 

“ Now my cold blood runs shiv’ring to my 
heart. 

As at some phantom, that in dead of 
night 

i( With dreadful action stalks around my 
bed.” 

If the officers had secured the rioters, 
how different would have been the re¬ 
sult. The present Lord Mayor’s dis¬ 
crimination perceived a “ plentiful 
lack ” of treasonable matter in the 
green bag, and he was not examined ! 
Had Air. Christopher Smith been 
Lord Mayor, what would have been 
his discrimination ? Would not he 
have been examined ? Suppose the 
present Lord Mayor and Mr. Chris¬ 
topher Smith in a witness-box, 
which would be most like the witness 
at Lewes Assizes, who, when asked 
by Counsel what he had to say, re¬ 
plied, “ Any thing you please , sir 1 ’* 
A Lord Mayor, by virtue of that 
office a “ Right Honourable,” and 
by virtue of the Honourable the 
House of Commons, an “ Honoura- 
able,"-— the Jury could not question 
the evidence of such a witness 3 and 
who cannot see, that with some per¬ 
sons in those distinguished situations, 
the result must have been, that the 
men who were acquitted, and are now 
living, would have been convicted, 
condemned, and I need not add exe¬ 
cuted ! But here would not hare 
finished the tragedy, which happily 
has been damned, and, in the eyes of 
most men, every actor ink; formally 
honest, industrious and stetrvimg peo- 





Hone's Reformists' Register. [320 


pie would have suffered also. Thus 
I may say, by the honesty of your 
present Chief Magistrate, the intended 
executions were prevented, and the 
lives of other helpless beings preserved 
from jeopardy. Are we in a better 
situation than before these results ? 
Are not the Gagging Bills— Seditious 
Meeting Bills, in force ? And as to 
these, I cannot help wishing they had 
been called into action when the 
Ministerial Meetings were held for 
suspending the dearest of our 
rights, the bulwark of our Consti¬ 
tution—the Habeas Corpus Act. 
Those were the seditious meetings, 
and then the gag should have been 
applied. Have you, brother Livery¬ 
men, any security from past conduct, 
that another Castles may not be em¬ 
ployed to irritate the minds of the 
much-injured people (for every engine 
is still kept, and can, and may be 
aguin used)? and if so, in the name of 
common sense, while you have it in 
your power, render the sting of your 
cruel enemy harmless, by electing 
ALDERMAN GOODBEHERE. 

1 am sure that no one will for one 
moment wish the Livery to compro¬ 
mise their principles, by allowing 
Alderman Christopher Smith to be 
Lord Mayor. I know it has been 
thought impossible to overthrow the 
routine of two Aldermen, and that it 
is better to have Smith than Atkins. 
If\ve were COMPELLED to have 
one of the two evils, I would readily 
accede to it; but I have said, and I 
repeat it, it is an insult to the Livery 
to sav they must have an evil when a 

J * 

good can be had. The task, gentle¬ 
men and brother Liverymen, is easy ■ 


return the LORD MAYOR and Al¬ 
derman GOODBEHERE to the 
Court of Aldermen, and if Alderman 
Smith dares trouble the Livery, by 
demanding a poll,— 

<( ’Tis easy to beat HIM once more , 

f( Who shamefully was beat before /" 

If Mr. Alderman Atkins likewise 
polls, let him have just as many votes 
as Iw had before, viz. fourteen 1 
No fear of being beaten by the i.oyal 
Liverymen, ought for a moment 
harbour in your breasts. Attend to 
your duties on Monday next, the 29th, 
and I again ask you to return the 
Lord Mayor and Mr. Alderman 
Goodbehere 3 if a poll is demanded 
by the routine Aldermen, do not give 
plumpers either to the Lord Mayor 
or Mr. Alderman Goodbehere, but 
vote for them jointly. This is all you 
have to do, and .when you have done 
this, you have clone your duty. 

Let this city continue to be the city 
whose intuitive discernment, like the 
spear of Ithuriel, first displays the 
demon of tyranny in its native^ defor¬ 
mity ! Let it not he said the city has 
mental deficiency. No ! Let it be a 
light to direct the benighted traveller 
in safety through the bewildering 
shades of ignorance. Let it be the 
needle ever constant to its invisible 
ruler in the North, to guide him 
through the raging ocean. Then op¬ 
pression come on ! then despotism 
we defy thee ! must be our exclama¬ 
tion. 

I am, Gentlemen, 

Your humble Servant, 

J. C. HITCHINS. 

Aldermanbury Postern , 

Sept. 24, 1817. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
LtDGATt Hjll; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should he addressed. 
—Pnce Two-Pence each, i2>. per Hundred, or 5b l Os. per Thousand. 






Price Two-Pence. 


HONE'S REFORMISTS 7 REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. 1 I -] 


' Saturday, October 4 , 1817 * 


rvov 


THE 

GUTTLERS.. 

AND THE NEW 

LORD MAYOR. 


THE LONDON GUTTLERS, the 
Supporters of what is established, 
described—The Naked Roy at the 
Corner of Cock Lone—The Monu- 
men t —B a rbarou s T rails formations 
in GUILDIIALL—Nomination of 
the present LORD MAYOR, and 
Alderman GOODBEHERE, for the 
Netl' Lord Marjor — Mr.HITCH INS 
and Mr. IVOOLER'S Speeches— 
IntemcDted by the New* Sheriff 
D ESANGES— Old DANIEL DE 
FOE'S severe Characters of the 
Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Recorder, 
&.c. in 1705—Merits of the present 
Lord Mayor—Blots in Queen Anne s 
Reign-; viz. the Little House Plot; 
the Band-box Blot; the Mohocks 
Plot—Scene between De Foe and 
the Judges, in the Kings Bench— 
The Screw Plot—The Virtue of the 
’Livery of London—Can they resist 
Aldermen in Chains, and Custards? 

A BOROUGHMONGER'S DIC¬ 
TIONARY preparing, thoroughly 
exposing Beroughmongers, Bo- 
roughmongering Practices, and 
Parliara en t ary Corrupt ion. 

SLAVE-DEALERS AND STOCK¬ 
HOLDERS, by a West Country 
Labourer. 


There are certain animals in 
the City of London, who go on 


two lesr*, and bu the aid of a tni- 
:or and a barber and a hat, are 
called men. Their leading pro¬ 
pensity is to get money, which 
they love bette r than any thing 
in the world, except a large pro¬ 
tuberance beneath the stomach. 
Which they cal La belly, and love 
better still. They hold the head 
very erect, and have a bold, un¬ 
meaning, impudent look, espe¬ 
cially if their accumulation of 
property is large; and, when it is 
above a certain amount, they are 
called good men. As they look 
very grave, they are taken by the 
vulgar to be wise, and by a 
strange misapplication of terms, 
are called respectable. But their 
wisdom consists in concealing 
their ignorance; and their respec¬ 
tability is nothing' more than the 
power they possess of doing 
harm—their abstaining from it, 
which is very rare, is their su- 
premest virtue. They float above 
the level of their fellow-citizens, 
as the drowned and swollen car¬ 
case rises, in ils putrefying state, 
to the surface of the water, and is 
borne along by the stream.— 
Knowing that they have been 
generated by the present system, 
they would perpetuate it; like 
the maggot, which, hfed in rot¬ 
ten flesh, becoming a* fly, seeks its 
native carrion to deposit its eggs, 

maggots. They 
supporters of 
because 


and breed other 
are the regular 
every thing established, 


Printed by and for W. Hone, (>7, Oiu Eaib 1 ' 


,un <ioo 


































323] 

it has been in their time. Cor¬ 
ruption is established, and they 
support it, because they have fat¬ 
tened under it. They find 
the image of a little bloated 
naked boy, put up at the comer 
of Cock Lane, which bears an in¬ 
scription, purporting that the 
great Fire of London was occa¬ 
sioned by the “ horrible sin of 
gluttony ” and they preserve this 
image—because it is established ; 
and that notwithstanding the in¬ 
scription on the Monument at 
Fish Street Hill says the fire 
was occasioned “ by the Papists 
— but they also preserve the 
Monument, because that is estab¬ 
lished. They crawl about the 
city, before the election of a 
Lord Mayor, like toads in a 
garden walk, before rain; and 
keep Lord Mayor's Day, for one 
of the reasons they do Good Fri¬ 
day—because it is established; 
jor another—because they can 
indulge in gormandizing at the 
expense of others. Fating to re- - 
pletion, and drinking* to excess, 
nothing stands in their way—soups, 
and flesh, and fowl, all are re¬ 
morselessly and ravenously de¬ 
voured by these mountains of 
mummy. They would stick a 
knife into the Prince Regent, 
were he before them in blanc¬ 
mange —and dare any one to 
doubt their loyalty : they would 
swallow bumpers of JLachryma 
Chrisii in the preseuce of the 
Attorney-General—and defy a 
charge of blasphemy. They do 
all this annually in the Guild¬ 
hall ; which, from a noble form 
of the Gothic order, has been 
altered with less taste than 
our grandmothers hajd when they 
worked Solomon’s Temple in a 
sampler; or than a Dutch ginger- 


[324 

bread-baker would show in de¬ 
signing and making* the same 
celebrated edifice “ in all its 
glory.” A row of counting-house 
windows, in plain plaster walls, 
let in the light above the fretted 
arches of the ancient architec¬ 
ture. The top of the great stain¬ 
ed glass windows at each end of 
the hall, are cut off to accommo¬ 
date a new flat plaster roof;—the 
old Gothic one, with its rich 
groining* and carved work, could 
not be renewed but at (he ex¬ 
pense of at least two guttles ! In 
this hall, disfigured by their ava¬ 
rice, but conspicuously fine in 
whitewash and paint, and gold 
leaf, they carve their way up to 
civic honours—speculating upon 
the consequences of each others 
voracity, for fresh openings to 
their ambition. These are the 
advocates of w hat is established; 
and it is to aid such as these, 
that the Courier newspaper of 
last night, noticing the pending* 
election for Lord Mayor, talks of 
a design to unsettle “ confidence 
i n w h at h as b een 1 oi i g est a b lish ed.” 
The Courier mentions this design , 
as if it w as a discovery made by 
itself. There is such a design. 
It has been, and is, and will con¬ 
tinue to be avowed, and to be 
acted upon, too. It is necessary 
to show 

“ It is the a*jectproperty of most, 

That being parcel ©f the common mass. 
And destitute of means to raise themselves. 
They sink and settle lower than they need."* 

To break dctfwn the reverence 
fop hoary-headed established 
abuse, the independent portion 
of the Livery are now making a 
stand for the right of choosing 
their Lord Mayor, and this 
has irritated the Courier . The 
* Cowper’s Task, Book 5. 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 







325] October 

animating Letter of Mr. HITCH- 
INS, to his brother Liverymen, 
inserted in the last Register, and 
afterwards copied from it into 
other papers, was well calculated 
to arouse them to the exercise of 
their elective franchise. Accord¬ 
ingly* he had the satisfaction of 
meeting a respectable Common- 
Hall, on Monday, and nomi¬ 
nating the present Worthy Lord 
Mayor, and Mr. Alderman Good- 
BEHERE, as deserving to be re¬ 
turned by them to the Court of 
Aldermen. Mr. LllTCHINS’S 
purpose was generally known, 
and the Livery expressed their 
satisfaction by every demonstra¬ 
tion. The hall literally rung 
with shouts of applause. His 
speech abounded with excellen 
observations. Adverting to the 
independence of controul the Li¬ 
very manifested last year, by 
choosing the present Chief Ma¬ 
gistrate a second time, he re¬ 
marked on the importance of 
their exercising their right to 
choose out ot the line ot rotation, 
by inquiring,— 

Who could, on that occasion,have 
anticipated the events which 
had since occurred, and which 
were of so much moment to this 
city—to the country at large, 
and to the world—who could 
have anticipated the various 
misconduct of the Government, 
or that such dark and diabo¬ 
lical transactions would have 
taken place—that liberty itself 
would have been immolated to 
gratify the thirst for power and 
oppression which marked the 
character of Ministers, at once 
ti t e most imbecile and arbitrary 
that ever afflicted inis or per¬ 
haps any other civilized nation. 
He had, indeed, no hesitation in 


4, 1817. [326 

saying, that through the machi¬ 
nations of those Ministers, this 
country was subjected to an 
absolute Despotism . That the 
admirers and retainers of Ad¬ 
ministration should not like 
the word Despotism, however 
much they valued the power 
which that despotism con¬ 
ferred upon their patrons, 
w as a thing perfectly natural, 
because they w ere well aware 
that despotism must revolt the 
feelings of Englishmen. The 
advocates of Government dis¬ 
liked a charge which they 
must know to be just, lest the 
repetition and proof of that 
charge should lead to conse- 
quences to them unpleasant; 
and perhaps the apprehension 
was not altogether groundless. 
Perhaps the People would yet 
universally feel their condition, 
and that the restoration of 
freedom was nearer at hand 
than Ministerial tools would 
wish to believe. Such, indeed, 
was his hope and calculation; 
for the country was so situated 
that it was quite impossible the 
People of England would 
shrink from any necessary 
struggle to recover their Con¬ 
stitution, unless they had ut¬ 
terly lost the spirit and the 
judgment which distinguished 
their ancestors. There was 
a maxim in politics always 
held so sacred in England, 
that even the, admirers of Mi¬ 
nisters could not refuse to 
recognize its force, namely, 
Sains Populi suprema lex, that 
is, that the health or welfare 
of the People was the supreme 
law. But how was this maxim 
consulted by those who took 
immense sums out Of the pockets 



327] IIomf/ Reformists’ Register. 



off the,People, to supply the ex¬ 
travagances cf the Court ? and 
yet such was notoriously the 
case in every arbitrary mo¬ 
narchy. The monarchy of this 
country was no doubt nominal, 
and professedly limited ; but 
it was obvious, that through the 
corruption of those who called 
themselves the Representatives 
of the People, seconded, in 
some degree, by the apathy of 
the People themselves, that 
monarchy had becom^as arbi¬ 
trary and as corrupt as any in 
Europe [applause, mixed with 
cues of ,4 ofF, off, oil!”]. lie 
appealed to candour, to com¬ 
ma” sense, and to the evidence 
of history, whether any Go¬ 
vernment on earth, however 
armed with the engine of ar- 
biliary power,had ever drained 
so much money from its un¬ 
fortunate subjects* as that of 
Great Britain had done, within 
the last fifty years. Yet all 
this money w,as, squandered in 
profligacy and war—in under¬ 
mining the civil rights and 
moral principles of our own 
people, or in overturning 
the liberty and independence 
of oilier nations. Was it pos¬ 
sible that such profusion and 
oriminalilv could he views#] 


without indignation by any but. 
those vultures who fattened 
upon the blood of the People ? 
Mr. DESANGES, one of the 

Jt E.W Sheriffs, here thought 
proper to interrupt Mr. fin chins. 
He called him to order, Mr. 
Sheriff DESAKGES said he was 
wandering from the question; 
that the Livery were assembled 
to choose a Lord Mayor, and not 
to enier into political discus¬ 
sions. Mr. Sheriff DERANGES 


jsajd he thought that on such a't 
occasion there ought to be no al¬ 
lusion to politics . The Livery, 
however, thought otherwise. 
They called on Mr. Hitchins to 
resume his speech, in opposition 
to the new Sheriff’s opinion; 
and Mr. Sheriff' DESANGES 
was himself called to order by 
the Livery. 

Mr. Hitchins maintained the 
relevancy of political discus¬ 
sion, and his right to enter into 
it upon this occasion. The 
character and qualifications of 
a Magistrate were, he submit- 
ted, of the utmost importance 
in the present circumstances of 
the country, and it was incum¬ 
bent upon the People to exer¬ 
cise a vigilant jealousy in scru¬ 
tinizing the j pretensions of those 
few among the Magistracy 
whom they were permitted to 
elect. Such jealousy, indeed, 
should peculiarly apply to the 
political principle of any can¬ 
didate for the Magistracy who 
sought his election through 
popular favour. For the Peo¬ 
ple must be aware of the ex¬ 
traordinary authority of a Ma¬ 
gistrate, especially extended 
as that authority bad lately 
been by a decree of the exe¬ 
cutive power. The People 
must also be aware how liable 
the authority of a Magistrate 
was to gross abuse, from tbs 
case of Oliver, whom a Ma¬ 
gistrate had permitted to es¬ 
cape. while he committed the 

M ' 

unhappy victims of that minis¬ 
terial spy's nefarious artifice 
to the horrors of a dungeon. 
[Loud applauses, mixed with 
some hisses, and a cry of “ no 
politicsf in which cry Sheriff 
DESANGES joined.'] ' 




$-9] . OCTQRf!R 

B at it was particularly material 
at tile present crisis to select a 
fit and proper person to fill the 
important office of Lord Mayor 
in this great city for the en¬ 
suing year; for it was to be 
remembered that a .GENERAL 
ELECTION must be looked 
tor within that year, and the 
influence of our Chief Magfis- 
irate upon sue a an occasion 
was notorious. What, therj, 
was to be apprehended, should 
that influence be committed to 
the hands of any man adverse 
to the civil liberty of his Jhlloic- 
citizens / —and he felt it uune- ! 
cess ary to characterize the j 
probable conduct of Mr. Alder- i 
man Christopher Smith — 
that gentleman was decidedly 
rejected by the Livery at the 
last election, in conseo , nee 
of his political principles, 
which were aggravated by his 
notori 071 s apostacy • And had 
this Alderman since the last 
election manifested any dispo¬ 
sition to change his conduct, 
and to return to good princi¬ 
ples? On the contrary, he 
bad, through thictc and through 
thin, supported the Minister in 
all his exertions to suspend 
the constitutional freedom of 
his country, while the strug¬ 
gles of the Worthy Magistrate 
whom the Livery had so laud¬ 
ably preferred at the last elec¬ 
tion, and whom he trusted they 
Would also prefer on this oc¬ 
casion, were uniformly on the 
side of liberty . It bee mm 
the Livery, indeed, in a pecu¬ 
liar degree to guard against 
the election of Alderman 
Smith, if they wished to tes¬ 
tify that opinion of his conduct 
which Le tirm'y beLeved td 


U 1817 .' [ 3€0 

be universal—if they desired 
to assure the Minister in the 
most impressive manner, that 
his proceedings were disap¬ 
proved of by the electors ef this 
great metropolis —if they were 
anxious to rescue the country 
from oppression—-if not to save 
it from ultimate ruin [applause,] 
Therefore he would recom¬ 
mend the Livery to return the 
name of Alderman GOODBE- 
HERE with that of the Lord 
Mayor to the Board of Aider- 
men, in order that one of these 
Worthy Magistrates should be 
chosen, whose devotion to po¬ 
pular principles was proved 
beyond all doubt. He hoped 
and trusted that such would 
be the decision; ami that in¬ 
stead of attending to that sys¬ 
tem of routine which the 
A lennanic Board had, in his 
opinion, most improperly, and 
even arrogantly, established 
for its own advantage, the 
Livery w ould assert its rights 
by selecting their Chief Ma¬ 
gistrate from a consideration 
of his merit and capacity to 
discharge the duties of that im- - 
portant office. 

These being some of the sen- 
timents expressed by Mr. Hitch- 
ins, were received by the L very 
with great approbation,, There 
was occasionally a I s * nfer- 
mixed; for the enem e. Re¬ 
form, the friends of 
Smith and Atkins, eviA > 

rived courage from the « T- 
re nee of Mr. Sheriff DES/ . A 
Mr. W OGLE it, our ex- : : 

; friend, whose energies -vl, i 

hope, be lung devoted V . 

. vice of his country, "now dip¬ 
ped forward to second ihe uoiriE 
nation of the Lord Mayor and 







331] Hone’s Reformists* Register. [332 


Mr. Alderman Goodrehere. 
The effect of his appearance was 
electric. Shouts of gladness hurst 
from the assemblage; and Mr. 
Samuel Dixiix looked as dis¬ 
mayed as he would have done if 
the Minister had refused to give 
his son a place. As soon as 
he could recover himself, he re¬ 
quested Mr. Sheriff' DESANG ES 
to ask Mr. Wooler if he Mas a 
Liveryman, who answered in the 
affirmative; and Mr. Dixon and 
Mr. Sheriff DESANG ES were 
compelled to remain silent. 

Mr. WOOLER, after several preli¬ 
minary remarks,said, he could 
not concede the present as a 
mere question with regard to 
the comparative merits of two 
or three individuals; but as an 
important contest between a 
great portion of the British 
People, and the Minister of the 
Crown. The system of that 
Minister was but too well 
known. It was most sensibly 
felt throughout the empire; 
and the distress it had pro¬ 
duced, as well as the evils it 
threatened, were obvious to 
every man. It had scattered 
misery through the land , and 
menaced the ultimate ruin, of 
the country [applauses, and 
some cries of “ No politics ” . 
The cry of “ No politics'’ was 
very naturally raised by some 
persons, as the political system 
of our Ministers could not en¬ 
dure investigation. For that 
system was radically had ; but 
although so had for the nation, 
it was good for many indivi¬ 
duals—for those who fattened 
upon its corruption—for those 
who participated of the loaves 
and fishes. But he begged 
even those persons to reflect 


upon the condition of the 
country—to consider that al¬ 
though this vicious system af- 
forded wealth to them, it threat¬ 
ened to entail misery upon their 
descendants, lie hoped,there¬ 
fore, that these' persons would 
cast an eve beyond the circle 
of their own enjoyments— 
would look around them, and 
feel somewhat for others. 

Mr. Sheriff DESANGES here 
thought proper to interrupt Mr. 
Wooler in the l ine of remark he 
was submitting to the Livery, 
which that gentleman noticed 
by looking for an instant at the 
new Sheriff ’s well dressed hair 
and nicely adjusted shirt collar, 
and then proceeded by observ¬ 
ing that— 

While he would not interrupt 
any individual in the expres¬ 
sion of his sentiments, he 
hoped that he should be free 
from any further interruption 
himself. He then at consider¬ 
able length animadverted on 
the state in which Ministers 
had placed the country, and 
on Mr. Alderman Smith’s sup¬ 
port of them*; and concluded 
by observing that it was not 
his business to impugn the 
private character of Aider- 
man Smith, ami as to his pub¬ 
lic character, it might perhaps 
be said of the worthy Aider- 
man, that such as he had was 
notoriously bctd 9 while the other 
Gentlemen proposed to the 
Meeting were tried, steady 
friends of Reform, not mere 
weathercocks, or the pledged 
followers of any party. Having 
said so much, he should only 
add, that it was for every one 
who heard him to vote accord¬ 
ing to bis own judgment, upon 





3*33] October 4, 

a review of all the circumstances 
of the case ; and lie should not 
regret the loss of those votes 
which might be given in oppo¬ 
sition to the worthy Aldermen 
whom he had the honour to 
support, for he really could 
not consider such voters as 
any acquisition to his cause. 

A Mr. Oliver came forward 
to nominate Aldermen Atkins 
and Smith, and contended, that 
“ though Alderman Smith had 
not been faultless,*’ it would be 
“ persecution ” in the Livery to 
keep him out of the Mayoralty 
any longer; thereby contending, 
that though Alderman Smith, by 
his votes in the Mouse of Com¬ 
mons, supports the Ministry, and 
opposes the wishes of the People, 
lie nevertheless ought to be 
chosen Lord Mayor by them. A 
Mr. Williams seconded ibis no¬ 
mination ; affirming that Mr. 
Alderman Smith’s apostacy from 
the People to the Ministry, was 
“ getting out of darkness into 
light /” and therefore, if they re¬ 
turned him, he would give them 
universal satisfaction. 

On the show of hands, very few 
were held up for Mr. Alderman 
Atkins; a considerable number 
for Mr. Alderman Smith ; a still 
g reater number for Mr. Alderman 
Goodbbhere; and for the Lord 
Mayor, an immense number, ac¬ 
companied by shouts that rent 
the air. A poll being'demanded, 
it was proceeded in for an hour; 
and at the adjournment, there 
being a general cry for Mr. 
Wooler, be stepped forward, 
amidst greetings of applauses, 
which lasted several minutes: 
and from his speech 1 extract as 
follows :— 

It was proper, Mr. Wooler said, 


1817. p3* 

that the Liverymen should b e 
informed of what line of con¬ 
duct the Aldennanic body, an l 
especially one of them, Aider- 
man Heygate, had followed, 
who had this day voted far 
Alderman Smith, and thus 
shown, that he also was attach¬ 
ed to the modern doctrine of 
rotation. It ought ever, how¬ 
ever, to be borne in mind, that 
this doctrine of rotation was 
founded on the grossest absur¬ 
dity that could possibly be 
imagined; for the only sure 
basis of l ight resulted from the 
choice,the free and uncontrolled 
choice of the People. The 
Livery were annually convened 
for the purpose of electing 
their Chief Magistrate, and 
certainly the fact of their being 
convened showed they had a 
legitimate right to elect that 
Magistrate. To suppose the 
case otherwise, to suppose the 
Aldermen had a right to the 
Chair in rotation , was absurd; 
for why then were the Livery 
at all convened? If rotation 
was to be the standard to go 
by, then there was no use for 
convening the Livery at all, as 
they would thus only meet to 
do a work which had been done 
for them. He had this day 
been particularly struck with 
the conduct of an official ser¬ 
vant of the public (Mr. Sheriff 
DESANGES), who, ere he was 
scarcely sworn into office, had 
the audacity to express a doubt , 
where, in fact, no doubt did 
exist. When such was the 
conduct of men, who held their 
authority more immediately 
from the People—when this 
instance of a public officer to 
extend his authority beyond 




335] Hone's Reformists* Register. 



its lawful bounds was consider¬ 
ed, surely the People must feel 
what they ought to do; surely 
they ought then to see that the 
source of the authority was 
more than the authority itself, 
and on that account to be cau¬ 
tious to whom this authority 
was entrusted. Never was 
there an era in the history of 
Britain more portentous than 
the present. The statue of 
corruption was now staggering 
on its pedestal, and the united 
efforts of the friends or Liberty 
and Reform would soon dash 
it, as it deserved,to the ground. 
The friends of Reform, had be¬ 
come formidable by their 
numbers—by the irrefraga¬ 
ble arguments they advanced 
in support of their cause—a 
cause which they had to sup¬ 
port in opposition to a class of 
men who had also become for¬ 
midable, and how ? By their 
talents, by their numbers, or 
their abilities? Oh, no; they 
had become formidable solely 
by the supineness and indiffe¬ 
rence of the People. Let, then, 
the friends of the People’s 
rights but once more resume 
their, spirit; (et them be true 
to themselves, their country, 
and posterity, and they would 
see the glorious issue. Their 
rights would be then restored, 
without the danger of being* 
ever torn from them, provided 
they were faithful* honest and 
independent. 

As soon as the applause mani¬ 
fested to Mr. Wooler had sub- 
sided,Mr.SheriffDESANGES felt 
it prudent to notice Mr. Wooler’s 
allusion as to the new-made 
Sheriff’s u doubt, where in fact no 
doubt did exist.” This allusion 


was in eonsequcnce'of Mr. Sheriff 
DESANGES professing to enter¬ 
tain a doubt whether the majority 
on the show of hands was for 
Mr. Alderman Goodbehere or 
Mr. Alderman Smith. Notwith¬ 
standing the majority W£s de¬ 
cidedly and largely for Mr. Aider- 
man Goodbehere, as his col¬ 
league, Mr. Sheriff Alderson, 
promptly and positively affirmed, 
Mr. Sheriff DESANGES insisted 
on saying he doubted, and on hav¬ 
ing the show of hands repeated, 
which were nearly two to one in 
favour of Mr. Alderman Goodbe¬ 
here. In consequence of Mr. 
Wooler’s allusion to this, Mr. 
Sheriff DESANGES professed to 
have no bias one way or the 
other; at which the Livery laugh¬ 
ed ami hissed; and Mr. Sheriff 
DESANGES, after a w ord or tw o 
more, withdrew. 

Whatever he the result of this 
contest, the l ight of rotation has 
already been set aside; that 
which the Courier would call the 
established right, 1ms been broken 
in upon. Yet there is a great 
mass in the Livery of London 
whom 

-.-—- <( neither proof 

Of sad experience, nor examples set 
By some whose patriot virtue has prevail’d.. 
Can even now, when they are grown mature 
In wisdom, and with philosophic deeds 
Familiar, serve t’ emancipate the rest! 

Such dupes are men to custom , and so prone 
To rev’rence what is ancient , and can plead 
A. course of long observance for its use, 

That even servitude, the worst of ills. 
Because deliver’d down from sire to son, 

I* kept and guarded as a sacred thing.*'’ 

The right claimed by the Al¬ 
dermen of succeeding to the civic 
Chair according to seniority, 1ms 
been clearly shown by Mr, 

* Cowper’s Task, E»ook 5. 





33TJ October 

Cooler, in Iris speech, to hore 
bo existence, inasmuch ns the 
Livery are called in for the ex¬ 
press purpose of having a choice; 
but I am not very sanguine in 
expecting outrageous virtue in 
the commonalty of such a Corpo¬ 
ration as London, where there are 
various conflicting and sordid 
interests, and overpowering influ¬ 
ence. It is curious to look a lit¬ 
tle at London in former times. 
A satire, written in 1705, by a 
citizen and ose of the closest 
observers of mankind,* lashes 
London, a ml the Magistrates of 
that day, thus,— 

LORD MAYOR, &c. 

Old venerable Jeph , with trembling air. 
Ancient in sin, and Father of the Chair, 
Forsook by vices he had lov’d so lung. 

Can now be vicious only with bis tongue : 
Yet talks of ancient lewdness with delight, 
And loves to be the justice of the night: 

On bawdy tales v\ith pleasure he reflects, 
And lewdly smiles at vices he corrects. 

The feeble tottering Magistrate appears, 
Willing to wickedness in spite of years ; 
Struggles bis age and weakness to resist, 

And fain would sin, but nature won't assist. 

Fur - e, for so sometimes unrighteous 

fate, 

Erects a madman for a magistrate; 

Equipt with lewdness, oaths and impudence, 
Supplies with vices his defects of sense ; 
Abandon’d to ill manners, he retains 
His want of grace, as well as want of brains 
Early debauch’d, in Satan’s steps he mov’d. 
And all mocha; ic vices he improv’d ; 

At first he did his Sovereign's rights invade, 
And rais’d his fortunes by clandestine trade 
Stealing of customs did his profits bring ; 
And ’tvvas his calling to defraud his King; 
This is the man that helps to rule the state, 
The City’s new-reforming Magistrate, 

To execute the justice of the law. 

And keep lesv villains than himself in awe ; 
Take money of the rich, and bang the poor, 
And lash the strumpet he debauch’d before. 


4, 1817. £338 

So for small crimes poor thieves destruction 
find, 

And leave the rogues of quality behind. 

THE SHERIFFS. 

Search all the Christian climes, from pole 
to pole. 

And match for Sheriffs S—pie and C—le; 
Equal in character and dignity. 

This fam’d for justice, that for modesty: 

By merit chosen for the chair of state, 

This fit for Brideu'ell, that for Billingsgate : 
i hat richly clad to grace the gaudy day, 

For which his father’s creditors must pav; 
This from the fluxing bagnio just distrust} 
Rides out to make himself the City jest. 
From some lascivious dish-clout to the Chair, 
To punish lewdness, and disorders there : 

1 he brute he rides on wou’d his crime detest. 
For that’s the animal, and this the beast: 
And yet some reformation he began. 

For Magistrates ne’er bear the sword in vain. 
His avarice his appetite opprest, 

Base like the man, and brutish like the lust ; 
Concise in sinning, Nature’s c all supplied, 
Anu in one act two vices gratified. 

See what good husbandry in vice can do. 
Oblige the lecher and the niggard too ; 

Never was oyster, beggar, cinder w-- 

So much caressed by Magistrate before. 

THE RECORDER. 

A — l, the pander of thy judgment-seat. 
Has neither manners, honesty, nor wit. 
Instead of which he’s plenteously supply hi 
With nonsense, noise, impertinence, and 
pride ; 

The City-mouth , with eloq-newce endu'd, 
To mountebank the Hst liiag multitude ; 
Sometimes he tunes his league to soft 
harangues, 

To banter Common-Halls, and flatter 
kings : 

And all but with an odd indifferent grace. 
With jingle on his tongue, and coxcomb sa 
his face ; 

Definitive in law, without appeal. 

He always serves the hand who pays hi«r 
well : 

And this one maxim always goes before, 

He never hangs the rich, nor saves the poev. 
God-like, he nods upon the bench of stale; 
His smites are life, anfl if he frown 'tie fate : 


* Daniel Dl Foe. 








339 ] Hone’s Reformists’Register. [340 


With awkward scornful phiz, and vile 
grimace. 

The genuine talents of an ugly face ; 

He with proud tone insults the wretch that 
dies, 

And sports with his approaching miseries! 


tendon , if e’erthou wilt reform thy gates, 
*T must he another set of Magistrates : 

In practice just, and in possession sound ; 
But God knows where the men are to be 
found. 

In all thy numerous streets, ’tis hard to tell, 
Where the few men of faith and honour 
dwell : 

Poor and despised so seldom they appear, 
The Cynick's lantern would be useful here. 

No city in the spacious universe 
Boasts of religion more, or minds it less ; 
Of reformation talks, and government, 
Backt with an hundred Acts of Parliament : 
Those useless scare-crows of neglected laws, 
That miss th* elfect by missing first the 
cause: 

Thy Magistrates, who should reform the 
town, 

Punish the poor men’s faults, but hide their 
own. 

Ask but how well the drunken plowman 
looks, 

Set by the swearing Justice in the stocks, 

And poor street w- - - in Bridewell feel 

their fate, 

While Harlot M—n rides in coach of state. 
The mercenary scouts in every street, 
Bring all that have no money to your feet ; 
And if you lash a strumpet of the town. 
She only smarts for leant of half a crown: 
Your annual lists of criminals appear. 

But no Sir Harry, or Sir (Jharlej. js there. 

No man, but he that is as vile as they. 
Can all the tricks and cheats of Trade 
survey. 

Some in clandesiine companies comhine-, 
Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line: 
With air and empty names beguile the.town. 
And raise new credits first, then cry ’em 
down: 

Divide the empty nothing into shares, 

To set the town together by the cars. 

The sham protectors and the brokers join. 
And both the cully merchant undermine ; 


First he must be drawn in, and then be¬ 
tray’d, 

And they demolish the machine they made: 
So conjuring chemists, with their charm 
and spell, 

Some wondrous liquid wondrously exhale; 
But when tilt: gaping mob their money pay, 
The cheat’s dissolv’d, the vapour flies away: 
The womlring bubbles stand amaz’d to see 
Their money mountebank’d t o Mercury. 
Some fit out. ships, and double freight 
insure, 

And burn the ships, to make the voyage 
secure ; 

Promiscuous plunders thro’ the world 
commit, 

And with the money buy their safe retreat. 

Yet London boasts of her regeneration. 
And tells us wondrous tales of reformation ; 
How against vice she has been so severe. 
That none but men of quality may swear : 
How public lewdness is expell’d the nation, 

That private w - g may he more in 

fashion: 

How Parish Magistrates, like pious elves. 
Let none be drunk a Sundays but them¬ 
selves. 

And hackney-coachmen durst not ply the 
street 

[n sermon-time , till they had paid the 
Stale. 

It is curious, I sav, to look a 
'little at things as they were re¬ 
presented by honest Daniel De 
Foe in that day; and we should 
be especially careful, by a con¬ 
scientious discharge of our duty, 
in choosing honest Magistrates, 
to prevent the evils resulting 
from the weakness of idiocy, or 
the craft of knavery. The liber- 
ties.of the whole kingdom may 
depend on the propriety of. con¬ 
duct in a Lord Mayor of London. 
Our present Chief Magistrate can 
never be forgotten, for refusing 
to examine in private some of the 
persons who were afterwards 
tried for high treason. He in¬ 
sisted upon publicly examining 
them at the Mansion-House : aud 








341] October 

it should ever be recollected, that 
be did examine them publicly, 
and that lie did not deliver the 
men up to be examined by Secre¬ 
taries of State and Privy Coun¬ 
cillors, in secret. Jt is to the 
Lord Mayor's determined con¬ 
duct that we are indebted for a 
full knowledge of the contempti¬ 
ble Pie-House Plot, and Spa- 
Field’s Riot, which, by private 
examination, and secret instruc¬ 
tion, ; might have been manufac¬ 
tured into a horribly extensive 
conspiracy and rebellion, and en¬ 
abled Ministers to have passed 
acts still more oppressive than 
the Gagging and Suspension 
Bills , and consigned hundreds of 
men to solitary cells: whilst 
others, who after being kept in 
prison for many months have 
been dismissed without trial, 
might have died on scaffolds. 
Ills Lordship for these services 
not only deserves the gratitude 
of the whole country, but he 
has it. 

In De Foe’s time, the Ministry 
were busy manufacturers of 
Plots, to keep the People’s at¬ 
tention from matters of real 
moment. Three young German 
gentlemen, walking near the 
Queen’s til lie house, at H iudsor, 
were challenged by a sentry.— 
Not understanding him, and sup¬ 
posing they were intruding too 
far, they took to their heels, which 
.formed a pretence for doubling 
her Majesty’s guards, and giving 
out that there was a treasonable 
plot againt her life. This was 
called the Lilt levHouse Plot. 
Another plot was discovered a 
• fpw days before, against the Mi¬ 
nister's life. A band-box was 
'accidentally opened by the cele¬ 
brated Swift, in which it was 


4, 1817. [342 

said there were pistols, charged, 
with the triggers tied to the lid of 
the box, which being lilted up, 
the pistols would go off, and kill 
the opener. Jonathan, however, 
preserved bis own life, and the 
Minister’s, who gave him the 
Deanery of St. Patrick’s ; and it 
soon got wind that the pistols 
were a common pistol stock, with 
a steel to strike a light into a 
tinder box, and two old inkhorns. 
This was called the Band-box 
Plot . At ibis time, a number of 
youug* rakes, not having ihe So¬ 
ciety for Reformation of Manners 
in proper esteem, got tipsy at 
night, ami beat the watchmen 
and peaceable people. These 
nocturnal disturbers were called 
Mohocks , and the Ministry 
alarmed the town by giving 
out, that they were persons 
disaffected to her Majesty’s 
Government. This was the Mo - 
hocks' 1 Plot . These three plots 
were all started fresh in the 
course of as many months, at a 
time when, by our experience, 
sham plots are most favourable 
to the liberties of the People, 
namely, during a period of Mi¬ 
nisterial plot tins / for and obtain¬ 
ing suspensions of the Habeas 
Corpus Act. The Press too was in 
jeopardy, and poor De Foe was 
taken into custody, and com¬ 
mitted to Newgate, upon a war¬ 
rant of the Lord Chief justice of 
that day, charged with writing 
three libellous pamphlets. De 
Foe having procured excessive 
bail, went into Court the first 
day of term, when the Attorney- 
General appeared to prosecute 
the publications as scandalous, 
wicked, and treasonable libels ; 
which De Foe denied them to be, 
and argued ably, that they were 





f 

543] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [S44 


more irony, as in truth they were, 
and written in defence of the 
<■ principles of the Government 
that prosecuted him; hut Judges 
of law are sometimes very had 
judges of other matters; and 
Judge Powis from the bench 
entered into long and learned 
arguments, to prove that they 
were not irony, and told De Foe 
he might be hanged, drawn, and 
quartered for tnern. It is 
hazardous for an author to argue 
ik the Court of King’s Bench 
with a Judge who has no relish 
for humour. The' Lord Chief 
Justice helped bis brother, by 
handing to De Foe two numbers 
of a periodical work, in one sheet, 
called the Review, being very 
similar in plan to this Register. 
D® Foe acknowledging this Re¬ 
view to be his writing, the Lord 

Chief Justice declared tbev were 

«/ 

insolent libels on him in parti¬ 
cular, and on the laws generally; 
and submitted it to his brother 
Powis, and the other Judges, to do 
what they pleased. Brother Powis 
and his brethren were pleased to 
declare poor De Fof.’s Uemeic 
highly insolent to hrotherPARKER; 
and that they might get rid of 
his bail, they called it “ Contempt 
of Court”, and committed him to 
the King’s Bench prison. These, 
the reader will perceive, are just 
such plots and practices as have 
been conjured up and performed 
in our time. But I bad almost 
forgotten one which in impudence 
exceeded them all, and which is 
registered in the Loudon Gazette 
for 1? 10, by an advertisement 
from Wh itehail, signed by the 
Secretary of Slate, offering a 
reward for the apprehension of 
certain wretches who had taken 
the arreu;s oat oj the great timbers 


of the west reef of St. Pa UL 5 
Cathedral, for the purpose oi 
letting the roof fall upon and 
kill Her Most Gracious Majesty 
Queen Anne, upon her going 
thither on the Thanksgiving-dav, 
but which most bloody design 
was most happily prevented by a 
most timely dispoveiy! After 
the kingdom was alarmed to the 
hearts’ content of Ministers, the 
Whigs, who were charged with 
being the Conspirators, obtained 
access to the Cathedral, and dis¬ 
covered that the roof was in the 
same state ns when the church 
was built; that there had never 
been screws where they were 
alleged to have been taken from, 
and that the whole was an impu¬ 
dent barefaced fabrication, not¬ 
withstanding the Secretary of 
State’s advertisement. This was 
called the Screw Plot! All 
these plots were invented or 
encouraged by Ministers, to divert 
the People’s attention; and such 
a plot as the Screw Plot, sanc¬ 
tioned by the signature in the 
London Gazette of the then 
Secretary, the great Lord Boling- 
broke, was not to be withstood 
by the timid and' undiscerning; 
who like gudgeons, greedily 
swallowed the bait. Thus it is 
that the People are accessories 
to their own ruin : 

“ They know not what it is to feel within 
A comprehensive faculty, that grasps 
Great purposes with ease, that turns and 
wields 

Almost without an effort, plans too vast 
For their conception, which they cannot 
move. 

Conscious of impotence, they soon grow 
drunk 

With gating, when they see an able man 
Step forth to notice ; and, besotted thus, 
Build him a podusfal, and say, ‘ stand there, 
‘ And he our admiration and our praise..*. 





345 ] October 

Tb«y nt\) themselves before him in the dust, 
Then deserving in their own account, 
When most extravagant in his applause, 

As if exalting him they rais’d theuiiblves.”* 

The present Lord Mayor 
uniting- honesty to ability, has 
eminently stood forth the Peo¬ 
ple’s friend; and the Livery 
ought to return him and Mr. Al¬ 
derman Coodbehere for their 
Magistrate, without regard to ro¬ 
tation , or any other pretence set 
up to lull those easily to rest, 
whom the knavish wish to rob of 
their privileges without opposi¬ 
tion. lf_ there be virtue enough 
in the Livery, they may tree 
themselves for ever from the 
trammels of Aldermen in rota¬ 
tion . If they have not sufficient 
spirit to help themselves when 
they have the power —if they are 
dazzled bv scarlet robes and 
processions, and coaxed by hand¬ 
squeezing and professions, and 
enticed by dinners and balls, and 
fascinated by aldermen in chains 
and custards—if they cannot re¬ 
sist such vulgar enticements as 
these, they deserve to have for 
JLord Mayor this year Mr. Alder- 
wan Atkins, who said in the 
Common Council last year, he 
would, if he thought proper, help 
to fix the Property Tax; at the 
same time swearing “ he would 
not he restricted in his opinions 
by God ! ” If they cannot resist 
such blandishments as these, they 
must have him for their Lord 
Mayor, or else Mr. Alderman 
Christopher Smith, who, when 
the Livery have met in Common 
Halls, and passed Resolutions, 
has been carried off by a junta, 
and stuck in a Chair at the Lon¬ 
don Tavern, like a Guy Fawkes 

* Cowncr’h Tadq iiuok 5. 



on a . Pope day, to sanction 
Counter-Resolutions; and where, 
in a private room, his upholders 
huddle round him as cunning- 
boys do round their “ Guy,” for 
fear he should be smugged! 
Botli these rotation Aldermen 
are Members of the House of 
Commons, where we dud the 
root of all evil . To a REFORM 
of that House, strenuous and 
unceasing efforts should be 
directed. Every body ought to 
know hoic the Honourable House 
is constituted. I am now engag-ed 
in. preparing- a Horonghmonger's 
Dictionary , or a guide for the Peo¬ 
ple to the present state of the Re¬ 
presentation of England, Wales, 
Scotland,and Ireland; containing 
an account of every County, City, 
and other place sending Mem¬ 
bers to Parliament, and espe¬ 
cially of all the Rotten Boroughs; 
also the number of Electors ia 
each, and the names of the Patrons 
and Proprietors; with complete 
lists of the Members of both 
Houses, the Places or Pensions 
held by them or their relations 
or dependants, and the Sums they 
receive out of the Public Money 

annually. This will be a 
* 

thorough Exposure of Boroughs 
mongering Practices and Parlia¬ 
mentary Corruption. No means 
are so likely to assist in obtain¬ 
ing- REFORM, as those which 
tend to convince every body of its 
necessity. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

67, Old Bailey, 

1st Oi taberj 1817. 



347] 


Hone's Reformists' Register. 



SLAVE-DEALERS 

AND 

STOCKHOLDERS. 


Sept. 10, 1817. 

Sir, 

If agreeable to your plan, the 
insertion of the following* will 
oblige a constant reader, your 
well-wisher, and the public’s 
most obedient serv ant, 

Bathamanuensis. 

To Mr. Hone. 


Thoughts on Slavery , and parti¬ 
cularly that which now over¬ 
whelms while it exhausts Eu¬ 
rope. . 

It will scarcely be believed in 
ages to come, that the renowned 
and enlightened English nation 
was ever so blind and infatuated 
as to be at one and the same 
time abolishing slavery in one 
quarter of the world, and build¬ 
ing it up at home; yet, strange 
to say, such folly pervades her 
councils, and her people are 
either blind or supine under the 
stigma of such inconsistency. 

1 presume it will not be dis¬ 
puted that the object of a slave- 
dealer or planter, in the purchase 
of a slave, is to receive a benefit 
in iiis labour, or in the produce 
of his labour. 

If a person borrows money, he 
does not expect the accommoda¬ 
tion without giving an equiva¬ 
lent in the shape of interest, or, 
in other words, a benefit in the 
productive powers of the loan.; 
and if the capital, by mischance 
or otherwise, becomes extinct, 


then the borrower becomes re 
sponsible with his remaining pro 
perty, which, in proportion as i 
dissipates by repeated drains 
leaves him to depend upon tin 
productive powers of his laboui 
to furnish the interest required 
and it must be by mere mi 
racle that in such a situation hi 
can ever repay the principal o 
capital borrowed, because, if In 
could only live and pay the inte 
rest , whilst the capital, with it: 
corresponding credit and impe 
tus, were joined with his industry 
now that he has but one of th< 
three sources of revenue left, i 
can be by a miracle alone that In 
can ever repay the capital. 

Now as we leave out, in al 
calculations of sanity, the idea o 
recovering by miracle, the ar 
gument stands thus:— The her 
rower is a perpetual labourer fo 
the lender , and if hound by lav 
so to abide , must for ever be hi 
slave , and his children slaves i 
reversion: for the borrower ha 
bought, the reversionary interest i 
the productive labour of genera 
cions unborn (how far this ma 
accord w ith Christianity, or eve 
Mosaic legislation, 1 leave other 
to determine); and if the pric 
of his labour should happen t 
be so small as to allow only th 
quota of the creditor, he the 
depends for life and liberty upo 
the mercy of his creditor. 1 as! 
then, in what respect such a pet 
son differs from the condition < 
an absolute personal slave, tf 
victim of conquest or purchase 
Nay, is lie not rather in a wots 
state of degradation, the victim* 
knavery and over-reaching cut 
ning, without even the chance * 

o 

a personal struggle * 

1 Now to this state of slaver 







24.9] October 

are most of the European states 
reduced, not excepting- our own. 
The capitals borrowed in the 
name of the commonwealth are 
sjtfik —the energies, the impulse 
and corresponding credit, desir¬ 
able from the employment of 
snch capital, are also gone—the 
industry alone remains, and that 
at a very low rate of payment; 
and the reversionary interest in 
the productive powers of the 
community is bought by the 
fundholders in perpetuity ; and 
as it is quite certain the capitals 
can never be repaid (for l treat 
the Sinking Fund as something 
worse than a nonentity—the same 
as a private person may be so 
much worse than worth nothing), 
the fundholder is virtually be- 
come the purchaser of the blood, 
and bone, and sinew, of the la¬ 
bouring couimuni'tV' as it is im- 

t j w 

possible lie can have any other 
claims than upon the productive 
powers of their labour. 

It is clear, then, that the con¬ 
dition of the labouring poor (com¬ 
prising, perhaps, three fourths of 
the population) is sheer down¬ 
right perpetual slavery, and but 
slightly disguised ; and slavery, 
too, worse than African or West- 
lndian, about which so much has 
been of late said by all parties 
on every side, and on account of 
which legislative enactments fa¬ 
vourable to humanity have taken 


4, 1817. [&50 

place in this country: but where 
shall we look for advocates for 
the defenceless, the injured vic¬ 
tims of extortion and corrup¬ 
tion—to whom shall we make 
the once affecting appeal, ‘ Am I 
not a man and a brother/ on be¬ 
half of the insulted Petitioners 
for Reform ? If we address our 
supplications to Parliament, we 
are called ‘ traitors/ ‘ madmen/ 
‘impatient of taxation/ ‘jaco¬ 
bins, 9 &c. If we address the 
royal ear, we are accused of‘in¬ 
sulting Majesty;’ if the middle 
branch of the legislative, ‘ with 
sedition and rebellion:’ but as 
we may as well be without life 
as without feelings that deserve 
respect, we will make one more 
appeal, and that to the humanity, 
the virtue, and patriotism of the 
country gentlemen of England— 
they cannot but feel some mis¬ 
givings that all is not right 2 — 
some presentiment that vice, un¬ 
feeling', insolent, domineering, 
avaricious vice, must speedily 
fall like Dagon before the ark, 
and be utterly broken, never to 
recover. We invite you, gen¬ 
tlemen, to look at our state, com¬ 
pare, judge, and “ inwardly di¬ 
gest,” and pronounce upon it, 
whether it be hearable any longer 
—whether it be even decent, in 
a Christian country, to strain the 
little remnant of nerve left, to the 
last degree of tension possible :— 


COMPARISON. 


Personal Slavery , and Slavery under the Funding System 


T-Up West-I ndia Slave - Dealer’s 
only object is to have the entire 
disposal of the produce of the la¬ 
bour of his slave. 


The Fundholder buys the reversion¬ 
ary interest in the produce of the 
labour of the taxed slave, and 
thereby possesses the right of dis¬ 
posal. 






®JJ Hone's Reformists’ Register. [352 


The West India Slave-Dealer is 
obliged, fot his ownsake, to feed, 
lodge, aiid clothe his slave. 

can exercise the whip or chain, 
to produce more labour, birt if to 
the loss of life or limb, is a loser 
himself, and liable to a capital pu¬ 
nishment. 


■— can sell his slave to the highest 
bidder. 

—- cannot, upon his mere ipse dixit , 
hang or convict a slave of capital 
offences. _ «•. 


The West-India Slave-dealer works 
his slave under the extreme degree 
of tension of nerve, lest he should 
be incapacitated for procreation. 

has been compelled by law to 
limit the supply. 


The Fundholder hat no interest or feel¬ 
ing in the f social order 'slave, nor is 
he obliged to feed, clothe, or lodge 
him in any degree of proportion to 
his actual wants. 

-seizes the doubly-earned mouth¬ 
ful from the ‘ social border' slave , 
till the ratio of tax be paid, and if 
life becomes extinct in conse¬ 
quence ; suffers no individual loss, 
and is not accountable to any 
earthly power for his death by 
starvation. 

-Caii sell the reversionary inte¬ 
rest in the life and limb of the 

f social order ’ slave. 

•-compels (by a train of inevita¬ 

ble consequences, the result of bis. 
own measures), the victim of taxa¬ 
tion to Jiang or bestarved, and is 
under no control of law in this 
infernal process. 

The Fundholder and Corruptionist 
not only calculates the extreme de¬ 
gree of tension the nerves of labour 
can bear without breakage , but 
claims us right to introduce new 
checks on jnspulation. 

The ( social or tier* Slave-merchant's 
market is overstocked, and the ava¬ 
rice of a despotic oligarchy conti¬ 
nually allows them a fresh supply. 


In short, the personal slave 
has from the moment of notice 
<5f danger a chance of escape 
by personal prowess, hut the so¬ 
cial order slave is doomed before 
born—is incarcerated jif he resist. 

Such, Gentlemen of England, 
is the picture of your country. 
Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cy¬ 
clops, has you also enclosed in 
bis den, and gives you the conso¬ 


lation of fflysses, to he devoured 
the last. 

Your well-wisher, 

A West-Country Labourer. 

THE REGISTER 

OF LAST SATURDAY, 

CONTAINS 

A LETTER 

TO SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 


- - - -— —-*—*--— — ■■■ -—■—■—>-:-—-- 

Lv'ulon : Printed by and fur WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
Lvdgato Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (pust paid) should lie addressed. 
-^-Prtce Two* Pence each, 1 2s. per Hundred, or 51. 10s. per Thousand. 














Price Two-Pence. 


HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

. AJsal. __ I __ 

No. 12.] Saturday, October 11, 1817. [Vol. I!. 



PECULATORS 

AVD 

PLUNDERERS. 


THE APPROACHING CHANGE, 
Reform, Revolution, or Despotism 
—££270,000 . of the Public Money 
pocketed by DEFAULTERS, just 
discovered—DeLancey, a Defaulter 
cf £97,000. rewarded with a Pen¬ 
sion of ^2000. a Year —Alexander 
Davison tried for Bribery and Cor¬ 
ruption, and found Guilty; gives 
Dinners to the Prince of Wales ; 
made Treasurer of the Ordnance; 
tried again for Fraud, and found 
Guilty—His Partner Hanged—Mr. 
Steele, the Privy Councillor and 
Army Pay-Master, takes £ 19,800 
of the Public Money, and uses it for 

Seven Years -Proposal for the 

Hangman to Whip a Rascal in 
Ruffles—J. Proud’s Cruel Case— 
A Bountiful Harvest—Food enough 
for all the People—A Prediction— 
Government cautioned against let¬ 
ting the People Starfe this ’Winter. 


Every hour that passes brings 
us nearer to our crisis—the turn 


of our disorder. It will end in 
real Reform, or in Revolution, 
or in Despotism. It is not now 
in the power either of the Go¬ 
vernment or the People to stop 
its progress. The Government 
dreads Reform, because it 
thinks the Reformists desire Re¬ 
volution ; and the Reformists 
dread Revolution, because they 
love Order, and the Liberty with 
which the Constitution hath made 
them free. They know, how¬ 
ever, that Government, under 
colour of preserving liberty, may 
erect itself into a cruel tyranny, 
with all the forms of law; and 
this renders the Reformists still 
more anxious for Reform. The 
boundless taxation, the state of 
the finances, the luxury of the 
rich, the frightful extent of cor¬ 
ruption, the rapid increase of the 
poor, the sufferings of the Peo¬ 
ple, their endurance of neglect 
and wrong when they had more 
than common right to protection 
and relief, the unexpected ex¬ 
posure of abuses, and the sub¬ 
dued but solemn murmuring* 
throughout the country, like the 
sudden belchings and subterra¬ 
nean noises of Vesuvius, before 
an eruption—all these portend 
the change. Let us cast our eyes 
upon one of these omens, a fresh 
instance of delinquency in pub¬ 
lic ofticers, where the People, as 
usual, are the sufferers. 

There is a Board appointed to 


primed by and for W. Hone, 67, Old Uailey, Luiiduu. 






















335] 

audit the accounts of persons 
who held public situation's in, or 
whose offices were connected 
v ith, the West Indies and South 
America. The duty of this 
Board is to. examine all the items 
of such accounts, and the proofs 
a ;d vouchers verifying i!:orr ac- 
ruraev. The, Board am? its esta¬ 
blishment at home consists of 
t gee Commissioners, a Secretary, 
two Inspectors, three Assistant 
Inspectors, ami Id Clerks, beside 
a Foreign Commissioner, with a 
Secretary and three Clerks; so 
that it appears there is a great 
deal of examination to gp through. 
r i nose Commissioners have iust 


Honk’s Reformists’ Register. 


[366 

Valentine Jones has died a de¬ 
faulter to the amount of more 
than Tiro Hundred Thousand 
nounds . Mr. Giasfukd, and 

i 

Phipps, and Mr. Jones, 


\} r 

i 1 • 


.were ail very loyal men —no 
men in or out of Eogipnd 
more loyal. These defaulters de¬ 
sired no alteration. 1 hey said 
with Sir William Coftis, “ \ 1iings 
are very \y el las they are.” They 
could not see what good Reform 
would do ; they thought it would 
do h great deal of harm ; that it 
would breed a great deal of con- 
fusion; (hat it would lead to 
[{evolution ; and therefore they 
opposed Reform, and hated Re-, 
formists, and admired Mr. Pitt, 
large sums of money are due to the I aitd drank Ins health with three 
public from certain persons whose 'times three, when he was alive; 
accounts have been examined, j and when he was dead, they 

and who therefore swell the list I drank his memory-in silence, with 

* 

of Public Def aulters. One of j nine expressive waves of the 
these persons, a Mr. John Glas- band, and sang the Pilot that 
furd, drew bills on the Trea* j w eather’d the Storm.” It is na¬ 
tural that such men as Glasfukv, 
and Phipps, and Jones, should do 


made a Report, which shows that 


sury to the amount of nearly Six 
Millions of public money, which 
bills the Treasury paid, as he 


thus; they knew that Reform 


en collet ting a mass of 


“ be 

“ vouchers, documents, and evi- 
“ deuce, for the purpose of making 
“ out the account; the result of 
“.which, and of the final exams- 
“ nation of the account, will pro- 
“fifthly establish a very l a rye ha- 
“ lance being due by Mr. Glas- 
“ FUiiD to the public.” The Re¬ 
port further states, that one 
Mr. PuiFps, a Deputy Pay-Master- 
General in the West Indies, has 
had more than Three Millions of 
the public money through his 
hands, and is a defaulter to the 
amount of nearly Seventy Thon- 


died w ithout Staving made up any I w ould do harm to them ; that it 
general account current; and [would con (omul their practices : 
the Commissioners say they “ have that it would cause a Revolution; 

in their affairs ; that they would 
! be called to account quickly, and- 
tie ruined. Their only safety, 
therefore, was in opposing Re-’ 
form ami Reformists, and sup-; 
porting Mr. Put, who supported 
them. 

i here is nothing new in 
such discoveries as are made, and 
will be made, by the West, India 
Commissioners. They are of a 
piece with the lual-practices of 
Mr. Pitt’s friends ; not that all, 
or .a hundredth part, of the pecu¬ 
lating and plundering has seen, 
or ever will see light. He him- 


scmd pounds; and a certain Mr. self took good care to keep 











357] October 

in darkness what he could. 
Many years before Mr Pitt’s 
death, information was sent to 
him, in writing, of various frauds 
and embezzlements being- corn- 
in it ted in the West Indies, by a 
man who bore high rank. It 
was offered to be proved to Mr. 
Pitt, that this person had plun¬ 
dered the country loan immense 
amount—that he had even built 
himself a house on one of the 
islands, all the materials of 
which were King’s stores ; every 
nail that was driven, and the 
very glass in the windows, having 
the broad arrow marked upon 
them. Mr. Pitt took no notice 
of this communication, although 
the name of the delta puent was 
mentioned, and it was stated that 
his pillage of public property 
amounted to near a Hundred 
Thousand pounds . The charges 
were drawn out at lengh, and 
signed by the party making 
them, with his real name and 
address; but Mr. Pitt took no 
notice of them whatever. He 
did not even return a common 
civil acknowledgment that they 
had been received; nor, although 
numerous written applications 
were made to him, and personal 
interviews applied for, could a 
line be obtained from him, or 
from any body about him ; and 
access was wholly denied. 1 
looked in the Reports of Com¬ 
mittees of rise House of Com¬ 
mons as they were made, year 
after year, for some notice of this 
enormous- peculation, supp >sing 
Mr. Prrr h id referred the pipers 
to one of these Boards of In¬ 
quiry; but not a word—all was as 
sdeni as the grave, in which Mr. 
Pirr and the denounced robber 
rest from their labours. The 


11, 1817. [358 

“ great man, now no more,” as he 
is called, saved this peculator, 
who died immensely rich, from 
such au exposure as Glasfurd, 
Jones, and Phipps, have suffered. 

Under Mr. Pitt, Corruption 
flourished as in a hot-bed, and all 
the robbers were loyal , every man 
of them. One Chinnekv, a de¬ 
faulter, was one of the most loyal 
men alive, gave sumptuous din- 
ne'rss, and entertainments, and 
balls, and pocketed a large 
amount of the public money. 
Villiers, another defaulter, which 
is a polite term for a man who 
gefs the public money into his 
possession and keeps it, was no 
petty-larceny rogue, but a man of 
style, who lived like a nabob till 
he was found out, and then ran 
away like a vagabond. Then 
there was the famous Woodford, 
who, because he was suffered to 
retire greatly in debt to the pub¬ 
lic, is also called a defaulter ; he 
was of unbounded loyalty, and un¬ 
rivalled by any man of his rank 
in the splendour of his establish¬ 
ment. He received, and appro¬ 
priated to the purposes of luxu¬ 
rious enjoyment, immense sums of 
the public money. All these 
men were Pittites, the children 
of Mr. Pitt’s system, loyal Pit¬ 
tites, as loyal as the late Lord 
Melville, who was a Minister, 
with the disposal of the best 
things in the gift of the Crown 
to his own countrymen, who en¬ 
joyed the influence and patron- 
tge of all Scotland, and who was 
privy to and connived at the 
withdrawing from the Bank of 
England, for purposes of private 
interest or emolument, sums of 
• ie public money, issued to him 
as a Minister, and placed to his 
| account in the Bank, thereby 



353] Honk’s Reform 

being guilty of a gross violation ' 
of the law, and a high breach of 
duty. 

Under the administration oi 
the heaven-born Pitt, and this 
loyal Lord Melville, there were 
two loan contractors, named 
Boyd and Ben field, to whom 
Mr. Pitt, in conjunction with the 
loyal Lord Melville, lent forty 
thousand pounds of the public 
money, -withoist interest, for a 
whole twel vemonth, towards ena¬ 
bling* this Boyd and Benifield to 
pay up an instalment on the loan 
in the autumn of 1796. Ben- 
held was a Member of the 
House of Commons, where, in 
one Parliament, he sat with ciqht 
Members at his back, of his own 
making. Burke described him 

o 

as “ a criminal, who long* since 
ought to have fattened the region 
kites with his offal.” 

Genera! De Lancey, Barrack- 
Jtitaster-Generd !, another of the 
Pitt school, in an account laid be¬ 
fore the Military Commissioners, 
in 1806, acknowledged to have 
drawn from the Treasury Six 
Thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-five pounds four shil¬ 
lings, being* so much beyond the 
amount due to him; but the 
Commissioners, upon investi- 
gating* the account, reported that 
he Lad overdrawn from the Trea¬ 
sury the sum of Ninety-Seven 
Thousand four hundred and fifteen 
pounds, public money; and the 
Commissioners actually disco¬ 
vered, that of this amount, a sum 
of eleven thousand and ninety- 
six pounds, was received for 
General De Lancey, from the 
Treasury, by Greenwood, the 
Army Agent, on account of the 
public service; which, instead of 
being carried by Greenwood to 


the Barrack arrounfi was immp- 
diat placed by Greenwood to 
General De LanLey’s own private 
account. General De Lanceh 
beside his pay as Barra ck-Ma?,- 
ter-Gehcra), and allowances for 
travelling expenses, received pay 
as Colonel of the 17th Regiment 
of Dragoons, with the pay of a 
Lieutenant-General on the Staff, 
amounting together to an income 
of about Nine Thousand pounds 
sterling, per annum, at the time 
of his having obtained this enor¬ 
mous sum of £97,415. A state¬ 
ment of the concerns of Mr. 
Greenwood, the Army-Agent, 
or, ns he is called, the Duke or 
York’s Greenwood, shows what 
sums have been got out of the 
public in the army-agency Liao; 

MR. GREENWOOD, 

Agent 

To 174 Battalions of the Line. 

— 21 .Battalions of Militia. 

— the Royal Artillery. 

— the Royal Engineers. 

— tire Veterans. 

— the Waggon Train. 

Mr. Greenwood’s salary was 

"v. 

5301. a year; but he cleared by 
I his agencies at least SIXTY 

| THOUSAND POUNDS A YEAR, 

! besides receiving the immense 
I sums issued for the pay and 
! allowances of the officers of all 
those regiments, and the pur¬ 
chase-money of all commissions, 

! which w ere lodged w ith him 
! by order of the Duke of York, 
j as Commander in Chief, It is' 
t impossible to estimate the profits 
| from such a floating capital as this, 
in the hands of the Duke of 
York’s Greenwood; nor can it 
j be ascertained w ho went partners 
j w ith him in the concern ; but it h 






October 11, IS!7. 


clear that .ML Greenwood was 
a, very confidential agent o 
General D.&- L i ncey, bv placing 
the 1!,0 ; H>1. which he, Green- 
fonn, received from the Treasury, 
tor the use of the Barrack De¬ 
partment , to Dja Langey’s private 
account, instead of his bubl.i.c ac- 
< omit as Barrack-Master-General; 
all this is as clear as ft)at Dr. Lan- 
cMjf Himself pockette l 97.415*. of 
the publicmoney, asset forth very 
: unutety in the Commissioners’ 
Report, w!iieb shows on what 
pretences he obtained it, from the 
Treasury. The Uv/dlty of Gene¬ 
ral De L VXCEY is unquestionable ; 
he had meek to be loyal for, as 
the freemen of Maidstone will 
testify. He was their member; 
he bought them, and paid for 
them. What he did for them, 
and what he did for the country, 
we know, as far as the pocketing 
of the ninety-seven thousand four 
hundred and fifteen pounds will 
show. It is prefty evident that 
his constituents at Maidstone had 
their share of the money: for 
when he had none to give them, 
they did not return him to repre¬ 
sent their corruption and ve¬ 
nality in Parliament. 

There is another gentleman who 
ought not to be forgotten, be¬ 
cause he was a friend of General 
De Lancey’s —one Alexander 

f V 

Davison, Esquire, This person 
was very conspicuous under the 
Pitt administration as a Banker, 
a Boro ugh monger, a Member of 
Parliament, a Contractor, a Pecu¬ 
lator, and a Loyalist. In May, 
5804, Alexander Davison, Esq. 
with two other persons, named 
Parsons and Hopping, having 
been found guilty of bribing 
divers voters of the borough of 
11 chester with sums of thin} 


| pounds per man, ant! by conspi¬ 
racy erecting many houses to in¬ 
crease the number of voters, 
whom they also bribed; Mr. Jus¬ 
tice Grose passed the sentence 
of the Court of King's Bench 
upon them. In addressing Davi¬ 
son, fie said, “ Instead of being in 
any doubt of the commission of 
die offence, we are astonished 
that ordinary .prudence did not 
lead you to take some pains to 
disguise this extensive system of 
corruption ; your crimes are com¬ 
plicated ; they involve both con-* 
spiracy and bribery; aid in that 
of brib ery, seems to be included 
the corrupt and malevolent inten¬ 
tion of leading the unhappy ob¬ 
jects who were incapable of resist¬ 
ing the temptation you offered 
them, to the foul crime of wilful 
a ud corrupt, per pin/. While you 
may look down with contempt 
upon the unfortunate wretch who 
disposes of I)is conscience to you, 
for the support of his famil} r , 
compare with him the FLAGI¬ 
TIOUS Corrupt or, vi, 0 is 

perverting the rights, and under¬ 
mining the CONSTITUTION of 
his country. We can ot ascer¬ 
tain if the objects of you, the de¬ 
fendant Davison, were to gratify 
insatiable avarice, or inordinate 
ambition, or if there were others 
behind the curtain, yet more rich 
and more powerful, by whom you 
were employed; but if we may 
form any judgment of the mag¬ 
nitude of your means , and of the 
extent of your projects, liy the 
unis you have expended in this 
atrocious attempt, we need not 
wonder at the dangers io which 
the Constitution is exposed/’ Sir , 
Nash Grose, af ter these excellent 
remarks, sentenced the loyal 
Alexander Davison, Esq., andT 










\ / 

,■ v# i i 1 L IL n i h 1 f 

363] Hone's Reformists’ Register. [364 


Lis confederates, to a year's im¬ 
prison iK iit; at rhe expiration of 
which sentence, Davison return¬ 
ed to h:s house in St. James’s 
Square, and his banking-house, 
in Pali Mali, and again put him¬ 
self at the head of the volunteer 
corps of Loyal North Britons, ol 
which he was the commander. 
He had raised this corps am dst 
the praises of the loyal and the 
puffs of the nevvspapers, who 
chose to take his money and 
paragraph him as one of the 
most spirited, and loy d, and dis¬ 
interested, and noble-minded men 
in England. His name was put 
into subscription lists, and no¬ 
body doubted his charitable views 
and benevolence — except those 
who know how easy it is to pur¬ 
chase'he'' bubble reputation/' of 
all colours and sizes, according’ to 
the taste and liberality of the 
purchaser. It was a sad cut upon 
this Inl chieftain, to be pro¬ 
secuted like a smuggler or a 
swindler; and then the distress 
of the Loyal North Britons — 
sighing- for t heir poor dear Colonel 
—what a shocking thing that lie 
should be found out ! Only think 
of a commander of a volunteer 
corps being indicted, tried, and 
sentenced to a year’s imprison¬ 
ment, like a pickpocket;—for 
ought that many of his Loyal 
North Britons knew, doomed 
to peep through iron gratings 
against a brown brick wall; 
forced to go to chapel daily 
with other convicts ; to admit the 
visits of the clergyman at all 
Lours, and to hear lectures on the 
beniousness of his offence, con¬ 
cluded with pious exhortations 
to renounce the devil and all his 
works, and to lead a godly, 
righteous, and sober life, in this 


> i i .. .i £ •> Ti : , • , tU 15 si , 

wicked world. Though the con¬ 
finement of the Iona/ Alexander 
Davison was. not quite so bad as 
this,still jt was mortify mg enough 
to hint. On his liberation, he re¬ 
sumed hi$ consequence, did im- 
i manse business as an army-con¬ 
tractor, and in a few months had 
influence enough to get appointed 
Treasurer of the Ordnance , a 
place of rank, trust, and respon¬ 
sibility— three or four millions 
then passing through, that offi¬ 
cer’s hands annually. This was 
a master-stroke, in a man lately 
escaped from a prison. He re¬ 
sumed his sumptuous entertain¬ 
ments, and w as honoure 1 by the 
company of the Pri nce of W ilhs, 
Earl Moira, Col. McMahon, and 
the Prince’s friends, and became 
eager for a Baronetcy. VVhilst 
Davison was going on swim¬ 
mingly, carry-ng all before him 
m tlie w ay of contract, and cash- 
hand I ng, and bask ng in the 
smiles of the Prince himself, the 
Commissioners of Military In- 
qu ry were silently examining 
Dr Lancev’s barrack* accounts; 
and just about the time Davison's 
Baronet cy was talked of, they 
issued their third Report, which 
put an end to all hopes on that 
head, as the following stubborn 
facts will show.--By an agreement 
entered into between tlie loyal 
General De L an lev, and the 
loyal Alexander Davison, Esq. 
in the year 1795, Colonel Davison 
undertook to supply the Barrack 
Department with beds, bedding, 
sheets, blankets, towels, ironmon¬ 
gery, candies, beer, and forage, 
at a commission of two and a half 
per cent. Coals he was to sup¬ 
ply on his own account, as a 
merchant; to be delivered at the 
wholesale dealers’ prices, which 





? 65 ] 


October 11 , 1817 . 


it 


were to be certified as the fair 
market prices, under the hands 
of respectable merchants. As 
the accounts of Davison the 
loyal were to he checked by !) 
Lance v the fniia /, the reade> 
Will guess that so nehing hap 
petted-.* .) avisos the / < rah >vh >, 
wdl be remembered, was a 
tier as veil as a contractor,, 
dre v immense su ns of the pu >lir 
money, muoUnbng, oeHiaps, to 
hear a MILLION, before the ar¬ 
ticles were v iuted, and he over¬ 
charge l the ar fief ex. Not that 
the Co nin : ssioners could detect 
overclnrges with certainly, on 
th e goods he supplied h y com- 
iniftxtQn —the nature of the goods 
almost precluded the possibility 
of such detection ; but on the 
coals, 1 be detection was complete. 
For iiissaiice : — 

On the 23d day of January, 
1796, Mr. Margraves, a coal 
merchant at Brighton, 1 delivered 
at the barracks there sixty- 
chaldrons of coals, on ac¬ 
count of Mr. Davison, -and 
charged him 4ns. per chaldron, 
and drew a bill for the same, 
£13.S. at forty davs; the self- 
game Mr. ElARGft l ves certified 
the f>rice'that da 7 to he 5s*. and 
2s. for carriage, making 60k per 
chaldron; and this the public 
paid. Mr. Geo. Lei rn, of Mhibner, 
(delivered sixty-nine chaldrons 
and six bushels into the barracks, 
for which he charged 72s. in¬ 
cluding all expenses. The cer¬ 
tificate, signed h>/ two inhabitants 
of De (!•> stated the price on the 
same day to be 90s. and the car¬ 
riage 2s. 6d. more, by which Mr. 
Davison had a profit of 20s. (id. 
per chaldron, or about 30 per 
cent.on the cost price.— Richard 
Emerson and Co. charged Mr. 
Davison 45s. and 6s. Gd. more 


[366 

for carriage from Dover to Deal, 
making 54s. (kl. The certificate 
was made out at 60s. and cartage 
. s. <Sd. in all 77s. Nd. per chal- 
b on; giving Davison 23s;2d.-per 
chaldron profit, above 40 percent. 
In the ‘stands of Guernsey and 
Jersey, the certificates were ge¬ 
nerally signed by a person of 
the name of George Richard 
Vt acker, a dealer in co ds, who 
was concerned with DvvisON, 
under an agreement, or contract, 
in supplynlg coals for the bar¬ 
racks 01 Guernsey, and the adja¬ 
cent islands, for about four years. 
Me was after-wards Davison’s 
agent, for about two years move, 
in the same business, at a com¬ 
mission of two and a half per 
cent, on an estimated prfee of 
the coals delivered. Lie was 
also Davison’s agent in supply¬ 
ing candles during* the whole 
time. This person had therefore 
a direct interest in certifying 
high prices ; and he had also an 
interest in the quantity delivered 
in; for while lie acted as Davi¬ 
son’s agent, he receiver! a com¬ 
mission of two and a half per 
cent, on an agreed valuation of 
65s. per chaldron, on all the coals 
measured into he barracks. 
During this period a great in¬ 
crease on the Cargoes sent to 
these islands appeared. This 
Richard George Walker, die 
confidential agent of Davison, 
was convicted of forging' the will 
of a Major'll awkt ks, of Guernsey, 
and executed. After his execu¬ 
tion, the Commissioners obtained 
his ledger, from which some of 
the deliveries of coals are ex¬ 
tracted, showing the prices paid 
by Davison to Walker, and 
those charged by Davison, ami 
aiiowed by tire Dairnck-Odice, 
under certificate. 







Hone’s Reformists’ Register 




EXTRACT FROM WALKERS LEDGER . 

GUERNSEY. 


Date of 
. Delivery. 

Quantity. 

Price paid by 
Davjson. 

Prices charged by 
Davison, certified 
by Walker. 

Davison’ 

s Profit. 

1799. 

Chai. 

Bush. 

per chal. 

s. 

d. 

s. 

d. 

May 22 

158 

12 

at 55s. 

76 

11 

21 

11 

June 7 

194 

16 

at 55 

69 

4 

14 

4 

July 4 

92 

3 

at 55 

68 

34 

13 

04 

Aug. 12 

170 

0 

at 65 

65 

04 


04 

Sept. 16 

54 

26 

at 65 

75 

74 

10 

71 

Oct. 16 

135 

30 

at 65 

75 

71 

r o 

4 * 

10 

71 

Now 10 

1 38 

32 

at 65 

75 

71 

10 

71 

Now 18 

153 

2 

at 65 

90 

3 

25 

3 

Dec. 6 

75 

0 

at 74 

90 

3 

16 

3 

Dec. 11 

104 

0 

at 74 

90 

0 

0 

16 

3 

Dec. 19 

115 

10 

at 74 

90 

3 

16 

3 

Dec. 23 

95 

35 

at 74 

90 

3 

16 

3 




JERSEY. 




— ■ ■ ■ f ■■ 

1799. 








Jan. 1 

37 

12 

at 50 

92 

41 

-2 

42 

44 

Feb. 18 

194 

16 

at 86 

90 

44 

4 

44 

Mar. 18 

361 

4 

at 86 

90 

44 

4 

4 

May 20 

97 

8 

at 55 

74 

41 

^2 

19 

41 

June 10 

166 

24 

at 55 

74 

■ 44 

19 

44 

July 20 

83 

12 

at 55 

74 

41 

^2 

19 

41 

^2 

Aug. 6 

r>00 

8 

at 55 

74 

44 

19 

41 

Sept. SO 

38S 

32 

at 65 

74 

44 

19 

41 

4 '2 

Sept. 17 

52 

12 

at 65 

74 

41 

^2 

19 

•41 

Oct. 28 

166 

24 

at 65 

90 

3 

25 

3 

Nov. 18 

225 

0 

at 65 

90 

3 

25 

3 

Nov. 30 

277 

9 

at 74 

90 

3 

36 

3 

Dec. 24 

138 

, 0 

-*r- 

at 74 

90 

3 

■ 

36 

_ 

3 


























St’9] October 

This table is merely a specimen 
of the prices paid by Davison 
tor the coals, and certified by 
W alker to be the first prices; 
from which it appears, that the 
average price Davison paid for 
the coals, is sixty-one shillings 
per chaldron, and the average 
price he charged to the public, is 
eighty-one shidings per chaldron, 
giving this loyal contractor a 
gain of twenty-five per cent. 
But, there was a still further gain 
of five per cent, because on 
every twenty chaldrons there 
should be an allowance of one 
chaldron, as ingrain , which not 
being allowed bv Davison, the 
fraud on the public was to the 
extent of thirty per cent. It was 
offered to be proved to the Com¬ 
missioners, that in the article of 
coals alone, Davison defrauded 
the public to the extent of One 
Hundred and Twenty Thousand 
Pounds. Then as to the other 
articles—the beds and bedding-, 
and sheets and blankets, towels, 
ironmongery, candles, beer, and 
forage, which he supplied.at a 
commission of two and a half 
per cent, it is not likely that he 
would be satisfied with that 
commission. What enormous 
sums this hanking contractor 
must have had continually pass- 
]n<r through his hands! His 
gains are beyond estimate, and 
known only to himself. But the 
disclosure of the coals was a 
thorough stop on the Baronetcy. 
14 prosecution being' instituted 
against him, he was tried, and 
found guilty. I cannot now lay 
jny hand on the sentence he re¬ 
ceived for this second public 
delinquency, nor do I recollect 
it, but 1 know the impression on 
ij ny mind at the time was, that 


11, 1817. [370 

he got off very re ell. There were 
many attended to give him a 
character, which at the Old 
Bailey is the wretches’ last hope, 
and where the alleged crimi¬ 
nal iy is doubtful, former good 
character goes a long' w ay ; but 
in tb s case the crime was noto¬ 
rious, and the delinquent had 
been tried before. Yet this man 
actually called evidence to cha¬ 
racter, and the following persons 
were examined, namely :— 

Earl Moira. 

The Hon. Wellesley Pole. 

Sir Andrew Snape Hammond 

Sir Evan Nepean. 

The Rt. Hon. Chas. Long, an 1 

Mr. Husklsson. 

I do not recollect reading that 
any of these witnesses were 
brow-beaten by the Counsel for 
the Crown, or even cross-exa¬ 
mined, or that a single question 
was asked them by the Court 
respecting the prisoners former 
conviction ; and yet, if the "’loyal 
Colonel Alexander Davison. 
Banker, Member of Parliament, 
Contractor, and Treasurer of the 
Ordnance, bad prosecuted one of 
his own clerks, on an indictment 
for applying the property of the 
said Alexander the loyal to his 
ow n use, much such a scene as 
this might have ensued :— 
Recorder. 

Prisoner, what have you to say 
in your defence? 

Prisoner. 

I don’t know my Lord. IVe 
no money to employ Counsel; 
but I have witnesses waiting to 
speak for me. 

Recorder. 

Witnesses ! What witnesses ? 
Prisoner. 

Witnesses to my character, my 
Lord. .- — 





4371] Hones Reformists’ Register. 



Recorder . 

Character! oh, aye ! I dare 
$my you’ve a character. Every 
body that stands where you do 
has a character. —Well, where are 
they?—call ’em. 

Enter the Witnesses. 

Recorder. 

(To a Witness) Well, what do 
you know of the Prisoner at the 
bar ? 

Witness. 

I have known him a long time, 
my Lord. 1 never knew any 
harm of him. 

Recorder. 

He never robbed you, I sup¬ 
pose? 

Witness. 

No, my Lon), I cannot say that 
ever he did. 

Recorder... 

Well, you may get down.—Oh, 
here’s another , is there? (to se¬ 
cond Witness) What have you 
to say ? 

Second Witness. 

My Lord, I have known the 
Prisoner from a child ; hut he 
became bound for a friend, who 
ran away, and his wife is lying on 
a sick bed, with a large family, 
and-- - 

Recorder. 

That does not justify his rob¬ 
bing his master , does it ? —There, 
,go down. 

Gentlemen of the Jury, 

If these pretences were to be 
allowed, we should not sleep in 
our beds: masters would never 
be safe from the dishonesty/ of 
their servants. You have heard 
the evidence, and if you think 
there can be any doubt of the 
/Prisoner’s guilt, acquit him ; but 
if you think as 1 do, that he is 
guilty, you will find him so. 

The Jury bring him in guilty; 


but recommend him to mercy, on 
account of his former good cha¬ 
racter. 

Recorder. 

Character , Gentlemen, has no-, 
thing to do with the crime of 
which von have found him guilty. 
What vou say shall he attended 
to ; but it really has little weight, 
lake the Prisoner away. 

Suppose, however, an equally 
poor Pr soner with the last had 
been tried before , and on being 
tried for his second pffence, in¬ 
stead of bringing a Peer, and 
tw<> or three Privy Councillors, 
and Members of Parliament, as 
Alexander the loyal did, t\ey 
being Alexander's friends, 
moving in the same circles with 
himself, and his dinner friends; 
suppose, 1 say, a hetoVe-con- 
victed prisoner to produce wit- 
nesscss to character of the like 
condition in life with himself* it 
would in all probability be said to 
the poor wretch, “Your face is 
“known here; this is not the 
“first time you have been at that 
“bar; you must not expect to 
“ remain in this country. In all 
“ probability your witnesses are 
“ a gang of thieves, as bad as your- 
“ seif i or they would not come 
“ here to give you a good cha- 
“ racter, knowing, as they must, 
“ that you have been tried and 
“ found guilty hi that place bc- 
“ fore.” It is certain that no¬ 
thing of this sort was intimated 
to Alexander Davison, or to 
his witnesses to character. Yet 
before he produced them, he 
would have done w ell to recollect 
the words, which, on his first con¬ 
viction, he heard Mr. Justice 
Grose utter to his confederate, 
Parsons, with whom he was then 
receiving the sentence of the 





373] October 11, 1817. [374 


Court. After severely animad¬ 
verting* on the profligacy of 
Davison the loyal, the learn© 
Judge turned to Parsons, \yh > 
had recommended the briber /, 
and encouraged the perjury, and 
thus addressed him on tile affida¬ 
vits produced to his character: — 
“ Not vithstanding this violation 
of duty, it is sworn your charac 
ter s that of a FAIR MAN; that 
your pursuits tend to ameliorate 
the c mdifirm of your fellow crea¬ 
ture* ; and that you have impaired 
r/onr fortune in this honourable 
endeavour. One of these depo¬ 
nents ventures to say, that no 
temp/at on could induce you to 
do what is Morally or politically 
wrong ! Considering this depo¬ 
sition, we are obliged to con¬ 
clude, after the conviction, that 
tliis is a wilful misrepresenta¬ 
tion, or that you have acted the 
part of a CONSUMMATE HY¬ 
POCRITE.” If ‘Alexander the 
loyal recollected this, lie did no- 
heed it, as we see; for, notwith¬ 
standing it was off red to be 
proved to the Commissioners, 
that he had robbed the public to 
the extent of at least ONE HUN¬ 
DRED THOUSAND POUNDS, 

in only one of his concerns with 
Government, and though it was 
notorious he had been before 
convic ed ns a briber and cor¬ 
rupter of the public morals, yet 
the very Ministers themselves, as 
if in spile of this robbery and 
subornation of perjury, attended 
to give him a good character. 
Notwithstanding which, the Jury 
found him guilty ; and the Mi¬ 
nisters who gave him the good 
character were obliged to remove 
him from his place of Treasurer 
of the Ordnance, which place 
they did not give him till after he 


had been convicted of poisoning 
die very source of legislation, 
and been imprisoned for it. What 
portion of his fraudulent gains 
be has been compelled to dis¬ 
gorge, is unknown to me. 

I have dwelt at length on this 
case of Davison ihe loyal , be¬ 
cause it is unsurpassed in rapa¬ 
city and scoumlrelism by any 
oilier. It is necessary to keep it 
always before our eyes, as a spe¬ 
cimen of the species of villany 
encouraged by the Pitt system, 
ihe system under which we are 
permitted to live, and move, and 
have our being, as by sufferance, 
and he called disloyal, because 
we will not fall down and wor¬ 
ship, and kneel before those who 
rob and spoil us. The West 
India Commissioners’ Report does 
not show that there is the 
same turpitude in the cases of 
Glasfurd, Jones, and Phipps, as 
in that of Davison; but setting 
aside Gl as ford’s expected large 
balance, it shows that Valentine 
Jones and Phipps alone have re¬ 
ceived TUG HUNDRED AND 
SEVENT Y T HOU8AND 
POUNDS of the public money, 
which is still owing, on which f 
shall not observe until I have 
noticed one more transaction, 
which ought not to he omitted in 
this enumeration of a few of the 
abuses of the Pitt system. 

On the IOth of February, 1806, 
at the close of Mr. Pitt’s admi¬ 
nistration, occasioned by that 
Minister’s death, two of the se¬ 
nior clerks of the Army Pay- 
Office went to the Right Hon. 
George Rose, who was one of 
the joint Pay-Masters, and then 
leaving office, and acquainted 
him that the Right lion. Thomas 
Steele, a Pay-Master, six years 




375] 


IIo.se' Reformists’ Register. 


[:$? 


before, bad, without any authority 
from the Treasury or the VVar- 
Offi.ce, taken two sums of 70001. 
and 12,8001. out of the public 
money, to his 


as it was his duty to do, ami 

Lord 


therefore could not refer 
Temple to any. Mr. Steele was 
then examined by the Finance 
own private ac- Committee of the House of 
count, and given his own receipt Commons, and said, “ he had no 
for the same to the Deputy 1hesitation in stating the money 

“ was not taken for the public ser - 
li vice; he was urged to it by pri- 
u vote considerations of a very 


Cashier. Mr- Rose saw Mr. 

Steele on the subject, who de¬ 
clined entering into particulars ; 
he said he did ?iot feel himself at j “ popular nature, and iie thought 
liberty to do it; that the ad-!‘‘ that by directing the sums to 


vances werejrnade to a person, for 
services of a secret nature ; that 
the whole would be re-paid ; but 
he could not exactly fix the 
time ; and lit? acknowledged that 
he had no warrant or other au¬ 
thority for the issue. Mr. Rose 
advised Mr. Steele by all means 
to acquaint Lord Grenville, the 
new first Lord of the Treasury, 
with it immediately, rather than 
wait the detection ; urging to his 
friend Steele, that as the matter 
was already publicly known as 
the office, he should do so at 
once, as it icould soon become 
a topic out of doers . It does 
not appear that Mr. Steele 
made such communication to 
Lord Grenville, nor did Mr. 
Rose say a word about the 
matter, till the 0th of February, 
1807, exactly a twelvemonth 
afterwards, when he received a 
letter from Lord Temple, the new 
Pay-Master,tel ling him he had dis¬ 
covered Mr. Steele’s misappro¬ 
priation of the money, and as he 
found the circumstance was com¬ 
municated to Mr. Rose, some 
days before he left the office, he 
requested Mr. Rose would refer 
him to any minute or memo¬ 
randum made by Mr. Rose 
in the office books, relative to 
the transaction ; Mr. Rose had 


“ be issued to himself, and 

“ making himself responsible for 

“ them, that he could not by 

“ possibility incur the suspicion 

“ of concealment, or fraud; it 

(i mas his intention that they 

•/ 

“ should have been replaced in a 
“ very short time ; but it was not 
“ in his power to accomplish it." 
The affair ended by these two 
sums, amounting to Nineteen 
Thousand Eight Hundred Pounds , 
being re-paid, with interest, after 
a lapse of seven years from the 
time they were taken out by 
Mr. Steele, for private purposes, 
and upwards of a year after the 

4 t. •/ 

disclosure of the transaction! 
to Mr. Rose. There was no 
doubt great alarm at the 
Pay-Office, at the time of the 
disclosure, lest the officers of the 
new administration, under Mr. 
Fox, should detect tin’s trick of 
one of the officers of the old ad¬ 
ministration, under Mr. Pitt; 
and this apprehension was the 
real reason for the communication 
to Mr. Rose, who seems to have 
treated the matter very lightly; 
for he told the Committee of 
Finance, he thought no more 
about it, from the time he saw 
Mr. Silele, until Loid Temple s 
letter reminded him of it. Mr. 
Steele's opinion of his own con- 


made no minute or memorandum, I duct is of very little consequence; 







( 


377J October 

for lie said lie would enter into no 
particulars, because be did not 
feel li imself at liberty to do it; 
but lie found himself at liberty 
to take the public money for his 
own purposes, and as a public 
officer, was bound to explain, at 
least. Was he afraid of the Act 
of Parliament, which makes it 
felony for servants to embez7de 
the property of their masters; and 
did he dread transportation? If 
it were discovered that a servant, 
who made up his accounts and 
left his situation, had previously 
obtained sums of money, without 
applying them to the use of his 
master, he would be liable to be 
prosecuted to conviction, even 
though he should offer to return 
the money. Mr. Steele caused 
the Cashier to give him'drafts for 
Nineteen Thousand Eight Hun¬ 
dred Pounds, on account of the 
Army Extraord i ti a r i es, which 
sums he kept for his private pur¬ 
poses, for seven years: yet this 
Right Hoiu Thomas Steele was 
then a Privy Councillor of Eng¬ 
land—he is so still; and he also, 
at this very hour, holds a place 
of trust, confidence, and emolu¬ 
ment, under the Crown, being 
King’s Remembrancer of the 
Court of Exchequer, with a salary 
of Eight Hundred and Thirty 
Pounds per annum, for life, be¬ 
sides fees. 

This is sadly partial work. A 
man thinks upon it till he is in a 
stupor, and he almost supposes 
he may have been dreaming. He 
inquires by what law the helpless 
are punished, and the powerful 
go free; and he respects law 
less, and becomes more jealous of 
pow r er. There is a Jove of justice 
in our bosoms, like that which a 
fond youth bears to his mistress— 


11, 1817. * [378 

he would rather hear of her 
death than of her falsehood, or 
her violation. Better were jus¬ 
tice in her grave, than she should 
have favourites, and hold her 
scales uneven, and mete out her 
punishments with a leering eye. 
The end of legislation is defeated, 
if legislators so enact, that the 
weak only are punished with 
severity, and the strong and 
powerful villain escape with 
half his stripes. One rascal 
in ruffles whipped by the 
common hangman would be 
a greater example to wrong 
doers, than all the shoeless 
wretches who have writhed be¬ 
neath the lash since the verdicts 
of Coroners’ Inquests have de¬ 
clared Death bv Starvation, to be 
Death by the Visitation of God; 
or since misfortune has been 
punished as a crime. Without 
reference to the -effect of the 
Poor Laws, and the Laws against 
Vagrants, I affirm that our pre¬ 
sent system generates individual 
ill, creates poverty, and scourges 
its own offspring as a sin. Alex¬ 
ander Davison, the rich , after 
seducing the objects of his cor¬ 
ruption at Ilchester, sat as legis¬ 
lator in Parliament, and then sur¬ 
rendered them, as victims to the 
vengeance of a rival legislator, 
who puttingthe helpless wretches, 
and all their families, into a work- 
house, manufactured a community 
of paupers for life, and a market¬ 
able seat in the House of Com¬ 
mons for ever. Davison, after 
this, held a place of high trust, 
and greater emolument, and more 
profitable influence, than the 
Secretary of State. Then came 
the discovery of the frauds in his 
coal contracts, accompanied by a 
long 1 train of shocking details not 







379] 

tnenlionedbere, and yet be is rich; 
whilst another person, who en¬ 
tered into coal contracts on the 
public account, endured an in¬ 
tensity of suffering', which those 
who saw him, as l saw him, would 
shudder at any Government on 
earth having the power to pro¬ 
long for a single hour. 

This person is John Proud, 
who caused a Petition to be ad¬ 
dressed to the Prince Regent, 
from the King’s Bench Prison, 
dated the 1st of August last. His 
case is as follows:— 

Proud entered into a contract, in 
June, 1813, to supply the barracks, 
in Middlesex, with COALS, tor one 
year, at 21. 7s.. 4d. per chaldron, free 
of charges ; which he performed up to 
the period of the unusually severe frost, 
which commenced in December fol¬ 
lowing, and continued until the end 
of February, 1814; during the conti¬ 
nuance of which frost, coals rose to 
upwards of 8i. 8s. per chaldron; 

whereby he sustained an average loss 
of. sicc pounds upon every chaldron he 
continued to supply the barracks with; 
by means his private fortune (amount¬ 
ing to upwards of three thousand 
pounds) was exhausted. The Com¬ 
missary in Chief caused purchases to be 
made on Puoud's account at immense 
prices; the difference between which 
and the contract price CREATED 
A DEBT of 7121. 9s. 7d. for which 
he was sued and detained a pri¬ 
soner, as debtor to the Crown, it 
bein'* the only detainer against him. 
die was closely confined within the 
walls of the Prison from the 21 st of 
Jane, 1814, making a total of 1135 
days, without resources of any kind, 
but the mite of his fellow prisoners— 
links i and despairing —without any 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 


[380 


crime but the accidents of fortune. 

As a prisoner of the Crown, how- 

-e*er distressed and wretched the 

state of the prisoner--- three of the 

Lords Commissioners of his Majesty s 

. - «/ * 

under their 


.reasury must 


certify 


hands, their consent to bis release, 
but Proud having originally procured 
two sureties, for the due fulfilment of 
the contract, thsy, in order to avoid 
a Writ of Extent, undeitook to pay 
the debt of 7121. 9s. 7d. by instal¬ 
ments of fifty pounds every twelve 
months, and the Commissioners, to 
Proud’s earnest supplications, re¬ 
turned for answer—they could not 
liberate him without liberating his 
sureties. One of the sureties becom¬ 
ing bankrupt, reduced the future 
instalments to 251. per annum; it 
would consequently require ' the 
dreadful space of Ten Thousand Four 
Hundred and Two days (Twenty eight- 
years and upwards) to pay off the debt. 
If this be the administration of British 
jurisprudence, the case of a felon is 
preferable to that of a debtor to the. 
Crown, inasmuch as perpetual trims - 
portation is more congenial with an. 
Englishman's feelings than perpetual 
imprisonment. Had Proud been con¬ 
fined at the suit of a subject, be would 
have been liberated, as a matter of 
common justice. One Thousand and 
Twenty-one days before the date of 
this Petition. 

The> avowed end of all punish¬ 
ment is example, but Proud’s case 
has long ceased to be conspicuous; he 
felt himself forgotten by the world, 
and by those with whom he formerly 
associated—he was neglected, and 
no longer held in remembrance—and 
if by a sound mind he had not become 
the prey of despair, yet he might 
be said to have been literally buried 
alive; having been confined to his 
room in the day-time from want of 
clothing to cover his nakedness; and 
most likely forgotten by those who sent 
hi'H. to his prison. 

Proud is now liberated; but 
only think on his misfortunes, his 
nan, his foriffm and destitute 
Condition, and bis sufferings, per¬ 
petuated for so great a length of 
time by the associates of the Rt. 
Hon. Thom as 8 r l —tliaf same 
$r£ELE who. took £19^890* of the 




October 11, I s 17. 



public money, and kept it for 
seven years. Think also on Two 
Hundred and Seventy Thousand 
pounds of the public money, re¬ 
ceived and detained by Jones 
and Phipps, besides the large 
balance expected to be due from 
Glasfuri); and all this actually 
discovered whilst Proud was en¬ 
during’ three years’ confinement, 
because there was a hard frost. 
The innocent are the scape-goats 
bearing* upon their hacks not 
only tlie crimes, but the punish¬ 
ments of the guilty. Davison’s 
was a crime nine times died, and 
he is still wealthy. De Lancey, 
after attempting to detain to his 
own use upwards of ninety thou¬ 
sand pounds of the public money, 
sits down with, a reward ; yes, a 
reward; a pension; A PENSIGh 
OF TWO THOUSAND POUNDS 
A YEAH, FOR LIFE!!! 

There must be an end to this, 
There must. There has been a 
most shocking delay in bringing 
forward the public accounts, and 
not a day more should be lost. 
The Finance Committee of 1807 
complained that notwithstanding 
the observations made on the 
subject by the Committee of 
Finance in 1707 and 1708, not 
one account of any Paymaster- 
General had, been fuially settled 
and declared , or made ready for 
declaration, in the nine or ten 
years which afterwards elapsed . 
Parts of the accounts and vouch¬ 
ers Tor the year 1782, were de¬ 
livered to the auditors in 1788, 
17§0, 1701, and 1798! parts of 
di<ke f<u; i783 were delivered to 
the?n in V/D2 and 1708 ? part of 
thgse for L784, in, 1704! and part 
~ ’ !1 * L78& in 1707! It 

0 $hat a snpplemen- 
y tof Paymaster- 
General, from the 24th of April, 


o? 5 #os^.rqr 
appeared., 
tary account 


to the 24th of December, 1782 
and a supplementary account for 
1783, were delivered into their 
fiice,together with the attested 
accounts for 1784 and 1785, no 
earlier than on the 0th of Feb. 
1807! The Committee did not ex¬ 
pect that the account of the Pay¬ 
master-General for 1782 would 
be finally audited until Christmas, 
then next, that is, Christmas, 
1607— twenty-five years after the 
charges had been incurred! 
This is a specimen of Ministerial 
mismanagement almost without 
remedy, except in good hands. 
We shall soon see if the present 
Ministers are competent to the 
task. 

Glasfurd’s expected large 
balance, and Jones and Phipps’s 
actually ascertained balances of 
tico hundred and seventy thousand 
pounds, should not remain with¬ 
out looking after directly. There 
is great blame incurred, if appli¬ 
cation was not made for the 
money the instant the,balances 
were ascertained. Two hundred 
aud seventy thousand pounds of 
the People’s Money, due in two 
sums, and thousands of the Peo¬ 
ple themselves in distress ! Why 
this is sufficient to keep life in 
five thousand familiesfor a twelve¬ 
month. 

Not one of the People’s lives 
ought to be lost this year. Not 
one of the People to whom this 
money is due ought to be starved 
to death this ‘year. I hear a great 
deal of Government haying no 
money to spare to relieve the 
distresses. Here is more than a 
quarter of a million of the public 
money, which Government has 
let its own officers draw from the 
Treasury, and keep in their hands 
for many years; this must be got 
in, and the shelterless and bun- 







*\C C >1 

ecoj 

gry, poor and wretched, weak 
mid wounded, sick and sore, o( 
the People, must be supported 
with ; this, their own money, 
through the winter. It is suffi¬ 
cient to keep fens of thousands 
for that period. It will not be a 
dispensation of charity,but a dis¬ 
tribution of justice. 

But if tins money be not in¬ 
stantly recoverable, other means 
must be resorted to by Govern¬ 
ment for the relief of our coun¬ 
trymen. I say this, because there 
are many now falling victims, as 
others have fallen. The Govern¬ 
ment must step in and stop this. 
The earth, like a bountiful mo¬ 
ther to her children, has blessed 
us with an abundant harvest, 
gloriously ripened during a fine 
autumn, and well got in; and 
there must he no dying for want , 
in the midst of plenty. There is 
enough in the country for all, 
and all must live. The Govern¬ 
ment must provide that no one 
class exercise the power of starv¬ 
ing those of another. It must 
take care that he who has enough, 
and to spare, give with a liberal 
hand to him that is ready to 
perish. It must not suffer a man, 
woman, or child, to die of hunger. 
It must no longer allow the 
cruelties of man to his fellow 
man, to be charged upon Provi¬ 
dence. It must not tolerate the 
blasphemy of the Giver of every 
good and perfect gift, by allow¬ 
ing verdicts of Death by the 
Visitation of God to be brought 
in on those who die by its own 
neglect. Government must pre¬ 
vent this. It must provide for 


[384 

the distribution of the means of 
life sufficient for every indivi¬ 
dual—if not by legislation, by 
active exertion and indue nee. 
L have no base or vulgar feelings 
whilst thus expressing my opi¬ 
nion. 1 know what Government 
can, and what it cannot do. It 
cannot make food, but it can dis¬ 
tribute it. It cannot interfere 
with the rights of property, but 
it can with its wrongs. Govern¬ 
ment can and must compel the 
wealthy to provide for the neces¬ 
sitous. Government is an insti¬ 
tution for the preservation of the 
lives and liberties of the People 
—I say nothing about the liber¬ 
ties —but the lives;—if it pre¬ 
serve not the lives of ALL the 
People , it is not a Government . 

1 make these remarks, because 
though the produce of the year 
is bountiful to profusion, yet if 
the People are left to themselves 4 
as they were last winter, and 
have been during the summer, 
I foresee the present winter will 
he a season of terrible distress • 
Ministers must provide employ¬ 
ment or food, they must save 
the LI VES oj' the People • If 
they are incapable of doing this, 
they are incapable of governing. 
Again I say, there is food enough 
in the country for ALL , and to 
spare; and therefore, on every 
human being who dies for want 
of it, the People, as a Grand 
Inquest, will pronounce a verdict 
of Wilful Murder against Mi¬ 
nisters. ti 

WILLIAM IIONE. 

G7, Old Bailey, 

StJi October, 1817. 


Honk’s Reformists’ Register. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailey, three doors from 
U'dgate Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be address^. 
— Price I wo-Pence each, 1 2s. per Hundred, or SI. I Os. pet Thousand, 









Price Two-Pence. 




HONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 


No. !•}.] 


Saturday, October IS, 1817. 


[Voi- 11. 


GIN, 

AND THE CLIiRK OF BRIDEWELL, 

MR. POYNDER. 


I,AH' CLERKS 

Defended from Mr. Poynder s Charge 
of Drinking and Dishonesty— Mr. 
COBBETT’S Account of himself 
when he was a Law Clerk—Their 
wretched Salaries; demoralizing 
Employment ; and Injustice of their 
Employers—Drinking not the Cause 
of Crime—Effects of Drinking on 
different Persons ; viz. on Mr. Poyn¬ 
der ; a Murderer and a Preacher ; 
Mr. Pitt 'Lord Melville ; Judge 

Blackstone ; Mozart—Burke on 
Spirit-drinking — Mr. Poynder s As¬ 
sertion, that Drinking and News¬ 
papers encourage Sedition and Trea¬ 
son, denied—Loyalty of Drunkards 
— Loyal Names given to Gin—So ¬ 
briety of the Irish during the Rebel¬ 
lion—Sir IV. Curtis, the Anacreon 
of the City —Long-tooth Liverymen 

—Regular Dustmen - Causes of 

Crime. 

Exposure ofthe SPY SYSTEM in Lan¬ 
cashire, in the former Disturbances. 

POETRY—Puppy of Stutgard, a sub¬ 
lime Poetical Epistle to Lady Cas- 
tlereaglis Dog. 

Evidence of James Bly, on the Distri¬ 
bution of BLOOD-MONEY in the 
Country. 


It appears by tlie second Re¬ 
port of the Committee of the 
House of Commons on the State 


of the Police of the Metropos 
that Mr. John Poynder, Attorney 
at Law, Clerk and Solicitor to tb# 
Royal Hospital of Bethlem, also 
Clerk and Solicitor to the Royal 
Hospital of Bridewell, and late 
Under-Sheriff of London and 
Middlesex, was called on to give 
evidence before the Committee. 

This gentleman stated that he 
had been Clerk of Bridewell for 
twelve years, and Under-Sheriff 
for three years; and had made 
observations on the police in 
various ways, “ chiefly f rom in - 
“ terenurse with the prisoners in 
“ t JVewcjate” and was decidedly of 
opinion, that “ the evil of drink- 
“ ing, but especially of drinking* 
“ spirits, lies at the root of all 
“ other evils in this City, and 
“ elsewhere” It is necessary to 
observe from whence Mr. Poyn- 
der states his information to be 
chiefly derived, namely, from, in - 
tercourse with prisoners in JVew- 
(pile , which is a confined and 
corrupt source of knowledge 
on such a topic; and it cannot 
escape notice, that the words 
“ drinking spirits lies at the root 
of all other evils,” very vaguely 
express his meaning; which I 
take to be, that drinking spirits 
is the root itself' of ail oilier evds, 
which I deny. Although Mr. 
Poynder relates that Mt.Bonar’s 
murderer was fierce and violent 
when he had been drinking, 
which I do not deny; and that 


Primed by and lor W. Hone, <37; Uld Bailey, London. 



























Hone’s Reformists’ Register. 



Williamson, who murdered the 
family of the Mark’s at. Ratclifi- 
Ilighway* had been drinking the 
strongest kind of gin; and that 
there are numerous instances of 
other culprits being spirit drink¬ 
ers, which likewise I do not 
deny; yet I do deny his infe¬ 
rence, that drinking is the root 
of crime. It is in many in¬ 
stances one of the means to more 
effectual perpetration—and in a 
few it increases indifference to 
the consequences; but deficiency 
of moral principle is the root ot 
crime. 

Mr. Poynder says that— 
“ cases of violated trust in Late 
u Clerks, arising from their habit 
a of drinking, were constantly 
“ occurring.” I wi 11 ask Mr. 
Poynder what salaries ^re paid 
to Law Clerks, by their employ¬ 
ers. He is an Attorney, and can 
tell. The hours of attendance 
for Ijvw Clerks , are from nine 
o’clock in the morning until 
eight or nine in the evening, 
with the exception of dinner 
hours only. They give up the 
whole of their time to a seden¬ 
tary employment—that of copy¬ 
ing lav. 7 papers and pleadings, 
and contract pulmonary com¬ 
plaints, from constantly sitting 
in a bent posture. I here is no 
avocation more cheer less and 
destitute of recreation or variety. 
Mr. Corbett, who had been a 
Law Clerk, in his “Life, written 
bv himself,” says :— 

“ No part of nay life has been 
totally unattended with pleasure, 
except the eight or nine months I 
passed in (bay's Inn. The office 
(for so the dungeon where I 
wrote was called) was so dark, 
that on cloudy days we were 
obliged to burn candle. I worked 


like a galley slave, from fm 
in the morning till eight or nine 
at night, and sometimes all night 
long. How many quarrels have 
I assisted to foment and perpe- 
tuate between those poor inno¬ 
cent fellow s, John Doe and Rich¬ 
ard Roe! How many times 
(God forgive me!) have I set 
them to assault each other, with 
guns, swords, staves, and pitch- 
forks, and then brought them tc 
answer for their misdeeds before 
our Sovereign Lord the King 
seated in his Court at Westmin¬ 
ster ! When 1 think of the sauh 
and so-forihs , and the counts oi 
tautology that I scribbled over ; 
when 1 think of those sheets oi 
seventy-two words, and those 
lines two inches a-part, my brain 
turns.—Gracious heaven ! if 1 
am doomed to be wretched, bury 
me beneath Iceland snows, and 
let me feed on blubber; stretch 
me under the burning line, and 
deny me thy propitious dews; 
nay, if it be thy w ill, suffocate ine 
with the infected and pestilential 
air of a democratic club-room : 
but save me from the desk of an 
attorney! ” 

The unfortunate persons vhc 
are doomed to this w retched con¬ 
dition are paid w orse than jour¬ 
neymen bricklayers. The em¬ 
ployment of an Attorney’s Clerk 
is at variance with al! others, and 
| unfits him for it; there is no pros - 
\pect before him, during life,’ hut 
a wearisome repetition of tlnfsamc 
dreary task; he sees that if M 
dare to marry with the chance o 
an offspring, his means arelnsuffi- 
cient to their support; should the 
unfortunate man make the d s 

covery after he lias entered ink 
%> 

the estate, he is wretched foi 
ever. Uuder these anticipation? 






3S9] October 18, 1817. [390 


and views, the mind of the Law 
Clerk sometimes gives way: he 
derives no comfort from intel¬ 
lectual resources; if he increase 
his knowledge* he increaseth his 
sorrow, and ne insensibly ac¬ 
quires a habit of drowning his 
care with a dram. This class of 
persons should have been the last 
for Mr. Poynder to reproach 
with the vice of drinking, or the 
crime of violating their trust. It 
is wonderful to me that they exist 


upon any terms. The Attoruies 
make them slaves, and reward 
them insufficiently ; and yet they 
expect them to be without the 
vibes of slavery. W hat is there in 
an Attorney’s office, to fascinate 
the Clerk with its duties, oradd to 
the strength of his morality? He 
is an accessary to the knavish 
client, who shelters himself under 
the forms of law from the de¬ 
mands of equity. He helps to 
protract the Chancery suit of a 
century, during the term of the 
present Solicitor’s natural life. 
He knows why there must be 
other parties added to the fiftieth 
time amended bill; and why , on 
the death of one suitor, the suit 
itself must fall, without a Bill of 
Revivor, and a commencement of 
the whole proceedings de novo. 
Pie sees that bare right is power¬ 
less against property with might. 
He sees the bolstering Up of un¬ 
just claims, and the rejection of 
real ones, effected bv the strength 
of the purse. He is the labourer 
who helps to forward the mecha¬ 
nism, which is turned, and polish¬ 
ed, and dove-tailed, by the Attor¬ 
ney, and Solicitor, and Convey¬ 
ancer, and Special Pleader, and 
Chamber Counsel. He is the 
drudge to do the rough work of 
toilsome form, and endless chica¬ 


nery. Pie sees justice slaughtered 
and exposed ’for sale in the sham¬ 
bles, and he knows that those who 
have no money to purchase must 
go without. There is not a 
worse paid, or a more ill-used, or 
a more harmless class of persons 
than Law Clerks. The Attorriies 
work them hard, and keep them 
hungry, and Mr. Poynder ex¬ 
pects them to be grateful. They 
are behind the scenes of the most 
demoralizing of our institutions, 
and he expects them to be moral. 
They are moral. Tiiey are more 
moral than a moralist could 
expect; Mr. Poynder says they 
are almost universally addicted to 
drinking. It is not true. An 
Attorney’s business could not go 
on with an office full of drunken 
Clerks—they would ruin him. If 
a few take to drinking, they ex¬ 
pire for want of employment. 
Those who contrive to maintain 
their independence for a time, 
cannot do so during the natural 
term of life. A Clerk advanced 
in years, In an Attorney’s office, 
is a rarity. Their health is 

mostly exhausted in middle age, 
against which their insufficient 
salaries do not enable them to 
make provision. They are then 
treated like worn-out hacks] 
Being no longer serviceable, they 
are no longer kept; arid they 
crawl off, and die in holes and 
corners, victims to the avarice 
and injustice of their employers. 

Mr. Poynder says, “ there is 
“ perhaps less of gross drunken - 
“ ness brought before the public 
eve, than when beer was the 
national liquor ; but there is 
44 probably, on that very account, 
so much more drinking, and 
so much more crime” I know, 
from observation, that there is 






391J* Honk’s Reform 

much less .drunkenness, and I 
believe, also from, observation, 
that there is much less drinking, 
that is, less ijiu-drinking, amongst 
the working classes. There may 
be nearly as great a consump¬ 
tion of spirits as formerly, be¬ 
cause less wine being" drank, 
spirits are substituted for it in 
private families; but stilt not 
amongst those whom Mr. Poyn- 
ijer imagines are rendered crimi- 
nal by drinking. “ J am per- 
‘ suaded,” continues Mr. Poyn- 
der, “ that the actual increase oj 
u crime will alone explain the 
“ increased length of sessions 
“ and assizes; and that the great 
“ cause of the increase of' crime 
u itself is to be traced to drin k ing ” 
Prinking' is not tlie cause of 
crime. A highwayman on horse¬ 
back robs on the road with fire¬ 
arms, and a pickpocket in Haines 
himselif with liquor before he 
goes out to ride; yet if 1 were 
to see Mr. Povnder on Ludgafe 
Hill, elevated by wine, I should 
not thrust my hands into iny 
pockets, expecting that he had a 
design upon my handkerchief 
and snuff-box; nor were 1 to 
meet him on horseback, though 

it were by Duval’s Lane, and 1 
* 

even knew he had a pistol in his 
pockef, should J expect he would 
ride up and put it at my head, 
and demand my pocket-book. 
He must have still jnore and 
closer intercourse with, the pri¬ 
soners %n Newgate ,before I should 
suspect him of this. Ardent 
spirits are drank by those who 
are criminal, and by those who 
are not. It is not more bad in 
one man to drink spirits, and 
less bad in another. Gin is not 
the came of crime. The man is 
criminal before he drinks, as 


mV Register. [ofL? 

he who designs to shoot another 
is criminal before he buys the 
pistol;—were the evil in the 
instrument, the cutler of whom 
Owen bought tbe knife with 
which he made the brutal at¬ 
tack on the Jones’s aiid theifr 
servant last week, ought to be 
tried with him, for making tlm 
weapon of the intended murder. 
Tiie mischief is not in gin, but 
in the gi a-drinker. A man 
badly educated, of bad morals, 
and violent temper, meditates a 
murder, drinks, and commits it. 
Another properly educated, ami 
otherwise well qualified, medi¬ 
tates the instruction of his fefiovv 
creatures, drinks, mounts the 
pulpit, and preaches all the 
better. The great moralist John¬ 
son, who under the influence of 
liquor would never have become 
criminal, was accustomed to ine¬ 
briate himself with twenty or 
thirty cups of tea, and astonish 
his hearers with his powers of 
mind. Mr. Pitt, and his friend 
Dundas, the late Lord Melville, 
were both hard drinkers, and to 
excess, Mr. Pcynder is of their 
school in politics, and would 
laugh to scorn the supposition 
that, even in their cups ',they could 
commit grand larceny or high 
treason. Sir William Black- 
stone wrote his Commentaries on 
the Laics of England with a 
bottle of wine before him. It is 
related of Mozart, the celebrated 
musical composer, that lie post¬ 
poned the composition of the 
overture to his opera of Dm 
Giovanni until the last moment. 
This overture is esteemed a mas¬ 
ter-piece of genius and science. 
The last grand rehearsal of the 
onera took place without it, 
although the public performance 





303] October 

was fixed for the next day. 
Moz wit's friends, his wife, and 
above ail the Manager, were iri 
a state of alarm easily to he con¬ 
ceived : they represented to him 
the ruinous consequences, to the 
theatre as well as to himself, 
which must result from an event¬ 
ual disappointment; and con¬ 
jured him not to blast his great¬ 
est work by so wanton a procras¬ 
tination. “ 1 shall write the 
overture this afternoon; 1 have 
it all in my head,” was the 
answer given to them. The 
afternoon came; but Mozart, 
seduced by the fineness of thd 
weather, took a trip into the 
country, and made merry, re¬ 
turned in the evening, and sat 
down—to a bowl of punch, with 
some friends, who trembled at 
the idea of his situation. It was 
midnight before he left this jo¬ 
vial party, in a state so little cal¬ 
culated for mental exertion, that 
lie determined to lie down for 
an hour, at the same time charg¬ 
ing Mrs. Mozart to cal! him at 
the expiration of that time. The 
fond wife, seeing' him in the 
sweetest slumber, and conscious 
of his power, suffered him to lie 
iico hours, called him up, made 
a boicl of punch, his favourite 
beverage, put pen, ink, and 
Staves before him, sat do\Vn by 
his side, and while filling the 
glass, entertained the composer 
with a number of laughable sto¬ 
ries, in the telling of which she 
possessed a peculiar talent. Mo¬ 
zart listened with the greatest 
glee, and laughed till the tears 
trickled down his eyes. All at 
once the divine spark within 
him brightened into radiant 
flame ; he felt “ full of the God,’ 
and exclaimed, “ Now is the 


18, 1817. [394 

time, Const anti a ♦ now we are 
in trim for it.” Showers of 
crotchets and quavers now gush¬ 
ed from the rapid pen. At tinier, 
however, and in the midst of 
writing, nature would assert her 
sway, and cause the composer 
to relapse into a nod or two. To 
these, it is generally pretended, 
the leading passage in the over¬ 
ture, turned, repeated, and mo¬ 
dulated into a hundred varied 
shapes, owed its origin. The 
somnoleiu fits, however, soon 
gave way to the cheerful con¬ 
verse of ''Const ant i A'i and the ex¬ 
cellent. punch which formed its 
accompaniment. The overture 
was completed before breakfast, 
and the copyists scarcely had 
time to write out the score. A 
rehearsal being thus out of the 
question, the orchestra played it* 
at the public representation in 
the evening without previous 
trial; and it is no small eulo- 
gium on their talernts to add, 
that the execution electrified the 
audience, who with thunders of 
applause called for a repetition.* 

The cause of crime is to be 

j• 

looked for in men of depraved 
minds and corrupted morals; in 
ignorance of duty, more than 
heedlessness of punishment. He 
who abstains from crime because 
he is convinced that to be crimi¬ 
nal is to be miserable, governs 
himself. He who has never been 
taught that “ honesty is the best 
policy,” and whom fear of impri¬ 
sonment, and*transportation, and 
the gallows, alone restrain, has 
no self-government. The one 
drinking to conviviality will 

. ' i . 

* This anecdote of Mozart I have given 
in the language of the Examiner-: it is 
subjoined to the Critique on Dmt Justly in 
the paper of Sunday, April ‘.0th, 





395] Honk's Reformists’ Register. [396 


heighten the pleasures of !, e 

tabtey&nd if he carry arms, use 

' */ ' 

them but to defend himself; the 
other drinking to raise his spi¬ 
rits becomes debauched, and 
points his pistol at the first per¬ 
son he meets. The one will ab¬ 
stain from depredation, though 
liquor-shops keep their doors 
coaxingSy ajar, and fire-arms he 
publicly exposed; the other 
would rob and murder, though 
liquor-shops were abolished, and 
arms not allowed to be sold. 
“ As to what is said,” observes 
Burke, “ in a physical and moral 
view, against the home consump¬ 
tion of spirits, experience has 
long since taught me very little 
to respect the declamations on 
that subject. Whether the thun¬ 
der of the laws or the thunder of 
eloquence ‘ is hurled on gin? 
always 1 am thunder-proof. The 
alembic, in my mind, has fur¬ 
nished the world a far greater 
benefit and blessing than if tlie 
opus maximum had been really 
found by chemistry, and, like 
Midas, we could turn every thing 
into gold.—Undoubtedly there 
may be a dangerous abuse in the 
excess of spirits; and at one 
time I am ready to believe the 
abuse was great. When spirits 
are cheap, the business of drunk¬ 
enness is achieved with little 
time or labour; but the evil l 
consider to he wholly done away. 
Observation for the last forty 
years, and very particularly for 
the last thirty, has "Turn ished me 
with ten instances of drunken¬ 
ness from other causes, for one 
from this. Ardent spirit is a 
great medicine , often to remove 
distempers — much more fre¬ 
quently to prevent them, or to 
chase them away in their begin¬ 


nings. Jt is not nutritive in any 
great degree. But if not food, 
it greatly alleviates the want.of 
it. It invigorates the stomach 
for the digestion of poor meagre 
diet, not. easily alliable to the 
human constitution. Wine the 
poor cannot touch. Beer, as ap¬ 
plied to many occasions (as 
among seamen and fishermen, 
for instance), will by no means 
do the business. Let me add 
what wits inspired with cham¬ 
paign and claret will turn into 
ridicule—it is a medic die for the 
mind. Under the pressure of 
the cares ami sorrows of our 
mortal condition, men have at all 
times, and in all countries, called 
in some physical aid to their 
moral consolations—wine, beer, 
opium, brandy, or tobacco.” 

Had Mr. Poynder related any 
new facts in proof of his opi¬ 
nions, his evidence would have 
been so far valuable; but he has 
not cited one case which had not 
been in print. Three years' in- 
terconrse with the prisoners hi 
Newqate was badlv employed by 
Mr. Under-Sheriff Poynder, if 
he cannot add a multitude of in¬ 
stances to those we know. I am 
inclined to think he lias brought 

O 

himself up in a bad school to 
verv little advantage. Surround- 
ed by convicted criminals, who 
drank gin, and swore when they 
were drunk, be concluded drink¬ 
ing to be the cause of their 
vices. It is the effect. I said 
Mr. Poykder adduced no new 
instances. 1 forgot one which 
appears to me to have in great 
measure occasioned his mistaking 
t he effect for the cause. One wick¬ 
ed rascal in Newgate told Mr. 
Poyder he could not enter his 
home in the dead of night unless 







397] October 18, 1817. [0.98 


begot well primed first. 1 have no 
ci o a h t M r. Po v n n e r s !hi d de red a * 
every wine-vaults he passed on his 
way home, and decided (hat there 
would he no security for the fu¬ 
ture, till they were all abolished. 
I am not quite so certain if (he 
housebreaker had told him that 
he could not enter his house in 
the dead of night, if he was ever 
so well primed, without a wrench- 
ing-iron , that, therefore Mr. Poyn- 
drr would abolish the sale of 
ironmongery; and yet a crow¬ 
bar Would be more necessary to 
a housebreaker than gin. In- 
deed I am persuaded that habits 
of drinking in criminals lead to 
their detection. If a criminal 
could abstain from drinking, tie 
Avon Id add years of guilt to his 
life before lie became a convict, 
and might perhaps die at home 
in his bed. The depredator who 
drinks plans insecurely, and 
hangs because he cannot keep 
himself sober, 

There is a portion of Mr. Poyn- 
j)Er’s evidence which shows that 
his twelve years’ acquaintance 
with the vagrants and prostitutes 
and petty thieves in Bridewell, 
and his three years’ intercourse 
with the prisoners in Newgate, 
have confined his views of the 
consequences of crime to these 
little homes of vjllany. His ob¬ 
servation of wickedness has never 
extended beyond that which he 
lias heard of from its perpetrators 
within the walls, or from the 
turnkeys, of the prisons. His 
remarks upon what lie lias 
seen of second-hand sin are 
useless, and upon what he has 
imagined to be perpetrated are 
mischievous. The part of his evi¬ 
dence I more immediately allude 
to is as follows 


“ I would further observe, that 
“ the continuance of the present 
system of drinking has appeared 
to me calculated to encourage 
“ and perpetuate bah ts of IN- 

“ SUBORDINATION AND SE- 
“ I)IT!ON, an ! 1 feel strongly 
“ persuaded ihat the Government 
“ loses infinite!;/ more in. the a Her 
“ nation of the minds oj its people, 
“ that it can ever gain by the 
“ largest contribution to its re- 
“ venue, Cashman, the rioter, who 
“ was lately executed in London, 
“ assured me, the day before his 
“ death, that he had been dmiking 
“ spirits, repeatedly before he 
“ joined the n»oh.—As far as 
my own experience goes , as to 
“ the disaffection and discontent 
“ prevailing here,I am convinced, 
“ that the most fertile source of 
“ contempt for human law, as 
“ well as divine, is to be found 
“ in the drinking of spirits; the 
“ mind is soured and irritated in 
“ consequence of perpetual ex*? 
“eiternent; it is ill at ease in 
“ itself, and vents its resentment 
“ upon all around : among the 
“ causes of offence which such a 
“ man finds, it is natural he 
“ should manifest most impa- 
“ tience at what restrains him 
“ most; and as government , and 
“ law, and order, are (for the 
“ general good) imposing per- 
“ petua! obstacles in his way, he 
“ will hate and vilify them, and 
“ seek to render authority con- 
“ temptible by all the means in 
“ his power. The morning dram- 
“ shop and the evening pubhe- 
“ house are well calculated to 
“ form and cultivate such a state 
“of mind; FACTIOUS NEWS¬ 
PAPERS, AS WELL AS 
“ OTHER PERNICIOUS PUB- 
“ LIGATIONS, help to mislead 








399] Hone’s Reform 

“ and seduce those who wish to 
“ be deceived, and snch as cannot 
“ read, hear others road; SEDI- 
“ TIOUS companions keep each 
“ other in countenance, and 
“ TREASON assumes a confi- 
“ deuce and courage which it 
would never otherwise acquire; 

“ lienee the MOST iehUncfnl com- 
“ biuafionf and the MOST horrid 
“ oaths; hence facilities are af- 
“ forded to such persons for 
“collecting together from night 
“ to night, w hich their own houses 
“ would not Slip ply. In these 
“ cases, it is not to lie denied that 
** the liquor which is furnished 
“ forms one great source of at- 
“ traction, leads to false and per- 
verted reasonings , to late hours, 

“ and to increased expenses, in 
“ instances where expense can 
“ be so ill afforded ; not even the 
“ pause of one day iii the week 
“ is allowed ; hut the SUNDAY 
NEWSPAPER presents an in- 
“ ducement when the business 
“ of the week is over, and assists 
“ in keeping tip the same round of 
“ political and moral mischief . 

“ It cannot be expected, that 
“ with such incentives to evil , (he 
“ slave of his appetites will either 
“ fear God or honour the King. 

“ We find, accordingly, that in 
“ throwing off the divine govern- 
“ ment, human allegiance has 
“been sensibly affected in the 
“ low er ranks of society.” 

I can scarcely bring- myself to 
condescend a remark upon this. 
Mr. Foyndeu appears to think 
that opinion is superior to fact, 
and that fact is not a necessary 
ground of opinion. If he is thus 
deficient to himself in respect, 
he has no claim upon others to 
respect his sayings. He who con¬ 
cludes dissatisfaction with 'the 


ists’ Register, [400 

measures of Government to pro¬ 
ceed from drinking, is a poor ob¬ 
server of the habits and nature of 
man. Instances of whatMt, Poyn* 
der would call dishy alt g , are 
rare amongst gin-drinkers—your 
downright drunkards are as loyal 
as the Clerk and Solicitor to the 
Royal Hospitals of Bethlem and 
Bridewell; and keepers of wine- 
vaults increase the sale of their 
drams by giving them loyal 
names. A few years ago the 
outside of every spirit-shop was 
inscribed with “ F ine Royal Gin” 
As rival distillers arose, Royalty 
gave way to inscriptions ot 
“ Booth's fine Gin ”—“ Hodges's 
best ”—“ Deadifs Entiref See. 
But within side there is loyalty 
for every barrel, butt, and bottle. 
As political events transpired, 
gill had different political desig¬ 
nations; a few of which I recol¬ 
lect, namelv:— 

Camperaown , 

.A hi son's Balls . 

The Regent's Cordial 
The Regent's Delight . 

Prime Cobourg. 

Princess Charlotte's Pan eg, 

Boneg's Defeat . 

Waterloo Eye Water . 
fc. fc. fc. 

These are all loyal names, and 
all suitable to the enfeebled and 
degraded minds of the castaw ays 
who drink drams—they are all 

v 

names corresponding to the dis¬ 
positions of prostitutes and pick¬ 
pockets, avid desperadoes,and the 
other loyal customers of the gin- 
shop, I almost forgot the name 
of Wellington, which is usually 
painted on the largest cask in 
the collection, to denote superior 
quality. I stated in a former 
Register , that criminals are the 
most loyal class of his Majesty’s 



401] October 

subjects, ami they have ever been 
so, as long- as 1 can recollect to 
have heard or read of them. In 
die time of the Commonwealth , 
the hiyluvaymen were Royalists, 
and delighted in plundering the 
Roundheads— the Judges who 
tried them were often insulted bv 
their political ribaldry; and from 
t hat time to the present, the most 
depraved braves have professed 
loyal principles* In In land, re¬ 
specting which unhappy country 
even Mr. Poynder professes to 
have an opinion, experience 
wholly falsities his daring as¬ 
sumption, that drinking creates 
political discontent. 

In the year 1793, the Whig 
Club, amongst which was Loro 
Castlereagh, recommended to 
the People of Ireland to form 
themselves into a Brotherly So¬ 
ciety, of all religious persuasions, 
for the purpose of obtaining Par¬ 
liamentary Reform, Catholic 
Emancipation, and a Commuta¬ 
tion of Tithes—the national name 
of United Irishmen was consider¬ 
ed as an appropriate title. The 
British Cabinet, and the Irish 
Government, dreaded the conse¬ 
quences that would accrue by 
division being, banished from 
the People—the oath of the 
United Irishmen , by a vote of the 
Irish Parliament, became a capi¬ 
tal crime, and those convicted 
were to suffer death without the 
benefit of clergy. 

The United Irishmen, abandon¬ 
ing all hopes of Reform, came to 
a resolution to obtain indepen¬ 
dence by force. J presume Mr. 
Poynder will admit there was dis¬ 
satisfaction enough in that. In¬ 
stead, however, of indulging in 
habits of intoxication, they consi¬ 
dered it an evil to be dreaded,Wd 


18, 1817. K \ *• . '[402 

they actually refrained from 
drinknigspir-its,in' order to ensure 
each others prudence. It is a fact 
which I defy Mr. Poynder to 
disprove, that few men can recol¬ 
lect to have seen an Irishman 
drunk or quarrelling’ at that 
period. So much w r as the prin¬ 
ciple of sobriety dreaded, that 
Irish Magistrates were heard to 
declare that they could not think 
themselves safe until the People 
hey an to drink and fiyht ayain. 

No, Mr. Poynder ; the drunken 
rogues and rascals are yours; 
they are all on y(mr side; the 
consumers of the liquor which 
“ leads to false and perverted 
“ reasonings,” are the loyal. 
Nothing is less likely to encou¬ 
rage discontent than drink, and 
it never creates it. No man is 
better satisfied with himself, and 
those about him, than a drunkard. 
Moderate drinking and cheerful¬ 
ness are inseparable. Let a mob 
guzzle, and their mirth will he 
outrageous. I shall never forget 
the drunken rabble o-n the Jubi¬ 
lee night, seveia years ago; they 
had swilled parish beer till they 
were bursting with loyalty . Then* 
Mr. Poynder, walk into the City. 
There is drinking ! Look at Al¬ 
derman Sir William Curtis; 
look at him ; look at him well; 
look at him thoroughly ; look at 
his fair round belly ; look at his 
face! Why he is the very Ana¬ 
creon of a City Feast; the Silenus 
of the Social Board. Is he dis¬ 
loyal. Is he. discontented. Does 
not he say “ things are very well 
as they are.” Is there any mail 
who drinks, who does not say 
so too? Is not the act of 
drinhiny with a view to enjoy the 
time present; and are not drink¬ 
ers cateless and indifferent of 




4031 Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [401 


past or future? The sots are 
yours, Mr. Poynder, As to the 
“ swearing the most horrible 
oaths” I should like a little ex¬ 
planation ; but 1 do hope it will 
not be forgotten, that Mr. Alder¬ 
man Atkins, when perfectly 
sober, and actually discharging 
one of the functions of Magis¬ 
tracy, did actually, in open If all, 
swear “ By God ! ” There was a 
Common Councilman, too, who 
complained of being compelled 
to sit in a cursed cold church. 1 
do not hear that these gentlemen, 
or Sir William Curtis, or the 
Wardens and long-tooth Livery¬ 
men of the rich Companies who 
lay in their own stock of wines, 
and drink from night till dewy 
morn, are likely to come to the 
gallows, in consequence of their 
drinking. 

Before I conclude, I will just 
relate a little affair, somewhat 
connected with the subject. 
Last Christmas I received a 
printed notice ns follows:— 
(Copy) 

To the Worth! Inhabitants of this 
Parish. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The regular Dustmen of this pa¬ 
rish, who are employed by the Com¬ 
missioners of the City, present their 
humble respects to the Inhabitants, 
and think it their duty to apprize 
them, in order to prevent imposition, 
that the regular men, whose names 
are subscribed, may be known by 
presenting a pewter medal , on which 
is a likeness of SELINA COUN¬ 
TESS OF HUNTINGDON; on 
the reverse, “ I know that my Re¬ 
deemer liveth,” encircled with laurel: 
and they hope and trust you will give 
no Christmas Boxes to any other 
persons. 

John Blinko. 

Wm. Martin. 

Tim poor fellows made their 


appearance in due time, some¬ 
what the worse for drink, certify¬ 
ing their being the regular 
dustmen, by presenting the 
pewter medal, bearing the “ like¬ 
ness of Selina Countess of 
Huntingdon, and on the reverse 
“ I know that my Redeemer 
“ liveth,”encircled with laurel:” 
they were men of gravity and 
good nature, and loyal , From 
their odd medal, they wore 
called the " Evangelical Dust¬ 
men;” and they are, I hope, 
as far from crime as their betters, 
though they had been drinking , 

I do not stand forth the advo¬ 
cate of drinking, which is a vice; 
but l oppose the supposition that 
drinking is the root of crime. 
Bad habits, depravity, and crime, 
are the offspring of ignorance 
and neglected morals; of over¬ 
meddling am! contradictory le¬ 
gislation; and of want of pater¬ 
nal care in the Government. I 
have no opportunity of remark¬ 
ing’ on Mr. Poynder’s sayings 
about “ factious newspapers, and 
other pernicious publications,” 
nor have I much inclination. 
With the exception of the Re¬ 
corder’s, in the first Report, Mr. 
Poynder’s is the most inconse¬ 
quential evidence before the P'o- 
1 ice Committee. It has not a 
single new idea, and is of no 
value, but as an instance of the 
patience which the Members ex¬ 
ercised during its delivery. 

WILLIAM HONE. 

G7, Old Baile/j, loth Oct. 1817. 

EXPOSURE 

Of the Spy System in Lancashire, 

IN THE FORMER DISTURBANCES. 

To the Reader. 

Having inserted in a former 
Register, p. 310, a Communica - 








405] October 

tion from some of the Manchester 
sufferers, who were indicted and 
discharged at tlie last Lancaster 
assizes, without being brought to 
trial, it appears to me proper to 
introduce a statement relative to 
the practices of the SPIES, in the 
Lancashire manufacturing dis¬ 
tricts, during the disturbances 
there five years ngo, namely, 
early in 1812. Numerous execu¬ 
tions and banishments succeeded 
the operations of these wretches, 
notwithstanding 1 Dr. Robert 
Taylor, a respectable physician 
of Bolton-le-Moors, successfully 
exposed their diabolical arts to 
ensnare the unwary. This gen¬ 
tleman’s services were rewarded 
by tlie inhabitants of Bolton 
voting to him, at a public meeting 1 , 
a piece of plate, value 100 gui¬ 
neas ; the inscription on which 
stated, that it was presented to 
Dr. Taylor “ by the Friends of 
Freedom, in Bolton and its vici¬ 
nity^ as a testimonial of their ap¬ 
probation of his public conduct 
in general, and particularly for 
the spirit evinced by him, in 
stepping forward to defend the 
character of the inhabitants from 
gross misrepresentation, and for 
contributing to tlie successful ex¬ 
posure in Parliament of a detesta¬ 
ble system of Espoij^J^age, 
highly dangerous and alarming." 

From the statement ot Dr. 
Taylor, it appears:— 

That during the period of the dis¬ 
turbances in the neighbourhood of 
Bolton-1 e-Moors, in the year 1812, 
the hired spies were more regular in 
their attendance on the nocturnal 
meetings, and more active in raising 
recruits, than any other persons ! 

• That they were the oniy persons 
who were in the habit of attending 
these meetings ARMED ! 


18, 1817. [406 

That these spies did frequently re¬ 
commend, and vehemently urge th# 
perpetration of unlawful and felonious 
acts, such as the destruction of pro¬ 
perty by burning, and even private 
assassination ! 

That they were the persons who 
organized the meetings, who divided 
them into classes, and who appointed 
Captains or Representatives of the 
Classes. - 

That they did themselves act as 
Captains of Classes, under feigned 
names, such as Whitbread, Giiky, 
and Wardle ; thereby giving to these 
insignificant and.paltry meetings an 
air of magnitude and importance, and 
political feeling, to which they had 
otherwise no pretension ! 

That they fixed the times and places 
of future meetings, and gave out the 
pass-words and countersigns, and sent 
notices or summonses to individuals to 
attend these meetings, assailing, with 
loud reproaches and violent threats, 
those who expressed any disinclination 
to attend them ! 

That the spies were also active in 
collecting the miserable two-penny 
subscriptions, so much talked of, and 
in furthering the administration of 
the unlawful oath, and in distributing 
copies of the said oath, for the pur¬ 
pose of setting it a-going in distant 
places ! 

That they encouraged the attend¬ 
ance on the meetings, by making 
false reports of the number of recruits 
raised, and by intimating that arms 
would be provided for all who should 
he in want of them, and also by exhi¬ 
biting fire-arms, with which tliev de- 
dared rheir determination to shoot 
any constables who should come to 
disturb or to disperse them ! 

That they did, by violent reproaches, 
and the exhibition of fire-arms, 
and threats of instant death, compel 
individuals to remain at the meetings, 
who, through fear, or dislike of the 
proceedings, wished to retire from 
them! 

That they did, in several instances. 



407] Hone’ Reformists’ Register. [40& 


go so far as to lend or distribute fire¬ 
arms amongst tfieir deluded associates, 
for the avowed purpose of being em¬ 
ployed in the perpetration of unlawtiil 
acts ! 

That these spies were in general 
men in the Lowest stations of life, 
several of them paupers ; and that it 
therefore becomes matter of serious 
inquiry how, or where, or by whom, 
they were furnished with tire-arms 
for these purposes ! 

That, for the purpose of better 
carrying on the deception, these spies 
proposed to attack and destroy the 
house of their reputed employer, Mr. 
Fi .etcher, and pointed out times 
when the absence of the military 
seemed to offer a favourable opportu¬ 
nity for effecting this ! 

That one of the spies has repeatedly 
gone the length of proposing the 
assassination of Mr. Fletcher him¬ 
self, and has actually produced pistols 
for this pretended purpose, in the 
execution of which he himself offered 
to assist ! 

That the spies were, by some per¬ 
sons y. t unknown, supplied very 
lavishly with money, which was often 
expen : 1 iu giving free drink to those 
whom they wished to seduce from 
their duty ! 

That the wages of these spies, which 
have been publicly stated at from dOs. 
to 50s. per week, have, in some in¬ 
stances, been paid at the rate of from 
12s. to 15s. per night! 

That these extravagant wages are 
not rendered necessary by any sup¬ 
posed danger to the^ives of the spies 
from the vengeance ’of the rioters ! 

That there is not the slightest 
ground for this crafty insinuation, as 
they go abroad publicly, and at all 
hours, and apparently without fear: 
and some of them, by their habitually 
riotous conduct, and the very peculiar 
insolence of their deportment, show 
that they feel confident of impunity 
and protection! 

That there are amongst these spies 
veterans, who served their country in 


this honourable way in the year 1801, 
and who, notwithstanding the alleged 
ferocity and blood-thirstiness of the 
rioters, have lived again to come for¬ 
ward in the same capacity in 1812. 

That one only of the spies of 1801 
has come to an unfivnely cud, and 
that he did not fall a victim to the 
vengeance of the rioters, but (whether 
in consequence of some misbehaviour 
or mismanagement on his part, or 
some mistake or foul play on the part 
of his employers or associates) was 
himself executed as a rioter at Lancas¬ 
ter, at the close of the Special Com¬ 
mission in 1812 ! 

That at the Meeting on Dean 
Moor, on the 19th of April (on 
which much stress was laid), when 
there was a talk of destroying M est 
Houghton factory, the spies attended 
in such numbers, as, according to 
their own account, to constitute up - 
weirds of one-fourth of the meeting; 
and there is reason to believe that the 
proportion of spies was in reality even 
greater than this ! 

That they appeared on thi occasion 
armed . and dbguised with blcfde- 
efiecl faces, sous to excite much atten¬ 
tion aim eiiVtositv! 

That when thebe was an attempt to 
ascertain whether the strength of this 
meeting was eompeteret to its object, 
some cf the spies showed their pistols, 
and offered themselves to he counted 
two or three rimes over . so as to give 
llm appearance off greater numbers 
than were really present, thereby en¬ 
couraging the meeting to proceed to 
the perpetration of its intended mis¬ 
chief ! 

That when some persons wished to 
retire, on finding the wicked and dan¬ 
gerous service the meeting was pro¬ 
ceeding upon, they were prevented 
from so doing, by a rear-guard, formed 
chiefly of the armed spies, and were 
marched by force towards West Hough¬ 
ton, where a considerable detachment 
of military are said to be in ambus¬ 
cade, waiting their approach ! 

That on this occasion the spies were 





October 18, 1817. 


[410 


provided with white caps, to put on 
their heads when they should meet 
the military, that tliey plight be rccos ■ 
fazed ! 

i hat it was.given out that the mili¬ 
tary were called suddenly to a con si 
durable distance thereby affording to 
the riotous meeting an uneommonlv 
safe opportunity for tile execution of 
their project ! 

That the military had, in fact, pro¬ 
ceeded by a circuitous and unusual 
route to West Houghton 3 the direct 
road from Bolton to W est Houghton 
lying over Dean Moor, where the 
meeting was held ! , 

4 hat it the object of those who 
directed these matters had been solely 
to protect the factory, the military 
would, of course, have been ordered 
to proceed to West Houghton by the 
usual road, and would thereby have 
saved the factory, and dispersed the 
meeting by one and the same move¬ 
ment ■ but it is said that the circuitous 
route was chosen for the express pur¬ 
pose of not alarming the mob ! 

Though it is not supposed that the 
military body thus sent was acquainted 
with the plans of the spies, or would 
condescend, knowingly, to act in con¬ 
cert with them, yet there was strong 
reason to suspect, from the conduct 
of the spies on this occasion, that it 
was their intention to lead their de¬ 
luded associates into contact with the 
military. How the White Caps were 
to be made a protection to the spies 
themselves, is, of course, kndwn only 
to a chosen few ! 

It appears, however, that this judi¬ 
cious, and extraordinary, and loyal, and 
manly scheme failed, owing to the 
cowardice or want of discipline in 
the white-faced part of fche nocturnal 
meeting, which could not, either by 
encouragements, or threats, or the 
exertions of t.h» rear-guard, be 
brought near the intended scene of 
action ! 

The military slang, introduced by 
the spies, did not suffice to inspire the 
wearer* with military courage, and j 


desertion (or a disposition to lag, as 
was termed) was so prevalent in the 
ranks, that ultimately the black-faced 
part of the meeting appears to have 
been left alone! 

A detachment of Local Militia* 
which was sent from Bolton in the 
middle of the night, for the apparent 
purpose of picking up stragglers, or 
fugitives, or wounded, succeeded in 
making prisoners a considerable num¬ 
ber of the supposed Lfiddites 3 but 
lo ! when these captives came to be 
examined, every man of them wrs 
proved to belong to the corps of 
Black-faced Spies! 

The number of spies who attended 
this terrific meeting has not yet been, 
exactly ascertained. If the printed 
accounts of the trial be correct, the 
Adjutant of the Bolton Local Militia 
declared upon oath, that he believed 
eight only were employed 3 whereas 
the spies themselves had previously 
sworn, that ten went in one body by 
the direction of the Adjutant himself, 
and an eleventh had sworn that ke 
went alone by the same directions. 
It has been rumoured also, that the 
Adjutant himself was seen armed aud 
disguised on the night of this meet¬ 
ing 3 but this was not proved in 
Court, and the tale depends for its 
credibility on rumour only 3 as does 
the assertion, that the whole number 
of spies employed on this occasion 
was at least 15. A similar uncer¬ 
tainty exists as to the exact numbers 
of the whole meeting. Some of the 
spies, in their evidence, estimated the 
whole number at /0 or SO, or near 
100 —but the most active of the 
apies, and the one who went to this 
meeting first, gave it a« his opinion, 
that there were near forty there, and 
all admit that the nurhbeas were very 
speedily reduced, by 1 desertion, to 
about forty !—On the whole, the 
managers of this farce appear to have 
but very little reason to complain of 
the statement said to be made in Par¬ 
liament, that the spies on this occa¬ 
sion were to the whole meeting in the 





Hoke’s Reformists’ Register. 


[412 


411] 

proportion of 25 per cent. As little, 
I tliink, can they complain, says 
jjr. Taylor, that tbey were de¬ 
scribed as the ringleaders of mischief, 
— as being.exercised in the occupation, 
not of passive inspectors, but of active 
agents-, not of reporting the work 
which was done, but of doing the work 
to be reported. When wc see ten men 
appointed to watch, and to do something 
more than watch, thirty , whether this 
tactic came from Germany, or Spain, 
or Italy, tee consider it equally an 
exotic, and equally foreign and uncon¬ 
genial to the temper ancl genius of the 
Constitution. 


Thus we have in this sheet, the 
exposure of the Spy System in 
Lancashire, in 181*2, and in No. 10 
of the Register, the finish o i'theneio 
edition of the same system in 1817, 
communicated to me by the par- 
ties themselves, who, in the de- 
rangement of their families, the 
dimunition of their property, arid 
the imprisonment of their per¬ 
sons, having been its victims, are, 
w ith Robert Swindells, deserv¬ 
ing* something* more than mere 
every-day commiseration. 

W. Hone. 



The inclosed was written cd>out the time 
that the awful circumstance (to which it 
alludes) came to puss. That circumstance, 
however , not tinning out to be of the serious 
nature I had imagined, / thrtiv it by, till 
some halting verse which l saw in an im¬ 
maculate ministerial print, the other ray, 
■recalled it to my mind, ivilh some little 
reject. 

Possibly, not probably, it may serve to 
fll vp a spare column in your Register; in 
which case, or indeed in any case , it is at 
your service. 

I am Sir, with respect , 

A Constant Reader. 

Xo Mr. Hone. 


THE 

PUPPY OF STUTGARD, 

A SUBLIME POETICAL ADDRESS 
To Lady Castlereagh’s Dog. 

Puppy of Stutgard! smooth or rough, 
Or black, or white, or brown, or buff, 

Or gift of Stutgard’s widow'd Queen, 

Or what or where thou mayst have been, 
Suabian whelp, thou now shalt be 
Famous to all posterity! 

Say, if thou canst, adventurous pup ! 

Say, if thou canst, what game was up. 
When thou, with rash determin'd jaiv. 
Seiz’d on his Lordship's dexter paw ? 

That paw—that hand, to speak genteeler; 
Though Hamlet, perhaps, might say that 
“ stealer." 

That hand, then, which could awe the 
nations, 

And deal to waiting Kitigs their rations; 
Which could restore each ancient evil 
That BonapartE had sent to th’ Devil; 
From the low depths of blue perdition. 

Fish up the infernal liitpjrisition; 

And wi h a giant strength restore 
The blessings of the “ Scarlet Whore 
Which in the might of boroughs strong. 
Could take a lion by the tongue; 

Yea, gagg the roaring British IJon ! 

That hand a German dog dare fly on ! 

What ! he, who'd din’d and supp’d with 
Kings, 

Generals, and Emperors, and— things ; 

And squander’d money w ithout measure, 
And Cut and carv’d the world at pleasure; 
Shut up Napoleon hard and fast, 

Pilin’d by a German pup at last! 

Didst thou not know—oh, son of bitch, 
The noble Lord ?—or didst thou itch 
To gain a name in future story. 

By spoiling’s Lordship’s oratory ? 

When in St. Stephen’s next he’s babbling, 
In top and tail disjointed gabbling, 

How will he fill each frequent gap. 

Without the customary rap? 

His Lordship knows, to point the prattle, 
That dexter list was haif the battle; 

For when to find a thought he’s able, 

He clenches it upon the table ! 

And the table,shows, by many, a dent, 

Th’ force of bis Lordship’s argument. 
Besides, it serves as a signal clear, 

To Him v or George, to cry, hear! hear ! 
But now, his fist will be so sore, 

He cannot clench as heretofore; 

Sir Sam will lift in vain his trump, 

To catch the dictatorial thump; 

Milky and Georgr, and under-strappers, 
iWUsing the usual signal rappers, 

Will he confused, without their cue; 

Forget the work they have to do ; 

And littovGHAM or BurdjstTs next attack 







418] October 18, 1817. [414 


May throw his Lordship on his back ; 
Corruption lose her mightiest chief, 

Just when she most will need relief; 

Now ! when the “ Veteran Reformer” 

Is bringing up fresh force to storm her, 

In bands of twenties, staunch and loyal; 
’Cad, but ’twill be a dreadful trial. 

And then —this bite, she’ll surely rue it;— 
Doubtless the Major bribed you to it! . 
Perhaps, though, the famed triangle 
pickle, 

With which they used raw backs to tickle. 
Of rebels, in the Emerald Isle, 

Might somewhat of his pain beguile ; 
Hut, there’s a thought absorbs me fully—• 
What if thou’rt road ■!—illustrious bully ? 
Shouldst thou be touch’d with Hydrophobia, 
\V hat ills this mourning land may know 
by ye ! 

But why, or wherefore, need’st thou care, 
Should he be mail—as be can stare ? 

Then pardon, puppy, this digression ; 

My muse, resume thy self-possession. 
Veteran canine, of sage Ulysses 1 
Thou’rt nought to such a dog as this is. 

Dog of Montargis ! thou’rt forgotten; 

Thy mem’ry, like thy carcase—rotten. 
And thou, more recent, cur of Russia, 
Which bit his Highness Will of Prussia ; 
Thou and the puppy of Foot’s-Cray 
Should ne’er be nam’d on self-same day. 
But thou of Stutgard 1 deed like thine. 
Shall far in future ages shine ; 

For more ’s been done by thy sharp tooth. 
Than all the force of giant truth ; 

Tbou’st made Corruption’s champion reel; 
Taught even Castlerf.agii to feel! 

And, mighty whelp, thou now shalt be 
Famous, to all posterity 1 

Ralcho. 


BLOOD-MONEY. 


Evidence of James Ely , Po¬ 
lice-Officer, relative to the di¬ 
vision of Blood-Money in the 
Country. 

IS 

Do you think it necessary for re¬ 
wards to he given in case of capital 
conviction ?—/ do not think it neces¬ 
sary, provided there were other returns 
made to officers for their services, 
to enable them to do that which is 
necessary. 

Do the officers in general obtain 
the rewards, or arc they shared by 
other persons >—-They are generally 
shared amongst the prosecutors, the 


witnesses, and the officers. I have a 
cause in point as to that, which lately 
occurred. I was sent by Mr. Field¬ 
ing, in the month of January last, to 
Yeovil, in Somersetshire, to detect 
and to bring to justice some depre¬ 
dators, who had night after night 
committed offences against the public, 
burglaries and larcenies, and minor 
offences, for a considerable time past; 
in .consequence, 1 went there, and 
having been a few days incog, there, 
a burglary had been committed at 
West Coker, about four miles from 
Yeovil. I was immediately informed 
of it, and I went to the spot, and 
made an inventory of the articles that 
were stolen, and by persuading those 
gentlemen to take the thing up, as I 
was there, after the second day we got 
some search-warrants; the prosecu¬ 
tors, pursuing the advice I gave 
them, we detected two of the con¬ 
siderable offenders, with the property 
in their houses, which was stolen at 
the time; which two men were tried 
at the last Taunton assizes, and con¬ 
victed ; and I understand bv the 
papers, that they are now left for 
execution. After the trial was over, 
1 was called upon to sign a receipt 
for fifteen pounds, as part of the par- 
1 iante. 11 tary reward. 

How much did the whole reward 
come to }—Eighty pounds. ] said it 
was too little; the prosecutor then 
(Mr. Moore) condescended to allow 
me 21 . as part of my expenses, so that 
I received 1 71 . 

Did that include the expenses of 
your journey '(-—That was all I had 
for my trouble, from London and hack 
again , and my expenses in the country ; 
for he refused to pay any other ex¬ 
pense. 

[77m witness delivered in a statement 
of the distribution of the reward, which 
was read as follows :] 

“ The award of 807. and two judges’ 
certificates, made by Mr. Tikluas 
Moore, the prosecutor, and Mr, Ed¬ 
mund Batten, the magistrate's clerk 
at Yeovil, to the appiebender and 








415] 


Hone’s Reformists’ Register* 



witnesses on the trial of Abraiiam 
Slade and Thomas Lang, fora burg¬ 
lary committed by them, at West 
Coker, 23d. Jan. 1817, in the house 
cf Mr. John Moore, an opulent 
farmer. 

** To Mr. Thomas Moore, 

(the son of Mr. John 
Moore), an attorney ,who 
prosecuted for his father, 
a ticket value 157. and. . 27 13 0 
“ To Mr. Henry Talbot 
Moore, a brother of the . 
prosecutor, and a gentle¬ 
man of great property, 
whose evidence teas unne¬ 
cessary, as he could say 
only what the constables 
could prove, viz. the situ¬ 
ation of the dwelling- 
house broken open, a 
ticket value 15J, and . . 10 0 0 

(t ToMilBatton aforesaid, 
the brother-in-law of Mr. 

John Moore, and uncle 
to Messrs. Thomas and 
Henry Moore, whose 
evidence was unnecessary, 
and who was reproved by 

the judge . 10 10 0 

“ To Sarah Davey, a ser¬ 
vant to Mr. John Moore, 

■who proved the identity 
of the stolen property. .500 
“ ToJ OHNPiLfER,a butcher, 
who discovered Mr. 

Moore’s house broken 
open before day-light, on 
the 23d of Jan. 1817 .. 5 0 0 
“ To John Barber, a con¬ 
stable,assisting in search¬ 
ing the prisoners’ houses, 
taking possession of the 
stolen goods, and produc¬ 
ing them on the trial . . 5 0 0 

“ To James Bly,/ or appre¬ 
hending prisoners, coach- 
hire to and from London, 


and all expenses incurred 
by him in the country,Mr. 

MoorE having refused 
to pay any part of his 
expenses ... 17 0 0 

^80 0 0 

Have you known prosecutors to be 
very eager to obtain rewards themselves? 
--Principally so. 

Who made the award of the 80Z.?—* 
Mr. Batten the justice’s clerk, and 
Mr. John Moore the.prosecutor, and 
their relations ; indeed 1 was not bound 
over to appear, neither was I called 
upon oath at the time of the exami¬ 
nation ; 1 thought it was very extra¬ 
ordinary, especially as I had been the 
means of getting hold of the people. 
I never discovered what was the 
reason till afterwards, when, from 
other circumstances, I had no doubt 
it was to prevent me having a share of 
the reward. 

Might you not have appealed to 
the judge for a larger share in the 
reward }—I might; but as I had a 
great respect for the gentlemen of the 
town, 1 thought I would let it go 
on, as I was not needy, and see 
whether they would do any thing 
more, and the judge vras very busy. 

Have you known attornies eager 
in obtaining those rewards ?— I very 
seldom found, where an attorney was 
engaged, that a constable could get 
much more than his expenses, and 
hardly that. I was speaking of the 
distribution of those rewards at Yeovil, 
to a turnpike-man, and he said that 
he had seen these men before now with 
property coming home late at night; 
but that he had once been the means of 
getting a man to be apprehended, and 
he never got any thing for it ; and 
therefore that he thought he should be 
only endangering himself without re¬ 
ceiving any beueft. 


London : Printed by and for WILLIAM HONE, 67, Old Bailev, three doors from 
Luogati: Hill; where COMMUNICATIONS (post paid) should be addressed, 
—Price Twe Pence cadi, 12s. per Hundred, or 51, lUs. per Thousand. 







Pri ce Two-Pence. 


IIONE’S REFORMISTS’ REGISTER, 

AND WEEKLY COMMENTARY. 

No. I 4-] Saturday, October 25,1817. [Vol.IL 

Street, Biackfriars Road, op- 

'TTItt 7 7 I 


DEATH-THROE 

AND 

FAREWELL ! 


An essential Explanation relative to Mr. 
Nicholas, the Solicitor, of Bennett 
Street, Biackfriars Road— William 
Wood, the Ullage Hampden-—Pro¬ 
tracted Confinement of the Evanses, 
Father and Son— Mrs. Evans’s affect - 
ing Appeal—Some Account'of Messrs. 
Evans—' -A call to the Rich Refor¬ 
mists to help the Helpless—Take your 
Choice; Gold or Liberty— Explana¬ 
tion of the Circumstances under which 
the REFORMISTS' REGISTER 
has been conducted— RepubUcation ofi 
Murray's Sermons to Asses, and of 
MR. CURRAN'S SPEECHES— 
“ We know what wc are, but we knout 
not ivhat lOemay fee’—Parewell ! 

P OE TR Y —Freedom’s Field-Mar¬ 
shal—Gin and Jacky. 

M 


I sit down to this sheet with 
less pleasure than 1 have yet 
done. Before the reason for tins 
reluctance appears, there are two 
or three subjects which I must 
introduce, and none with more 
willingness than the following ; 
I therefore place it first. 

It will be recollected, that 
whilst i was in the King’s Bench 
Prison, the name of Mr, Nicholes, 
attorney, of No. 2,9, Bennett 


peered in a former Register,* 
which stated, that Messrs. Hay 
and Turner, of Newcastle Street, 
Strand, printers, received the MS. 
of an inflammatory posting-hill, 
with a letter requesting them to 
print some thousand copies of it, 
and send them to Mr. Nicholes, 
29, Bennett Street, Stamford 
Street, Biackfriars Road, and for 
which, when printed, they should 
receive £ 10. per thousand; that 
on the receipt of this inflamma¬ 
tory hill and letter, Messrs. Hay 
and Turner addressed a letter to 
Mr. Niciiolls, requesting the 
£10. to be remitted before they 
printed, which lie did not answer; 
that after pojng- to Bow Street, 
they went to the Secretary of 
State’s office, and whilst waiting 
in an antichamber to see Lord 
Sidmouth, a person entered and 
sat down, and was afterwards 
familiarly beckoned into Lord 
.Sidmouth ; that they waited up¬ 
wards of an hour in vain, expect¬ 
ing the person to come out, and 
then went away without seeing 
his Lordship; that they after¬ 
wards, to their astonishment, dis¬ 
covered that this person was Mr. 
Nicholes, the attorney, of No. 20, 
Bennett Street, Biackfriars Road, 
to whom they were to have sent 
the hills; and that letters and 
posting-bills to the like effect 
were also received by other print¬ 
ers, requesting the bills to be 

* No. 2?,, Vol. 1, p. 710. 


Pruned by and lor W. Hone, t»7> Old Bailey, London. 






























419] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [420 


printed and sent to the same Mr. 
Nicholls, whom Messrs. Hay and 
Turner left closetted with Lord 
Sidmouth, His Majesty’s princi¬ 
pal Secretary of State for the 
Home Department. 

It becomes my duty to state 
my positive conviction that not 
the slightest imputation should 
rest on Mr. Nicholls. Some ma¬ 
lignant villain, by writing circu¬ 
lars to printers, requesting them 
to print inflammatory bills, and 
send them to Mr. Nicholls, 
placed that gentleman in a situa¬ 
tion of extreme embarrassment. 
He neither answered Messrs. Hay 
and Turner’s letter, nor letters 
which, to his surprise, poured in 
upon him from other printers, in 
great numbers. Wholly igno¬ 
rant of the object of these appli¬ 
cations, he very properly took no 
notice of them, but went to the 
Secretary of State’s office, to 
communicate the affair to Lord 
Sidmouth. When he got there, 
he found Messrs. Hay and Tur¬ 
ner. Other printers had pre¬ 
viously communicated to Lord 
Sidmouth letters which they had 
received, ordering* the printing of 
the bills. Mr. Nicholls gave 
such explanation to his Lordship 
as was in his power, which, how¬ 
ever, was very little, inasmuch as 
he was wholly ignorant of the 
person who wrote the letters 
with his name, and who, from 
some unknown motive,occasioned 
him the uneasiness arising'from 
many of the printers addressing 
him. This was the cause of 
Mr. Niciiolls’s attendance on 
Lord Sidmouth, with whom he 
remained about ten minutes. 
He passed Messrs. H ay and Tur¬ 
ner on quitting his Lordship’s 
room. 

1 am extremely sorry for what¬ 


ever inconvenience Mr. Nicliolls 
has experienced from the men¬ 
tion of his name. The numerous 
letters were the fabrication of a 
vile incendiary, whose motives 
for writing them, and thus sing¬ 
ling out Sir. Nicholls, with a 
view to render him an object ol 
remark, I am wholly, at a loss to 
conjecture. Mr. Nicholls is 
Solicitor to the Thatched-House 
Society, for the relief and dis¬ 
charge of prisoners confined for 
small debts; and his character 
in his profession, and conduct in 
life, are irreproachable. I believe 
that he has never been employed 
by or on account of Governments 
on any occasion, and is in no way 
politically connected or acqnaint- 
ed with members of the Govern¬ 
ment, farther than as any profes¬ 
sional gentleman may be occa¬ 
sionally, whose practice is re¬ 
spectable. An endeavour to cou¬ 
ple dishonour, or attach suspicion, 
to Mr. Nicholls’s name, his con¬ 
nexions w-ould treat with con¬ 
tempt. I make this statement after 
an investigation which has con¬ 
vinced me of its trulh, and from 
a persuasion that I should not do 
justice to this gentleman, if I 
were to close the present sheet 
without saying w hat I have. 

I now revert to another sub¬ 
ject:— 

Amongst the cases of individual 
suffering, through the wrong¬ 
doing and severity of power, I 
pointed out poor Swindells, as 
crying aloud for commisseration 
and relief. The destruction of 
his family, and the cruelties in¬ 
flicted on him, are related at 
length in the Register containing 
my Letter to Sir j Fit«\iycis Bur - 
dett. L do not hear whether 
any thing is doing for him o-r 
not; but those who have hearts 



421 ] October 25 , 1817 . [422 


as well as property should help 
him immediately. Nothing- is 
likely to he done by those throug h 
the exec ution of whose orders 
his wife and child were sent to 
their graves. 

There is another claim, too, 
upon the pockets of those 
who have ability, in the case 
of the Manchester men , who 
were carried off by the Military, 
whilst in the act of considering 
Petitions for Parliamentary lie- 
form, and relief from starvation. 
The following short extract from 
a letter written by Wm. Wood, 
one of the petitioners, who suffered 
a terrible confinement, tells the 
story, and relates his own suf¬ 
ferings, in a few words. 

am only a few days liberated 
from Lancaster Castle. 1 was there 
confined, along with sir others, from 
the 10th of March to the 7th of Sep¬ 
tember. We were apprehended with¬ 
out warrant, at the will and pleasure 
of t.bt Magistrates, for exercising the 
right of petition ; which I will ever 
exercise, being the birthright of Bri¬ 
tons, if it bring me to a prison again ; 
and even the chains that 1 was sent 
to Lancaster in shall not deter me. 
When we were to have betn brought 
to trial, we were all discharged, re 
fusing to give bail, knowing we had 
offended against no law. We want 
the means to commence an action at 
common law, for talse imprisonment, 
to teach the Magistrates to act by some 
known law; they having never read 
the Riot Act, nor given us time to 
quit the ground. We ourselves can 
do nothing, being robbed and ruined. 
When 1 was taken, I was confined 
along with 35 others in a damp lock¬ 
up , 13 days and nights, with nothing 
but the bare flags to sleep on, and 
then committed to Lancaster Castle, 
in irons ; which usage brought oil a 
pleurisy and fever. 1 was delirious 
nine days- I am in tins 62d year of 
Cjy age. My late disorder^ which 1 


got through the usage I received aft 
the New Bailey, Manchester, has 
left a stiffness in my limbs, which I 
am afraid will remain as long as I 

William Wood appears to be 
a “Village Hampden;” and he, 
and such men as he, who look to 
Reform as the remedy for their 
grievances, are they whom Re¬ 
formists should never forsake ia 
the hour of trial, or forget after 
they they have passed through, 
the fire of persecution. 

Then there is the case of the 
Messrs. Evanses, father and son, 
still confined in Horsemonger 
Lane Gaol:— 

The affliction into which Mrs. 
Evans is plunged, by the impri¬ 
sonment without trial of her hus¬ 
band, Mr. Thomas Evans, and 
their only son (a mere youth, but 
twenty years of age), who have 
now been upwards of eight 
months in close confinement, has 
induced her to address the public 
on her situation :—she states that 
Mr. Evans was a sufferer under 
the suspension of the Habeas 
Corpus in the year 1798, having 
been then imprisoned nearly 
three years, in different gaols ia 
various parts of England, treated 
worse than a common felon, and 
on a charge, too, similar to the 
present; so false, that the Parlia¬ 
ment, in order to protect the real 
delinquents , passed an especial 
bill to indemnify (orpardon) the 
Ministers, and all subordinate 
agents concerned in the flagitious 
and illegal oppression of Mr. 
Evans, and other persons, 
e ually innocent, who had been 
imprisoned under the same cir¬ 
cumstances. Mr. Evans, on his 
liberation in 1801, being thus de¬ 
nied, by authority of Parliament, 
ail redress of his grievances, his 




423 ] Hone’s, Reform 

connexions broken up, his affairs 
seriously involved, and never 
having received one shilling from 
any quarter oh that account, at 
length commenced the manufac¬ 
ture of patent braces, and spiral 
steel springs; which business, at 
the- time of bis last arrest, he had 
carried on eight years in the city 
of London, and eight years at 
his late residence, 'No. 8, New¬ 
castle Street, Strand, where Mrs. 
Eva. vs still resides. During 
the whole of this period, 1*e was 
so closely attentive to his busi¬ 
ness as never to have indulged 
in two successive days of recrea¬ 
tion, but was constantly to be 
seen publicly in his shop, from 
seven in the morning, till nine 
and ten at night. Nor had he 
frequented any political meetings 
of any kind, or belonged to any 
club for Parliamentary Reform, 
or any association whatever for 
political purposes; notwithstand¬ 
ing' this, Mr. Evans was again 
arrested, on .Sunday, the 9th of 
February last, together with bis 
son, on a pretended charge of 
high treason. When taken be¬ 
fore the Privy Council, they 
were simply asked whether they 
knew Mr. TyisrrEwooD and 
Dr. Watson? and this accident 
of personal acquaintance with 
these individuals has been the 
only canseever hinted for theirar- 
rest and continued imprisonment. 
On every occasion they requested 
to know “ what, or if any legal 
“ charge, was to be preferred 
“ against them, and who, or if 
“• any person, bad made oath to 
“ such charge.*” This was the 
course they pursued invariably, 
although they were kept strictly 
separate, and denied every sort 
of intercourse. Though at first 
tiie commitment alleged that the 


[i.sts' Register. [424 

Messrs. Evans were charged “ on 
oath,” yet, on their asking Lord 
SipstouTii whether this assertion 
was founded in Fact, his Lordship, 
not willing to declare positively 
that it was an utter falsehood, 
declined answering the question. 
On their final committal, his Lord- 
ship was candid enough volunta¬ 
rily to withdraw this assertion. 

It has, nevertheless, been insi¬ 
nuated by the proceedings, that 
there really is a legal charge 
against them. Hence the mockery 
of repeated examinations, as 
they were called, before Lord 
Sidmouth and Sir Nathaniel 
Conant; yet not one word has 
ever been deposed , calculated in 
the remotest degree to justify" 
this pretended suspicion. Lord 
Sidmouth himself could not say 
so, when asked; nor upon any of 
the debates in the House of Com¬ 
mons, on the case of Mr. Evans 
and his son, would any of the 
Ministers, or their compeers, ven¬ 
ture a single expression to that 
effect, although in both their 
petitions to that Honourable 
ilouse , they plainly charged 
Lord Sidmouth with wilful injus¬ 
tice and oppression, and denied 
that “ It teas In the power of the 
“ Secretary of State to name any 
“ legal cause to justify the cruel 
“ persecution to which they are 
“ subjected 

Under such a heavy com¬ 
plication of suffering, what is 
to be the fate of Mrs. Evans ? 
She has hitherto managed, by 
selling a few pamphlets and 
newspapers, and by collecting 
some debts due to her husband, 
with about 101. received in sub¬ 
scription by small sums, to pre¬ 
serve the lease of his premises ; 
but the destruction of her hus¬ 
band and son’s business, the loss 




425] October 

of property consequent on their 
abrupt and unexpected seizure, 
and otherse^fere inductions, render 
her unable to withstand the tor¬ 
rent of injury which is over¬ 
whelming her. In this situation, 
she appeals to the patriotic and 
benevolent to assist her in ward¬ 
ing off' this cruel calamity. She 
trusts that she will experience 
the support of ail who know how 
to appreciate the peculiar cala¬ 
mities of her situation, and that 
at this crisis of our national filter- 
ties, when individual wrong is 
inseparably linked with general 
oppression and misery, she will 
not fail to have her sufferings 
mitigated by all who detest the 
horrid system of leUres-de-cachet * 
and the conversion of county- i 
gaols of England into State- Bat- j 
titles ; and that they will secure 
her from that distress which 
will otherwise overwhelm her. 
Iu making her affecting appeal, 
Mrs. Evans states that she is 
totally unable to provide for the 
followpu) payments, due last 
. Mich aelmas - da y , v i z. — 

Half a Year’s Kent, at 

£45 per Annum - £22 10 0 
One Year's King’s 

_ _ _ _ ]0 I* 0 

Ditto Parish Dues - 10 0 0 

There are surely in Mrs. 
Evans’s Appeal most forcible 
grounds for her expectation of 
puRlic support. It has always 
appeared to me that her situa¬ 
tion has been sadly neglected by 
those who have the means to 
arFord her assistance. I know 
very little of her husband, but 
through his pamphlet entitled 
Christian Policy, which fully ex¬ 
plains the Speucean System, and 
which I think he had as much right 
to publish as the Rev. Mr. Diiuhn 
had lo publish Sir Thomas 


25, 1817. [426 

More’s Utopia, or Mr. Godwin 
his Political Justice, or Mr. Owen 
his jYew View of Society* l spoke 
to Mr. Evans for the first time 
about a year ago, when 1 pur¬ 
chased of him his Christian 
Policy, which I believe Mrs. 
Evans still continues to sell. 
When 1 was drawing up my 
Account of the Riods iu London, 
on the 2d of December last, I 
was desirous of giving some par¬ 
ticulars respecting the Speucean 
Plan; but as its principles were 
denounced iu Parliament and by 
tile newspapers, 1 did not think 
it proper to call public attention 
lo the subject in a way that 
might be disagreeable to Mr. 
Evans; i therefore wrote him lo 
say what l intended to do, but 
that I would not do it if he 
thought it would excite unplea¬ 
sant notice to himself. He answer¬ 
ed me in writing directly, that he 
should be obliged by my noticing 
it in any way I pleased, as he 
was so far from being desirous 
to conceal the plan, that he 
wished it to have the utmost 
publicity. 1 afterwards called 
on him with a copy of the 
Account of the Riots, and that 
was the second time I saw him. 
The third and last time of my 
speaking to him was in February, 
when I bought of him a tract 
written by Thomas Spence. On 
all these occasions he was at 
work in his shop, at No. 8, New¬ 
castle Street, Strand, at his brace¬ 
making business,and he appeared 
to me one of the plainest and 
most honest-minded men I ever 
saw, and one of the last men in 
die world foy a manufacturer of 
Treasons or Conspiracies. He 
had not a lean, pale, Cassius- 
looking countenance, but a round 
good healthy fat-looking face, 




427 ] Hone’s Reformists’ Register. [428 


the very index of a manly mind ; 
and his speech was as bold and 
English as his appearance. I 
saw him hundreds of times be¬ 
fore, and scores of times after¬ 
wards, as 1 passed his shop, al¬ 
ways engaged in his business ; 
but except those three times, I 
never spoke to him. His son, of 
whom 1 knew as little, seemed a 
well-rriad studious youth, very 
modest in his demeanour, and of 
good speech. It is matter of 
astonishment to me, that these 
persons are detained in custody; 
and it must be matter of shame 
to those who having the means 
to help Mrs. Evans, have let her 
remain helpless until now. I 
know nothing of her—l never 
spoke to her in my life, nor ever 
saw her but once, at her shop 
door, and should not remember 
v lier again. I have therefore no 
interest, either direct or indirect, 
in thus mentioning her case; but 
I say here, once for all, that if 
the relations of those who are 
persecuted for their opinions are 
suffered to fall into abject distress, 
the sta riders-by and lookers-on, 
who have the power to prevent 
it, are, aiders and abettors of the 
persecution. The rich Reformist, 
who takes advantage of all the 
successes which the humble and 
tbe honest obtain for Reform, 
and who abandons them in their 
reverses, is a selfish niggard, and 
a political hypocrite. .Slavery 
must be the portion of a People 
v ho will rasher part with their 
liberty than their gold. 

I now take a very unwilling 
leave of my reader's. This is the 
last Register 1 shall publish. From 
the period of my arrest, in May 
last, under Lord Ellen bo aoudh’s 
warrants, 1 have continued the 
wgrk under considerable dis¬ 


advantages. Soon after my 
liberation, in July, my health 
fluctuated, and 1 experienced 
much mortification from the bad 
conduct of certain of mv agents in 
the country. Some have punctu¬ 
ally and honestly paid me. Others 
have not only not been punctual, 
but have not paid me, whilst my 
inability to regulate mv accounts 
when I was in confinement* and 
the necessity I have been under 
of attending a little to what busi- 
ness I found when 1 came out, 
and to the writing of tbe Register y 
prevented me from taking such 
steps as a keen tradesman might 
have done to enforce payment. 
One person, by repeated repre¬ 
sentations of activity and con¬ 
nexion and good will,induced me 
to send him the Register in large 
quantities every week, besides 
other goods, agreeable to his 
orders. 1 repeatedly wrote him 
for money, and he always pro¬ 
misee!, and put off'. Being loth 
to discontinue tire sale of the 
Register in a populous district, 
and he being the only agent I 
had in the county of Rants, I 
continued to forward them to him 
regularly. 1 have never been 
able to get the money from him 
for what he has sold, or to get 
back the publications which re¬ 
main unsold; he has not paid me 
a sixpence I T his is to be sure 
(lie worst specimen of my usage, 
but there are others nearly as 
bad. These remarks, however, 
do not apply to tbe present 
vendors of the Register at Bir¬ 
mingham, Bath, Bury, Maidstone, 
Norwich, Nottingham, or Oxford; 
and I would especially except 
Mr. \\ n ok, of Manchester, whose 
honourable coundct deserves my 
most honourable mention. The 
continuance of the Register with 




4293 October 

decreased sale, and other incon¬ 
veniences, added to tfie disad¬ 
vantages I have mentioned, lias 
become embarrassing to me. 
1 have kept it on as long* as ! 
have been aide, and longer, per¬ 
haps, than prudent persons will 
think l ought to have done, ! 
shall now return to my business as 

V 

a publisher; and having brought 
out last Saturday the first number 
■of Sermons to Asses, hv the late ex- 
ceilent and Rev . James Mu kray, 
of Newcastle, the second will be 
published next Saturday; and on 
the following Saturday I purpose 
to publish the first number of 
Speeches by the late Mr. C ur¬ 
ban, who, as an orator, and a 
champion of Irish freedom, has 
not left an equal behind him. 
My endeavour will be to give to 
the world, from time to time, 
publications that will enlighten 
and amuse. There is a list at the 
end of thissheet, which the reader 
will, perhaps, excuse me for pre¬ 
senting him with on this occasion, 
it being the lost time we meet in 
this way, 

Before parting, I would say a 
word or two further, in order to 
remove any thing of prejudice 
against me in the public mind, 
on account of my late prosecu¬ 
tions. The parodies formerly 
published by me, l may perhaps 
be allowed to repeat, I always 
considered as mere 'political 
squibs, and nothing else, It is 
now two years and a hall since 1 
commenced to publish, in the 
course of wdiich time l have 
issued upwards of one hundred 
and thirty pieces, chiefly my own 
production. Not a week has 
elapsed during that period, w ith¬ 
out my having compiled or 
written something; but whether 
it w ere prose or verse, or 


25, 1817. [430 

“ Grave or gay, or lively or severe,” 

I console myself with the re¬ 
jection that, amidst all 1 have 
put on paper, there is 

“ Not one unmoral, one indecent thought. 
One line, which dying, l could wish to 
blot 

nor can there he found a single 
paragraph, or even sentence, of a 
profane or irreligious tendency, 
in any of my publications. 

Vuh a lively conception of wit, 
»nd an irresistible propensity to 
inimour; 1 have likewise so 
profound a regard for the w 7 elU 
being of society, mid so great a 
reverence for public morals, that 
I know of no temptation capable 
of inducing me to pen a line in¬ 
jurious to social happiness, or 
offensive to private virtue. 

I cannot conclude without ex* 
pressing regret, that somewhat 
of a wayward fancy, and, occa¬ 
sionally, too much of stron 
feeling, excited by the distrac¬ 
tions and cares of a little busi¬ 
ness, and a large family, and in¬ 
creased by the consequences of 
an inexpertness in certain trading 
requisites, have been unfavour¬ 
able to the composition of the 
Reformists'’ Register . I have 
found that endeavours at abstrac¬ 
tion, amidst daily regards, stultify 
the mind. Although, as some 
modern writer says, it is dis- 
oraceful not to be able to an¬ 
swer with certainty the simple 
questions, What will you be? 
What w ill you do ? yet I am afraid 
they are questions / cannot an¬ 
swer. It is in vain for him w ho can¬ 
not be any thing, to attempt deter¬ 
mining to be something. Me 
whose lot has not been cast in 
-pleasant places, cannot expect fx> 
walk beside the still w aters. He 
who has fought the billows till 
he is exhausted, may desire 





Honb’ Reformists’ Register. 


431 ] 

foot-hold; but if he cannot see 
shore, what rational hope has fie 
of itt Under more favourable 
circumstances, 1 should have con- 


GIN AND .TACKY 


Long time I’\e toil’d. 
In vain have broil'd, 


d'acted the Register better to 
my own, and, perhaps,my readers’ 
satisfaction; but I have sometimes 
caught myself, as now, more in¬ 
clined to skim over morals, than 
to sail on the ocean of politics: 
and I incline to think, that greater 
leisure would have induced fur¬ 
ther excursions in the same track. 
Speculation on this head is 
ended—this is the death-throe 
of the Register , and with pain 1 
bid my readers farewell! 

WILLIAM HONE. 
67, Old Bailey, 23 d Oct. 1817. 


FREEDOM’S FIELD-MARSHAL. 

“ Truth perch’d upon his brow, and felt secure 
“ As in a weil-aianu’d fortress!” 

JBiandfi id's “Victory,-” a Poeni. 

A Pigmy, standing on a rock. 

Hurling his fiery darts around him; 
Corruption felt a death-like shock. 

And sent her harpies to surround him. 
While Falsehood’s phalanx, arm’d en tete, 
Bade Tyranny decide his fate, 

And Terror’s fiercest force together drew ; 
When to Corruption’s great surprise, 
(Nor could she scarce believe her eyes), 
This pigmy to a mighty giant grew, 

And spoke more strength than all her mi¬ 
nions knew 1 

With burning truth and facts his shield, 
He paralized the savage host ! 

Dismay’d they fled, and left the field, 
While his the great victorious boast! 
Still so his well-strung bow is bent, 

1 hat his unerring arrows sent, 

Are sure of mark !—would you, my friends 
have fuller 

Report, of what’s his true degree,— 

A JJwarJ —of sable aspect he ; 

But yet of intellect more bright 
Than e’er yet shona with Freedom’s 
light:— 

Tins glorious champion’s name, Truth’s 
pride, is Wooler. 


O’er bill, plea, and rejoinder j 
But all in sin, 

Through drinking Gin , 

For so swears Jacky P ..... R. 

Vacation long, 

Oi), doleful song! 

Repentance makes rejoinder; 

A crust a treat, 

I can't get meat, 

Discharg’d by Jacky P .r. 

So now with swipes * 

1 wash my tripes. 

And am a sober Drag-on 
While Jacky— he. 

With mirth and glee, 

Topes off bis Spit at Flagon. 

Though “ Gin makes crime,'* 

Soon comes the time 
Poor Jack may well remember. 
When Lawyer’s Clerks 
Again are sparks. 

And smile in dull November.J 

Let P.R toil, 

And fume, and broil, 

Alone all next November ; 

And those whose name 
He holds to shame, 

IIis griping soul remember. 

Let those who sin 
By drinking Gin, 

Leave Jack alone in Rrideipelli 
Plea, bill, and deed, 

Himself to speech; 

And see if he will thrive well. 

No! sorely sad, 

And crazy mad, 

A Bedlamite you’ll find him ; 
Without your help, 

This moral whelp 
His Port must leave behind him, 

’Tis you alone 
Who pick the bone 
Mis larder has supplied well; 

His civic wit 
h only fit 

To beat Mill-Doll in Bridewell. 

JUNIPER JORUM, Cler.^e. 
From my Garret , in IF kite's Alley, 
Chancery Lane, Oct. <22, 1817. ~ 

* Small beer. 

+ A nick-name for a Lawyer’s Fag. 
t Michaelmas Term commences in November. 


FINIS 


Loudon : Printed by and for WILLIAM 
Lldgate Hill,—-P rice '[ wo -Pence each, 


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W. HONE’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



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CONTAINING A PORTRAIT OF MR. CURRAN, 

No. I. Price Four-pence, 


OF 



BY THE 

RIGHT HON. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN, 

LATE MASTER OF THE ROLLS IX IRELAND. 


Mr. Curran was the great ornament of his time of the Irish bar, and in forensic elo¬ 
quence has certainly never been exceeded in modern times. His rhetoric was the pure 
emanation of his spirit, a warming and lighting up of the soul, that poured conviction 
and astonishment on his hearers. It flashed in his eye, and revelled in the melodious 
and powerful accents of his voice. His thoughts almost shaped themselves into imagery, 
and if his eloquence had any fault, it was that his images were too frequent. But they 
were at tlie same time so exquisitely beautiful, that be must have been a rigorous critic, 
that couid have determined which of them to part with. Ilis wit was not less exuberant 
than his imagination ; and it was the peculiarity of Mr. Curran’s wit, that even when it 
took the form of a play on words, it acquired dignity from the vein of imagery that ac¬ 
companied it. 

His mind always full, was always varying the direction of its exuberance ; it was no 
regular stream, rolling down in a smooth and straight forward volume ;—it had the 
wayward beauty of a mountain torrent, perpetually delighting the eye with some unex¬ 
pected sweep through the wild and the picturesque, always rapid, always glancing back 
sunshine, till it swelled into sudden strength, and thundered over like a cataract. For 
his noblest images there was no preparation, they seemed to come spontaneously, and 
they came mingled with the lightest products of his mind. It was the volcano flinging 
up in succession curls of vapour and fiery rocks ; all from the same exhaustless depths, 
•and with the same unmeasured strength, to which the light and the massive were equal. 
His eloquence was not a studiously sheltered and feebly fed flame, but a torch blazing 
only with the more breadth and brilliancy, as it was the more broadly and boltliy waved. 


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1817 . 

Priee Three Shillings in Boards . 





























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TO READERS. 


The ensuing Sheets complete the Reformists’ Re- 

^ . s r 

' , * 1 '• s • . ' "** • < • - 

gister, which has been continued during nine months 

t v * 

of perhaps the most important period of our national 
existence ; the causes of its discontinuance will be found . 


at the end of the present Volume. 

t ■ r 

» 

23d Oct. 1817. 




CONTENTS OF VOL. If. 



No. 1 .—(July 26, p. 1.)—More Political Priestcraft—On (lit- Lord Mayor's Cbap^ 


kin, the Rev. G. F. Bates’s Anti-Reform Sermon, before bis Lordship, &c., at 
$*■. Paul’s—Mr. Coleridge’s affecting' Narratives—A Sermon to Asses. 


No. 2 .—{August 9, p. 33.)—The Shadow of the Constitution—The Shadow not over 
all alike—The Dreadful Distresses—Mr. Lemaitre’s Petition, ancl interesting-Nar¬ 
rative, 

No. 3.— (August . 9 , p. 65.)—Triumphs of the People—Maekinley’s Acquittal In Seot_ 
land—Acquittals of the York and Huddersfield Men, &o.—The Maidstone Purples 
—Mr. Hazlitt’s Character of Coriolanus. 

No. 4.— (August 1 6, p. 97.)—Mr. Roger O’Connor’s Narrative of his Persecutions, 
written hv himself. 

No. 5.— (August 23, p. 12.9.)—Let us alone, Mr. Owen 1 

No. 6. —(August 30, p. 161.)—The People, and the New Power—Rejection of Mr. 
Owen’s Plan—'Valuablu Remarks by Mr. Owen, on the State of Society—Ira* 
provability of Man, &c. 

No. 7.— (Sept. 6, p. I §3.)—More Dabbling in Blood—Blood-Money Cases—Temp¬ 
tations to Blood-Plots as great now as in 1756, when the Blood-Men swore 70 Lives* 
away, and received ^1720. Blood-Money—Why no Man is safe from a Blood-Man. 

No. K.— (Sept. 13, p.225.)—Plots! li as Plenty as Blackberries”—Bartholomew-Fair, 
Rebellion—Specimens of Plots in Ireland—An Address, by Major Cartwright, to 
the People of the United Kingdom. , 

* ' * 4 f y f'k ' x | * 

No. 9-— (Sept. 20, p. 227.)—Cruelties of the Boroughmongers—Boroughmongering 
Exposures—Major Cartwright’s new Mode of Petitioning by Twenties described. 

No. 10.— (Sept. 27, p. 239-)—A Letter to Sir Francis Burdett—Reasons for address¬ 
ing Sir Francis—His Services—Why Sir Francis Burdett is England’s Hope— 
R. Swindells’ Case—The Manchester Blanketeers’ own Narrative—Mr. Hitchins’a 
Address to the Livery of London, on the Choice of a New Lord Mayor. 

No. ]j,— (Oct. 4, p. 321.)—The Guttlers, and the New Lord Mayor—The Virtue of 
the Livery of London—Can they resist Aldermen in Chains, and Custards? 

No. 12.— (Oct. 11, p. 353.)—Peculators and Plunderers—The Approaching Change, 
Reform, Revolution, or Despotism—Public Money, how pocketed by D faulters— 
De Lancey—Mr. Steele, the Privy Councillor—J. Proud’s cruel Case—A Predic¬ 
tion, &e. 

No. 13.— {Oct. 18, p. 385.)—Gin, and the Clerk of Bridewell, Mr. Poynder—Law 
Clerks defended from Mr. Poynder’s Charge of Drinking and Dishonesty—Drink¬ 
ing not the Cause of Crime—Effects of Drinking on different Persons—Exposure of 
the Spy System in Lancashire—The Puppy of Stptgard—Evidence of James Bly, 
on Blood Money. 

No. 14.— (Oct. 25, p. 417.)—The Death-Throe and Farewell—An essential Expla¬ 
nation relative to Mr. Nicholls, the Solicitor—Some Account of Messrs. Eva<ns— 
Explanation of the Circumstances under which the Reformists’ Register has 
been Conducted—Farewell—Poetry ; Freedom’s Field Marshal—Gin and Jacky. 






















































































































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